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1944-01-28 The Loss of Egbert Baron van Nagell

Crash site: Assumed to be in a field near Merville, 2.6423E/50.6431N, Nord, F

Crash cause: assumed shot down by enemy Flak


Name

Nagell van de Schaffelaar, Egbert Joost Baron van

Barneveld 040807 Van Nagell


Rank

Tijd Res 1Lt Vl, F/O., Pilot

RAF VR 132084

Decorations

Croix de Guerre with Palm (France), Oorlogsherdenkingskruis (Holland), 1939 - 1945 Star (Great Britain)
Air Crew Europe Star (Great Britain)

Born

26/6/1923

Place

Harzburg, Germany

Squadron

RAF 322 (Dutch) Sqn Fighter Command

Ops/hr

21/23

Aircraft

Spitfire Mk. Vb Nr. AB818 VL-N

Base

RAF Hawkinge, Kent, GB

Mission

Defensive patrol; take-off 11.55h, as Green Section with L.D. Wolters

Status

KIA, assumed shot down 13.05h by enemy Flak

age

20

Killed

28/1/1944

Place

assumed to be near Merville, Nord, F

Buried

Initially at Merville Communal Cemetery. Source: CWGC Reburied 1947, Nieuwe Gemeentelijke Begraafplaats Barneveld, NL, grave A/120

Known to

OGS

yes

CWGC

yes

Remarks

Near Merville confirmed by Joss Leclercq via Gendarmerie reports

Source: Joss Leclercq 30/6/2006

Memorial

St. George's Chapel, Biggin Hill

GB arrival

Engelandvaarder according to F. Visser, in 'De Schakel', 1976, p. 27; unknown to the Stichting Genootschap Engelandvaarders

Data

Confusion

2. Wingman Wolters' report

'Green section (Van Nagell en Wolters) kwam laag onder de wolken boven de Franse kust onder zwaar afweervuur terecht en meteen werd op een noordelijke koers de richting van de basis opgezocht. Toen zij om een vector vroegen kregen zij een 'course to steer'. Weldra zagen zij witte rotsen uit zee opdoemen en klommen omhoog, denkende boven Engeland te zijn. Toen Wolters een stem over de radio hoorde zeggen: 'Hello Green 2, steer 090' realiseerde hij zich dat ze Kaap Griz Nez aanvlogen. Hij veranderde van koers en riep op een andere frequentie GCI op, hetgeen zijn vermoeden bevestigde dat zijn koers naar huis een andere was dan 090. Zij waren in de bekende Duitse val gelopen. Met Van Nagell kon Wolters geen contact meer krijgen. Hoe hij precies sneuvelde daar boven Noord Frankrijk is niet bekend. Bijna zeker is luchtafweer de oorzaak. Nadat Wolters rapport had uitgebracht werd een sectie op een zoekactie gestuurd, maar de beide vliegers keerden helaas onverrichterzake op hun basis terug.'

Source: Mr J.W.T. Bosch, "De militaire luchtvaart tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog in Groot-Brittannie 31 mei 1940 – 9 mei 1945", page I/3/79, unpubl, no date

Translation: 'Green section, flying directly below clouds over the French coast, encountered heavy Flak, and instantly turned in a northerly direction, heading for base. Asking for a vector, they were given a 'course to steer'. Soon afterwards they saw white cliffs rising from the sea and they climbed, believing to be above England. When Wolters heard a voice over the radio say 'Hello Green 2, steer 090' he realized that they approached Cap Gris Nez. He changed course, and used another frequency to call for a GCI, which confirmed his suspicion that 090 was not the course for home. They had fallen into the well known German trap. Wolters could no longer come into contact with Van Nagell. It is unknown how exactly he died over Northern France. Almost certainly Flak was the cause. After Wolters had reported, a search party was send out, but unfortunately the two search aviators returned to base without having seen their missing collegue.'

At the outbreak of War, his father, Mr. J.E.H. Baron van Nagell, was Dutch Attaché in Stockholm. De Schaffelaar is the castle in Barneveld where the Van Nagell's resided. Egbert Joost Baron van Nagell is buried in a familygrave on the Nieuwe Gemeentelijke Begraafplaats, afd. Schaffelaar, Barneveld, A/120. The full family name, Van Nagell van de Schaffelaar, is as found on the family grave.

