Stienstra_A-Poznan-cemetery
Flying Officer Stienstra's given name is listed as Arthur in official records, including the Canadian Book or Remembrance www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/books/bww2/page1944#S however there is evidence that his Christian name was actually "Aebe" (see www.stienstra.net/spoorloos-2/ and genealogy.andrysstienstra.nl/mijndatabase/personen/persoo...)
Stienstra was from Friesland in the Netherlands; how he ended up in the RCAF is unclear. In 1944 he was serving with 57 Squadron RAF at East Kirkby, a base made famous by the 617 Squadron "Dambusters." His Lancaster bomber was downed on 17 August 1944 while on a low-level "gardening" (i.e. mine-laying) run off Swinemunde. Three of the flight crew managed to bail out and survived; Stienstra was one of the unlucky four who did not. He was just 21 years old.
Stienstra_A-Poznan-cemetery
Flying Officer Stienstra's given name is listed as Arthur in official records, including the Canadian Book or Remembrance www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/books/bww2/page1944#S however there is evidence that his Christian name was actually "Aebe" (see www.stienstra.net/spoorloos-2/ and genealogy.andrysstienstra.nl/mijndatabase/personen/persoo...)
Stienstra was from Friesland in the Netherlands; how he ended up in the RCAF is unclear. In 1944 he was serving with 57 Squadron RAF at East Kirkby, a base made famous by the 617 Squadron "Dambusters." His Lancaster bomber was downed on 17 August 1944 while on a low-level "gardening" (i.e. mine-laying) run off Swinemunde. Three of the flight crew managed to bail out and survived; Stienstra was one of the unlucky four who did not. He was just 21 years old.