Vorstenbosch is a village of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Bernheze Bernheze () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. It was formed as a rename of Heesch, Netherlands, Heesch in 1995. The municipalities of Heeswijk-Dinther and Nistelrode ...

. Bernheze is located in the province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

, one of the 12 provinces of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1485 as Vorsschenbosch. The etymologie of the first word is unclear. It can either mean "front (nearest) forest" or "forest with frogs". Vorstenbosch was home to 355 people in 1840. The St Lambartus Church dates from 1932. Before 1994 it formed with Nistelrode the municipality Nistelrode.

Stirling memorial.

On Wednesday 20 September 1944, during Operation Market Garden, a Short Stirling Bomber (LK-548) from 620 Squadron crashed on the outskirts of the village. The aircraft had taken off from

RAF Fairford Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force (RAF) List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. While being an RAF station, Fairford hosts United States Air Force personnel. Since 20 ...

at 14.45 pm to resupply British paratroopers on the ground at

Oosterbeek Oosterbeek is a village in the eastern part of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Renkum in the province of Gelderland, about west of Arnhem. The oldest part of Oosterbeek is the Benedendorp (Lower Village), on the northern bank ...

. After successfully dropping their supplies the aircraft was hit by flak and 88 mm anti aircraft shells and caught fire but continued to fly for another 50 km before crashing into a Dutch farm at Vorstenbosch. As the aircraft began losing height,

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

Pilot Officer Maurice McHugh ordered the crew to bail out. It was later reported that he refused a chute which was offered to him and stayed at the controls to attempt a forced landing. Three airmen, Navigator - Flight Sergeant, John (Jock) Hume, Flight Engineer – Sergeant, David Evans, Bomb Aimer - Flight Sergeant, Nicholas Gasgoyne managed to parachute out. They sustained injuries but evaded capture and were helped back to England with the aid of the Dutch resistance. Maurice McHugh, along with the remainder of his crew were killed when the aircraft crashed. They included Wireless Operator - Flight Sergeant, Eric Arthur Bradshaw, Rear Gunner- Sergeant, Thomas Vickers, Dispatcher - Lance Corporal, John Waring and Dispatcher – Driver, Ernest Victor Heckford. By the evening, the Battle for the

Arnhem Bridge John Frost Bridge (''John Frostbrug'' in Dutch language, Dutch) is the road bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, in the Netherlands. The bridge was inaugurated after the end of World War II, and is named after Major-General (United Kingdom), Ma ...

was all but lost. Nearly half the British, American and Polish troops that landed at Arnhem were either killed, wounded or captured. Maurice McHugh was one of 13 Australian airmen lost. He was only 21 years old and is buried along with the other members of his crew in a collective grave at

Groesbeek Groesbeek () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. In January 2015 the former municipality merged with Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen. The larger area was known as Groesbeek until January 2016, whe ...

. The body of Ernest Heckford was never found but he is commemorated at the entrance to the cemetery. The bent propeller and other pieces of the wreckage are on display in th
Typhoon Museum
at the nearby Airbase Volkel. They were recovered in 1977 when the farmland at the crash site was being levelled. In 2015, the community of Vorstenbosch built a small memorial at the site of the crash at Meuwelweg.

Sights

Interesting things to see: * Parish church St. Lambertus * Corn mill "Windlust", completely restored in 2008 * Old lime tree * Blow dunes in the vicinity (Bedaf) * Memorial to the Short Stirling crash - 20 Sept 1944

Gallery

File:Windlust.jpg , Wind mill Windlust File:Vorstenbosch (N-Br, NL), Leigraaf.JPG, Landscape near Vorstenbosch

References

External links

Vorstenbosch local information (in Dutch)
Populated places in North Brabant Bernheze {{NorthBrabant-geo-stub