Considering the battle report of L.D. Wolters, it strikes as curious that E.J. Baron van Nagell would have crashed 80 km inland Southeast of Cap Griz Nez, more than twice the distance to his base in Hawkinge, flying East on a vector that could not possibly be correct, and without feedback from his wingman, either by sight or by radio. But his initial burial at Merville Communal Cemetery is a strong indicator that he fell in the Merville area. Furthermore, there are Gendarmerie reports that place Van Nagell's crash near Merville.

Source: Joss Leclercq, 30/6/2006

In any case, something went very wrong on this final flight of E.J. Baron van Nagell.

It took Mr. J.E.H. Baron van Nagell a year to get the body of his son released for reburial in the family grave in Barneveld, NL.

Source: Joss Leclercq, 30/6/2006

We know of only two cases of private initiative to bring home the body of a Dutch RAF aviator from France. Mr. J.E.H. Baron van Nagell, a high ranking civil servant, followed the prescribed official route, and that took a year. The Father of Joost Sluis was a powerful merchant in Enkhuizen. His son had fallen on 24/6/1944 between Baromesnil and St. Rémy-Boscrocourt, Seine-Maritime. He asked the Enkhuizen undertaker to arrange transport via a Den Haag undertaker with experience in international transportation of bodies. But the Enkhuizen undertaker was honoured by the job, and set out to France himself. He returned, with the body. We can assume that the paperwork trail is very short in this case...

Source: Rob Venema

The bodies of the other Dutch RAF aviators who fell in France and Belgium, and who were repatriated as a result of family wishes, were repatriated in the care of the Oorlogsgravenstichting. The process took more than 10 years to complete.

3. Crash site maps

Map 52. Van Nagell led astray on a vector given by the Germans

Over the Channel, close to Cap Griz Nez, Van Nagell and Wolters were vectored by the Germans on 090. Wolters saw through this ruse, and flew back to base. At Cap Griz Nez he lost contact with his wingman Van Nagell. Author wonders if Van Nagell indeed crashed in the Merville area, a long distance from Cap Griz Nez, and into the wrong direction. But his initial burial in Merville, Nord, is a strong indication that he did.

Map 53. Merville, Nord, France, presumed crash area of E.J. Baron van Nagell

Author believes that Jan Plesman may have crashed close to this site, a few kilometers North of the Forêt de Nieppe. The Flak is likely to have been deployed at the edges of the forest, most notably the Northern edges. Furthermore, there was Flak defending the storage bunkers at La Motte au Bois, and Flak at various V-1 launch sites in the area.


Egbert van Nagell

Courtesy Anton van Breugel
He writes ' His elder sister Vrouwe Jeanne Linnie Alice Clifford Kocq van Breugel - barones van Nagell van de Schaffelaer was my mother. In her house in the Netherlands she would keep a picture on the wall of her brother Egbert Joost
'

The decorations shown hanging beneath the portrait present something of a mystery in that the ribbons appear at first sight to be incompatible with the medals themselves. After extensive research, Anton van Breugel discovered the document describing the award of medals to Egbert in 1947.

'In 1947 werd Egbert Joost baron van Nagell, heer van Schaffelaar uit Frankrijk opgehaald om in Barneveld bijgezet te worden in het familiegraf bij zijn grootouders en tante. Postuum ontving hij vanwege zijn inzet voor de vrijheid het Oorlogsherdenkingskruis met gesp, de Britse ´39 – ’45 Star, de Britse Air Crew Europe Star en het Franse Croix de Guerre ’39 – ’45 met palmtak.'

(In 1947 Egbert Joost baron van Nagell, lord van Schaffelaar was retrieved from France to be interred in Barneveld in the family grave with his grandparents and aunt. Posthumously, for his dedication to freedom, he received the War Memorial Cross with clasp, the British ´39 - '45 Star, the British Air Crew Europe Star and the French Croix de Guerre '39 - '45 with Palm Branch.)

egbert-nagell-medals

L-R: Croix de Guerre with Palm (France), Oorlogsherdenkingskruis (Holland), 1939 - 1945 Star (Great Britain)
Air Crew Europe Star (Great Britain)

Merville Communal Cemetery, the CWGC section in the Cemetery extension, in Merville, Nord, France. Five RAF aviators are buried here, that were members of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, to which 320 (Dutch) Squadron belonged. As yet we have been unable to locate the crash site in or near Merville of E.J. Baron van Nagell, who was initially buried here. Merville 051021-1


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