Investigation into the crash of an English plane in May 1940.

It was May 14, 1940, shortly after my grandfather Michel Van de Sijpe’s fourteenth birthday. That day, an English fighter crashed in the fields 200 meters from his house on Gentse Steenweg in Zottegem.
What started as a children’s story grew into a quest for the truth for me. In the following report, you can read the result of years of research.
For years,I gathered small clues from my grandfather about a plane crash. What began as scattered notes grew into a comprehensive investigation. I knew only that an English fighter crashed around noon on May 14, 1940, and that the pilot died the next day in the Zottegem hospital. I found hardly any traces in diaries and archives, possibly out of fear of the newly arrived German occupiers.
So I set about locating the crash site. Using maps, aerial photographs, and terrain surveys with metal detection, I eventually found small parts that confirmed I was in the right place. Thanks to experts from Airframe Assemblies it became clear that it was a Hawker Hurricane.

Using RAF loss lists and further archival research, I compared all the Hurricanes that disappeared around that date. Initially, I followed the trail to P/O Appleton, but thanks to the information Wings Of Memory had, it quickly became clear that Appleton’s probable resting place was quite some distance from my search area. Next, I focused on Pilot Officer Samuel Antony Compton Sibley of 504 Squadron. His file from the National Archives, including letters from his parents, witness accounts, and maps, pointed towards Zottegem.
Sibley was likely hit by flak over Brussels and attempted an emergency landing in unoccupied territory. Around 11:30 a.m. on May 14, 1940, he crashed in Leenhoutstraat. Local residents found him seriously injured; he died a day later in the hospital. What happened to his body afterward and where his final resting place is remains unknown to this day.
As both pilot and aircraft were never officially recovered, P/O Sibley is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. ©Peter VDS

The Forgotten Cross

On November 1st, we all commemorate our fallen. In 2021, at the initiative of our new member Peter Vds, we also laid a wreath in Ressegem (Herzele). Peter spoke about a forgotten cross connected to a previously unknown fallen RAF pilot. Together with Dirk Van Melkebeke, he investigated this further.
Now a member of WOM, Peter suggested doing something about this forgotten cross, as he found it saddening that it seemed so neglected. WOM was immediately won over by this idea, and November 1st proved the perfect day to make it happen. We Remember Them.