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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 18, 2011 20:09:04 GMT 12
I had an email today from my friend Graham Clayton, who's currently writing his second book on the history of No. 488 Squadron RNZAF, covering their European service.
He had this sad news, "Chris Vlotman passed away over the weekend aged 96. He was one of the most decorated Dutch nightfighter pilots in WW2 and served with 488 in the UK and Europe. He went on to be Chief Pilot for KLM Airlines after the war."
RIP
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Post by McFly on Oct 18, 2011 20:28:20 GMT 12
Christiaan Johan (Chris) Vlotman. DFC (17-08-1944), VK (05-10-1944). Dutch, born 1915. Res Kapt Vl., P/O. RAF VR. Flew Mosquito nightfighters, RNZAF 488 Sqn. Went to KLM after the war. More here: www.marconi-veterans.org/?p=72March 1944 – Eindhoven, Chelmsford and RAF Bradwell Bay Chelmsford area veterans may well have been aware of the publicity given last year to the presence at Sandford Mill Museum of the WW II Luftwaffe relief model of the Marconi and Hoffmans complex in Chelmsford. This brought to mind for MVA chairman Charles Rand the copy in his possession of an article that appeared in the county magazine in 1970 (The unknown airfield – RAF Bradwell Bay, Essex Countryside, December 1970). It concerned the history of RAF Bradwell Bay, a wartime base for light bomber and nightfighter operations – Bradwell nuclear power station stands on part of the site of the airfield. Of interest to Marconi Veterans are the paragraphs concerning the Luftwaffe raid on the Marconi works on the night of the 21st March, 1944, involving one of the nightfighter units based at Bradwell, 488 Squadron equipped with Mosquito Mk XII/XIII. During winter 1943-4 No. 488 Squadron gradually built up a ‘score’ of enemy aircraft, but there is no doubt that the highlight was the night of March 21, 1944, when the Luftwaffe, as a reprisal for the RAF’s attack on Philips’s Eindhoven factories (which the patriotic Dutch had welcomed), decided to wipe out Marconi, Chelmsford, using a picked force of Junkers 88/188 bombers. Not until long afterwards was it released that Chris Vlotman (the only Dutchman flying night fighters) in shooting down two Ju 88s just off the coast had brought down the leader of the formation and that 488 had destroyed all five of the first ‘pathfinder’ force, two to Squadron Leader Nigel Bunting and the fifth to Flight Lieutenant John Hall. A prisoner, literally blown out of his Junkers, was captured by the Southminster police and the writer helped to hold him as 488′s doctor stitched a gash in his face where the jagged fuselage had caught him as the bomber disintegrated in mid-air. Later, as the allies entered Germany in 1945, an RAF Regiment officer found on a Luftwaffe base a magnificent model of the Marconi works which had apparently been made for briefing pilots for the attack. This is now in the entrance hall at the Chelmsford offices and Chris Vlotman, now captain of a KLM DC8 jet, flew from Alaska some years ago to be the company’s guest and speaker at a charity dinner-dance for the Trueloves school for physically handicapped boys at Ingatestone. vlotman_thumb Captain Chris Vlotman, DFC, Netherlands War Cross (left), inspecting the model of the Marconi factories made by the Luftwaffe. With him are Mrs Vlotman, Mr Leslie Hunt, local aviation historian, Mr Neil Sutherland, managing director of Marconi, and ‘Dusty’ Miller, editor of Marconi Magazine. Essex Weekly News photograph. mosquitomk12_thumb As indicated in the first paragraph, the model is now of course located at the Sandford Mill Museum in Chelmsford – not all of our heritage disappeared off to Oxford! There is an interesting footnote to this story. Charles Rand didn’t know the source of the article, or the name of the author. In the Essex Chronicle at the beginning of January appeared the report of a local aviation historian, Stephen P Nunn, signing copies in Maldon of his newly published book ‘Maldon, the Dengie and the battle in the skies 1939-1945′. Your editor made contact with him to find out if could throw any light on the source of the article – he could – and it transpired that he is the son of Peter Nunn who was a production engineer with Marconi Communications at Waterhouse Lane until his retirement in the early 90s. Regrettably Peter died in 1995, not long after his retirement, but Charles knew him very well as did no doubt many other Veterans. |
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Post by guest on Oct 20, 2011 15:34:49 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 20, 2011 17:19:22 GMT 12
Yes, that's him. He came to NZ and stayed with Reg Mitchell.
Looking back at that thread I have since then met John Gard'ner and Reg Mitchell, and John has since passed away. So I think maybe Reg really is the last No. 488 (NZ) Squadron pilot still living now. There's still a couple of navigators/radar ops though. I have interviewed one of them, Marray Richardson, who was a kiwi in the RN FAA. Very interesting bloke.
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