Peter Thorne

Peter Thorne

Op 14 december volgde een transport samen met meerdere gevangenen, waaronder Warren, naar SD-gevangenis De Kruisberg in Doetinchem. De behandeling van de Britten verliep nu niet volgens oorlogsrecht met bijbehorende rechten zoals in een krijgsgevangenenkamp, maar als ware het illegale verzetslieden. Dat maakte een flink verschil blijkt uit de verklaring van Warren: “De omstandigheden daar waren zeer, zeer slecht. Het was inmiddels winter en we kregen een dagelijks rantsoen van een halve liter (zogenaamde) soep en 200 gram brood. We lagen op stro en moesten ons redden met twee dunne katoenen dekens. Het was er vergeven van het ongedierte. Ik was slecht af, had geen jas of shirt, alleen een broek en mijn zomerondergoed. Zeep en handdoeken waren er niet, je moest je wassen onder een kraantje in je cel met steenkoud water. We werden per dag vijf minuten gelucht, maar waren zo verzwakt dat de meeste van ons dat niet redden, we gingen om de dag en sommige waren zo zwak dat ze hun cel helemaal niet meer uitkwamen. De bewakers waren uitschot en extreem wreed. De hele dag kon je geschreeuw en pijnkreten horen wanneer ze zich weer aan een gevangene vergrepen tijdens een verhoor. Het ene moment zag iemand er nog redelijk uit, een paar uur later was hij onherkenbaar door de folteringen die werden toegepast. Doetinchem was een hel!

Gelijktijdig met Warren en Thorne zat ook verzetsstrijder Edzard Jacob Bosch van Rosenthal (1892-1945) uit Almen gevangen in De Kruisberg. Hij tekende een uitgebreide beschrijving op van zijn ervaring in De Kruisberg. Opmerkelijk genoeg schetst hij de condities juist als redelijk dragelijk gelet op de omstandigheden. Hij schrijft zelfs de behandeling in de gevangenis zelf was goed te noemen , terwijl hij ook schrijft over ernstige mishandelingen, iets dat hem zelf ook ten deel viel tijdens het verhoor. Appie Koeslag, de zoon van de boer in Laren waar Thorne ondergedoken zat, werd echter zwaar mishandeld in de Kruisberg, met blijvend letsel tot gevolg, dus wellicht werd Bosch van Rosenthal enigszins ontzien vergeleken met andere gevangen. We kunnen via de observaties van Bosch van Rosenthal wel goed achterhalen waar de gevangenen zaten in het gebouw:

“Onze gevangenis was slechts een klein bijgebouw. In het hoofdgebouw en in de directeurswoning waren Duitsche militairen ondergebracht. Onze vleugel, gelegen aan de westzijde, bestond uit een 30-tal cellen, waar de jongens, vermoedelijk bij wijze van straf, tijdelijk in werden gestopt. Afzonderlijk daarvan, maar er vlak naast, was een gebouw in gebruik, iets grootere vertrekken bevattende, met vensters, die niet, zoals de onze, getralied waren. Vermoedelijk zijn dit kleine leslokaaltjes. De meeste verhoren hadden in enkele dezer lokalen plaats, terwijl de andere in gebruik schenen te zijn bij de ons bewakende landwacht. Ons gebouw bestond uit een breede gang, waar men direct met de voordeur binnentrad. Links van de voordeur was een soort waschlokaal en daarachter de keuken. Dan volgt de werkplaats en een open plaatsje, vervolgens de gang naar de binnentrap en de trap naar boven, en dan een achttal cellen waarvan er eerst 2 en later 1 door het personeel werd gebruikt. Tussen de cellen in ligt de waschruimte voor de gevangenen, die plaats biedt voor 4 personen, met W.C. en urinoir…………..Het geheel was modern ingericht, ik noemde reeds de W.C.’s en waschgelegenheden, waar ook afzonderlijke bakken voor voetwassching waren. Verder is er centrale verwarming en electrisch licht en in iedere cel een bel die een rood lampje boven de deur in de gang doet gloeien en van buiten weer uitgeschakeld kan worden.“

