The washed-up pilot has been robbed

The body washed ashore belonged to 21-year-old pilot officer Ronald William ("Bill") Pryor, co-pilot of a British Wellington bomber. His plane had taken off from the Royal Air Force Marham base in Norfolk almost three weeks earlier, on the night of 2/3 August, for an attack on an oil refinery near Hamburg. On the return trip, the plane ran into problems. A distress signal was received about 2 a.m. - the aircraft was flying 100 miles northeast of Texel and reported engine problems. What exactly happened next is unclear. It is possible that the Wellington made an emergency landing in the North Sea.

In addition to Pryor – a few days later – the pilot Reginald Torrance Gerry was also washed ashore on the beach at Rottumeroog, radio operator James Dempsey was found at the foot of the dike near Heveskes and gunner John Scott Wilde floating in the Ems near Delfzijl. The bodies of observer Richard James Ruffell-Hazell and gunman Jack Millen Croft have never been identified. They may possibly rest in the two unnamed war graves at Delfzijl general cemetery.

Farmer B. was not the first to see Pryor's body. Marechaussee H. Spa had seen the pilot before. When Spa went to check again in the afternoon, he noted: 'But a ring was missing from one of the fingers and the watch from the wrist.' Spa's conclusion: 'They must have been removed.' The watch was – as it turned out later – in the possession of B., 'one of the nicest and fairest inhabitants of Uithuizen', as the newspaper wrote. No, the farmer had not removed it from the body, but had "found it". One meter away from the dead body. Then he had put the watch in his pocket.

The whereabouts of the ring remained a mystery for some time, until it was placed anonymously in the mailbox in an envelope 'for the post office manager'. The jewelry was wrapped in newspaper clippings. This could be traced back to a third walker: Jakob W. The eighteen-year-old brushmaker, who had to break the finger of the pilot to get his hands on the ring, 'had started to feel restless' after the incident was discussed in the village. Both Uithuizers were convicted of 'death robbery'. The lawsuits attracted national attention.

Since 2015, a memorial has been placed on the dike near Uithuizen for the six crew of the Wellington who died. The erection of the monument was an initiative of writer Marjo Stevelmans from Uithuizen. The unveiling took place in the presence of family members of Pryor, Dempsey and Gerry and a delegation from the RAF.