Dutch Historical Military Conservation Group:I e-mailed this society early spring this year for information regarding the missing Jeep.
My question was if they possibly had a members vehicle registered that had the same registration numbers as Shirley the Willys Jeep from the Queen-City.
Now information could be provided to me due to the fact that this society doesn’t have a list with their members vehicle registration.
After being contacted by several members of the society’s commission regarding the story I came in contact with Miss Carry Engelhard.
In return I was asked by Miss Engelhard if it was possible for me to make a story about the crash with more information and pictures if possible.
Funny thing to mention is, last year when I visited Sainte Mere Eglise, Normandie I met a woman in a restaurant of that same society who was so nice to provide me and my buddy with several Points of interest near Sainte Mere Eglise.
When I told here this story by e-mail earky this year Miss Engelhard wrote me the following,
“That woman was me! So we already met”.
Talking about a small world.
around September I contacted here again and provided here the information I had gathered so far.
After the promise an article was to be dedicated to the crash in their Magazine I received the magazine this week.
The Dutch Historical Military Conservation Group or KTR, Keep Them Rollin has a magazine for their 1500 members who together own about 3000 vehicles.
They are in contact with several same alike society’s around Europe.
I even found their magazine in a store in Bastogne.
They have a website here
http://www.ktr.nl/en/index.htmlBecause several translations can be read on this forum from other articles there is no need to translate this story again.
Except from the following story that is to ad to the rest.
Ones their was a little private ww2 museum in Oisterwijk, the Netherlands run by Mr Aan de Stegge from the village Oisterwijk.
In this museum some vehicles and planes where on display.
Together with pictures on the wall and other related items of the history of Oisterwijk during ww2 they gave the visitor of this museum an impression on the history of Oisterwijk during occupation and liberation true 1939/1945.
Also 3 Willys Jeeps where on display and after some research it appeared one was dated 1944.
Together with the story ones told by an eyewitness of the crash who I interviewed it is worth to further investigate this Willys Jeep.
The story that was told is as follows,
After the dead of Dr Desain his family moved to an other part of Holland.
The owner of the museum in Oisterwijk Mr Aan de Stegge was able to buy the Willys Jeep ones owned by Dr Desain from his widow and displayed it in his museum in the 70’s.
After research it appears this Willys Jeep had an old Dutch registration plate.
This was 47-30-vm.
The museum is long gone now after the owner passed away.
Nobody could provide me with info regarding the whereabouts of his collection.
Questions are asked to ww2 vehicle society’s in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.
Peter.