Bosch van Rosenthal beschreef ook de rantsoenen. “De dagelijkse hoeveelheid was 400 gram, het brood meestal droog, soms met eenige stroop er op en twee maal een stukje kaas.” Soms aangevuld met door het thuisfront per post toegezonden etenswaren en ’s ochtends en ‘avonds was er “zeer drinkbare koffie” en tussen 12-14u “een uitstekend klaargemaakte stamppot uit de Doetinchemse gaarkeuken”. Per dag mocht men een uur luchten. Het voedsel werd zo langzaam mogelijk opgegeten, het brood letterlijk kruimel voor kruimel. Allereerst om het voedsel goed tot zijn recht te laten komen en ten tweede om zo iets te doen te hebben.

De Kruisberg zat eind januari 1945 overvol. Een grote groep gevangenen (94), waaronder Thorne, Warren en Bosch van Rosenthal, kreeg op donderdag 1 februari 1945 rond 13.00 uur te horen dat ze zich gereed moesten maken voor transport. De gevangenen kregen hun bij eerste opsluiting afgenomen persoonlijke eigendommen terug. Tegen 17.00 uur voerde van een tot de tanden bewapend escorte de gevangenen naar het treinstation Doetinchem. De tocht duurde ongeveer drie kwartier en trok veel bekijks. Op het station troffen ze een gereedstaande locomotief, een personenwagon voor de bewakers en drie goederenwagons voor de gevangenen aan. De wagondeuren bleven open en zo konden verwanten en bekenden spreken met de gevangenen en pakjes afgeven. De gevangenen moesten er rekening mee houden dat ze pas op zaterdagavond op de plek van bestemming zouden zijn. Het gerucht ging dat Hamburg het einddoel van de reis zou zijn, de Duitse stad waar Thorne toevallig in 1943 ook al geweest was. Het gerucht klopte aangezien het einddoel het buiten Hamburg gelegen concentratiekamp Neuengamme was. Volgens de verklaring van Warren wisten ze, “als ze eenmaal in Duitsland zouden zijn hun kansen verkeken zouden zijn”. Thorne en Warren besloten onmiddellijk alles in het werk te stellen om te ontsnappen. Hoe dit lukte is nog vanuit familieoverlevering bekend binnen de familie Koeslag. Enkele nazaten, Ap Koeslag en Tineke Harkink wonen nog naast de plek waar Thorne opgepakt werd in Laren en vertelden dat Thorne, of ‘kleine Pieter’ zoals zij hem kennen en Warren die nacht het hele brood opaten dat per persoon verstrekt was op om zo een beetje kracht te krijgen. Vervolgens wrikte de sterke Poolse medegevangene en oud-spoorweg medewerker Julick Granat de luchtschacht van de wagon open waardoor er een klein gat in de wand ontstond. Het zal omstreeks 02.00 uur in de nacht geweest zijn. Thorne en Warren en nog drie andere gevangenen lukte het zo om uit de wagon te komen. Er waren Duitse bewakers op de trein en toen ze de ontsnapten in de gaten kregen openden ze volgens Warren onmiddellijk het vuur. Warren zijn verklaring vindt echter geen bevestiging in de beschrijving van Bosch van Rosenthal. Die kreeg met enkele andere mannen door dat achterin de wagon enkele gevangenen ontsnapt waren, maar schreef niet over geweerschoten. Vervolgens zijn Bosch van Rosenthal en drie anderen nabij het voormalige station Beltrum-Zieuwent ook uit de trein gesprongen. De afloop van Thorne zijn sprong was aanvankelijk niet geheel duidelijk. Warren verklaarde dat hij later hoorde dat Peter door kogels geraakt was en de verzetsman Koeslag verklaarde in oktober 1945 tegen een officier van de Missing Research and Enquiry Service van de RAF dat Peter door zware verwondingen, opgelopen tijdens de sprong van de trein, overleden was. Koeslag bleek gelijk te hebben, want uit een artikel in De Graafschap-bode van 9 oktober 1945 wordt duidelijk dat de landbouwers Berentschot en Mellendijk uit de Heelweg, die zelf een Britse onderduiker hadden, verklaard hadden dat Thorne zwaar gewond geraakt was bij zijn val uit de rijdende trein. Volgens de familieoverlevering binnen de familie Koeslag was hij noodlottig blijven haken achter zijn overjas. Vervolgens was hij in handen gevallen van de SD en de Landwacht. Zij hebben hun zwaargewonde gevangene naar het Rooms-Katholieke ziekenhuis in Doetinchem gebracht. Hier overleed Thorne aan bloedverlies op de avond van 2 februari 1945. Peter werd daarna begraven op de Loolaan begraafplaats. Toen het verhaal van Thorne na de bevrijding in Groot-Brittannië bekend werd kreeg Thorne op 13 juni 1946 via een publicatie in de London Gazette als erkenning de onderscheiding ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ toebedeeld.

