Search is on for relatives of war hero

Dec 4 2008 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

EFFORTS are being made to trace surviving relatives of a Lanarkshire war hero.

George Hinshelwood died after his bomber was shot down over Holland in World War Two.

He is buried in Murmerwoude, a village about 15 miles north-east of Leeuwarden in the Dutch northern province of Friesland.

Now a museum in the area are compiling information on the incident.

They have over the past two years traced four families of the crew members who were killed but the relatives of Mr Hinshelwood have not yet been found.

Douwe Drijver, who is helping to bring together data on the incident, believes George Allan Hinshelwood was born in 1920 to Robert Stewart Hinshelwood and Mary Neilson Robertson Hinshelwood, of Larkhall.

After training, George rose to the rank of flight sergeant and was posted to No. 218 Squadron.

He was one of the crew of a Short Stirling bomber, BF505, of 218 Squadron that took off from Downham Market in Norfolk with an intended target of Dortmund, Germany.

At 01.07 hours on May 4, 1943, the plane was shot down by a German nightfighter piloted by Robert Denzel. The bomber started to burn and crashed near Murmerwoude, 10 miles from the northern coast of Holland. Five crew members, including George, were killed and are buried in the cemetery of Murmerwoude. Three bailed out of the craft and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.

Douwe Drijver said: “At the moment at our museum in Leeuwarden, there is an exhibition running about the air war over Friesland between 1940-1945.

“I am treasurer of one of the participating organisations.

“A visitor to the exhibition asked us if we could be of assistance in tracing relatives of Mr Hinshelwood.

“We have been able to trace details of the other air crew who died and they are featured in the exhibition. If we can find members of the Hinshelwood family, we might be able to complete the showcase at the exhibition which commemorates the unfortunate crew.”

l Anyone with information should contact John Rowbotham on 01698 205165 or send an e-mail to jrowbotham@s-un.co.uk