Dapper was Peter steeds op zoek geweest naar de vrijheid. De vrijheid was zo nabij geweest, de andere mannen die uit de trein ontsnapten mochten haar proeven. Peter droevig genoeg niet. Zijn familie koos voor het grafschrift enkele regels uit een gedicht van de Amerikaanse dichter John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892). For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, “It might have been.”

Dit grafschrift vertelt dus een verhaal aan de bezoeker. U kent het verhaal nu, vertel het verder en bezoek Peter eens aan de Loolaan.

Helaas zou Bosch van Rosenthal de bevrijding ook niet beleven. Hij werd op 2 april 1945 dood gevonden in zijn tuin, getroffen door een kogel. Hij ligt begraven op de Algemene Begraafplaats in Vorden.

Bronnen:
Ondergronds het verzetsverhaal van E.J. Bosch van Rosenthal
Archief Air Historical Branch RAF
Jan Braakman, Klein Nederland. De oorlog in een Gelders dorp (IJzerlo 2010)

Niet gebruikt, maar wel interessant:
Karl Lusink, Geallieerde oorlogsgraven Loolaan-kerkhof Doetinchem 1940-1945

Freedom within sight

the story of Peter Thorne

Kingston Hill 1924 – Doetinchem 1945

Paul Hilferink and Arie Kappert

Epitaphs on war graves often connect the modern day visitor to a life that was lost in the fight for freedom. This article will uncover a special story behind one such epitaph that can be found at Doetinchem (Loolaan) General Cemetery. The story is that of Warrant Officer Peter Thorne, Royal Air Force.

Peter Thorne died of wounds on 2nd February 1945 in St. Jozef Hospital, Doetinchem, The Netherlands. He was born to Thomas and Elsie Lilian Thorne in 1924, in Kingston Hill, Surrey and was a pupil of Mill Hill School in London between 1933-1940. By the time he left school the Second World War had started and he enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF). After his initial training, partly conducted in the United States, he was assigned to 102 Squadron, RAF. Based at Pocklington in Yorkshire, he became a crew member on a Halifax heavy bomber.
On the evening of 27th July 1943, Halifax JB864 was sent out to bomb the German port of Hamburg. Peter Thorne was one of the crew members, as navigator. Shortly before the mission the aircraft was repaired after being damaged on two previous operations, (9th – 10th June on a raid to Gelsenkirchen and 11th – 12th June against Düsseldorf). During the night attack of 27th - 28th July the Halifax was part of a bombing raid that consisted of 786 aeroplanes. That night Hamburg was attacked by 353 Lancaster bombers, 243 Halifaxes, 116 Stirlings and 74 Wellingtons.

The crew of Halifax JB864 consisted of:
Pilot F/O.G.McF.Clarke
Flight engineerSgt.H.G.Bartle
Navigator Sgt.P.S.C.Thorne
Bomb aimer F/O.E.W.Slipp
Wireless op / Air gunner Sgt.C.A.Bailey
Air gunner Sgt.D.Harrison
Air gunner P/O.W.J.Slater

Halifax JB864 took off for Hamburg at 10.44pm (English time) and was shot down at about 2am on 28th July, near the German port. Three crew members bailed out by parachute; Slater, Slipp and Thorne. The four remaining crew were unable to escape and died as the Halifax bomber crashed near the village of Sasel, on the outskirts of Hamburg.
Thorne, Slater and Slipp were rounded up by members of a German flak unit and held captive at Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel airfield. From here they were sent to Durchgangslager Luft (Dulag Luft) prison camp in Oberursel, near Frankfurt am Main. After interrogation the men were separated and transported to different prisoner of war (PoW) camps in Germany. Peter Thorne was put in Stammlager (Stalag) Luft IV-B in Mϋhlberg. This was a large PoW camp that held men from many different countries, among them 5500 Dutch. One of these was Dick van Maarseveen and by chance he had the opportunity to take photographs during the time he stayed in the camp, between 1943-1945. These pictures give insight into daily life during the time that Peter Thorne was held there.

In early May 1944 Peter and three other PoWs escaped from the camp and hid in a wood nearby. After four previous failed attempts, Peter had succeeded in getting away. In the hideout two other fugitives joined them; P/O Brandford and Sgt Warren. The men planned to escape by train to Switzerland. The only problem they faced was the lack of trains to Switzerland from this part of Germany. Luckily, with the help of some French PoWs working outside the camp, the British got on a freight train to The Netherlands. After a five day journey westwards, the group sneaked out of the train after crossing the German-Dutch border in Hengelo. During these five nerve-wracking days they had lived off a few biscuits and water.
After leaving the train the party split in two, Peter joining one group, Brandford and Warren the other. A local Dutch resistance unit by the name of “Haeck” helped Peter into hiding. He was shifted from farm to farm in order to keep the risk of discovery as small as possible. The farm of a local resistance leader named Koeslag, near the village of Laren, would be his last place of hiding.

In November 1944 Thorne and the other Allied soldiers hidden at the farm were betrayed by a local neighbour. When the Landwacht (a paramilitary unit made up of Dutch collaborators) came to round them up the men fled into the surrounding fields, but soon discovered that they were outnumbered and decided to surrender. Shortly before surrendering Thorne kicked away a pistol, which had been kept by the men as weapon of defence, but which was unfortunately useless under the circumstances.

The prisoners were taken to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) prison in Deventer. Here Peter Thorne and Sgt Warren were reunited after the latter had also been rounded up in a raid. Fourteen prisoners were cramped into a prison cell of 2 by 3 metres. In one corner they found a tin to use as a toilet. Exercise in fresh air was denied to them. Fairly soon the prisoners were moved to another SD prison, the “Oxerhof” just south of Deventer. A few weeks later another transfer took place. On 14th December several prisoners, Thorne and Warren among them, moved from Oxerhof to SD prison “De Kruisberg” in Doetinchem.

The Allied servicemen were not treated as PoWs anymore, since the Germans considered them as members of the resistance and hence charged with espionage. This meant that they were denied the international rights of the Geneva Conventions. Sgt Warren noticed that this made a huge difference to their treatment, as we can read from his statement about his time in De Kruisberg made after the war. “Our daily ration consisted of half a litre of soup (so-called) and 200 grams of black bread. We lay on straw, had two cotton blankets, and the place was infested with vermin. I had no coat or shirt, only a pair of overall pants, and summer underwear. No soap or towels were provided and one washed under a tap in the cell. We were allowed out in the yard for five minutes per day but after the first week all prisoners were so weak that they could only go out every other day. Some were too weak to get out at all. The cruelty of the guards was awful. Every day and all day cries and screams of people were heard who were being tortured for information, and prisoners who looked all right one day would appear with black eyes, bruised heads and marks on their backs where they had been flogged."

At the same time that Warren and Thorne spent time in De Kruisberg, the prison also kept Dutch resistance member Edzard Jacob Bosch van Rosenthal (1892-1945) from Almen. During his time in prison he kept a diary and has drawn a vivid image of daily life there. Rather remarkably he, unlike Warren, states that the conditions in which he was being held were actually quite tolerable. In fact he wrote that he was “treated quite well”. An observation grimly contrasted by another remark in his diary that some inmates were gravely beaten and put under psychological pressure during interrogations, a fate that also befell him. Appie Koeslag, son of the farmer that hid Thorne while he was arrested, was so badly beaten up that he suffered from his injuries until his death a few decades after the war.

Perhaps Bosch van Rosenthal tried not to condemn all his guards as bad people in order to keep faith in humanity, or he might have expected even worse treatment. His diary also gives us an idea of the location the prisoners were held, within the prison.
“Our prison was located in a smaller outer building. German soldiers were billeted in the main building which was also the home of the prison manager. Our wing, in a semi-detached building sited at the west wing of the prison, was made up of 30 cells. Before the SD took over the prison these were used to lock up unruly youth who were held on this premises. Separate, but very close, there was another building containing some larger rooms with windows that had no bars like ours. These were probably small classrooms. Most of the interrogations were conducted in these rooms, while the Landwacht who guarded us also used some of them. Our building had a wide hallway connected to the front door. To the left of the front door there was a kind of bathroom with a kitchen right next to it. Then you reached a workshop and an open courtyard. After that a hallway lead to the stairs and another eight prison cells of which two and later just one were used by members of staff. Between the prison cells there was another bathroom, for use by the prisoners. It could be used by four at a time and also contained a toilet and urinal. It was a modern building, not just the toilets and washing facilities, but it even contained separate sinks to wash your feet. There was central heating and electric light. Every prison cell had a bell and when this was pressed a red light went on above the door in the hallway, which could be shut off from the outside.”
Bosch van Rosenthal also described the rations served out to the prisoners. The daily ration consisted of “400 grams of food, usually a dry lump of bread, sometimes with some syrup and cheese. When prisoners were lucky the ration could be supplemented with food that was sent by relatives. During the mornings and evenings ‘quite drinkable coffee’ was served and between noon and 2pm a well-cooked stew from the city of Doetinchem soup kitchen was provided.” Every day the inmates got one hour of exercise in the open air. The food was digested as slowly as possible. The bread being literally eaten crumb by crumb. This made sure that all the nutrition was abstracted from the food as well as giving some occupation during the long dull days.
At the end of January 1945 De Kruisberg was overflowing with prisoners. A large group of 94 men was singled out and among them where Thorne, Warren and Bosch van Rosenthal. At 1pm on Thursday 1st February notice was given that the men had to prepare themselves to be transported to another site. Personal belongings confiscated upon arrival where handed back and by 5pm a heavily armed guard escorted the men by foot from De Kruisberg to Doetinchem train station. The journey took 45 minutes and drew a lot of attention. A locomotive carrying a passenger car for the guards and three freight cars for the captives was waiting. The doors of the freight wagons remained open enabling the prisoners to speak to relatives and acquaintances and it was even possible to receive some parcels. Word was put out that the prisoners would probably be in for a long ride and only arrive at their destination by Saturday evening. It was also rumoured that Hamburg would be that destination – the very place where Peter Thorne had parachuted into captivity, in 1943. The rumour did turn out to be true, since the train was destined to bring all the men to the Neuengamme concentration camp just outside Hamburg.

After the war Sgt Warren stated that the men realised that “once they were in Germany their chances of escape would be gone”. Thorne and Warren at once decided to break out of their waggon and escape. Within the Koeslag family the story of the escape is still known and shared. This is what happened, as told by Ap Koeslag and Tineke Harkink, both descendants of the farmer who hid Peter Thorne when he was captured and both living within sight of the old farm. Peter, or ‘little Pieter’ as he is still known within the family, and Warren stuffed their stomachs with the bread that they had received. Doing so would give them the energy needed to escape.

Another PoW, Polish soldier Julick Granat, joined their attempt to escape. Before the war Granat had worked as a railway employee, so he knew how the freight train operated. With this knowledge and his strength he knew to enlarge a ventilator shaft and make a hole in the train car. Probably around 2am Thorne, Warren, Granat and two other prisoners jumped from the train.

According to Sgt Warren, the German guards quickly noticed something was wrong and opened fire. This statement however is not backed up by the testimony of Bosch van Rosenthal. He and three other men noticed that a few men had escaped the train and, near the former train station of Beltrum-Zieuwent, also took their chance to jump into freedom.

At first Thorne’s fate after his jump was not clear. Sgt Warren stated that he had heard that Peter was hit by German bullets. Farmer Koeslag however stated in October 1945 to an officer of the RAF Missing Research and Enquiry Service, that Peter had succumbed to mortal wounds received when he jumped from the train. Koeslag’s story was backed up by an article in the local paper (Graafschap-bode) of 9th October 1945. The article describes that farmers Berentschot and Mellendijk from Heelweg, who hid a British army member themselves, had said that Thorne was mortally wounded during his jump from the train.

According to a story within the Koeslag family his overcoat got hooked to something during the jump. The newspaper article also described that the SD and Landwacht found Thorne and brought him to the Roman-Catholic St. Jozef hospital in Doetinchem. During the evening of 2nd February Thorne succumbed to his wounds because of severe blood loss and was buried at Doetinchem (Loolaan) General Cemetery. When news of his fate reached the United Kingdom he was ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’, gazetted on 13th June 1946.

Bravely Peter had chased after freedom. Freedom that had almost been within sight, since all the other men that escaped from the train with him did return home. But sadly Peter did not. His family choose a fitting epitaph, from a poem written by the American poet John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892). For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, “It might have been.”

Hopefully you feel even more connected to Peter’s epitaph after reading this story. Please share it with others and keep the memory of Warrant Officer Peter Thorne alive and treasure the freedom that he so longed for and helped to restore while serving his country.

Sadly Bosch van Rosenthal would also not live to see the liberation. During the unstable days while the Canadian Army was fighting the Germans to liberate his village, on 2nd April 1945 he was found dead in his garden, killed by a bullet. He lies buried at Vorden General Cemetery.


Sources:
-J.B.F. Bosch van Rosenthal, Ondergronds het verzetsverhaal van E.J. Bosch van Rosenthal (Zutphen 2005)
-Norman G. Brett-James, Book of remembrance and war record of Mill Hill School 1939-1945 (London 1948)
-Air Historical Branch RAF Archive
-Oliver Clutton-Brock, Footprints on the Sands of Time: RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 (Londen 2003)
-Jan Braakman, Klein Nederland. De oorlog in een Gelders dorp (IJzerlo 2010)

Pictures: see Dutch version:

- Peter Thorne
Source: Book of remembrance and war record of Mill Hill School 1939-1945
-Stammlager (Stalag) Luft IV-B, Mϋhlberg by Dick van Maarseveen.
- Source: https://krijgsgevangen.nl/fotogalerij-stalag-iv-b-muhlberg/
- De Kruisberg looking at the outer building where Thorne and Bosch van Rosenthal were kept, Source:
https://www.collectiegelderland.nl/organisaties/gelderlandinbeeld/voorwerp-12347
- war grave of WO Peter Thorne

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