Steenbergen (Brabant)
Encyclopedia
Steenbergen is a municipality
and a city in the province of North Brabant
in the south of the Netherlands
.
The municipality has 23,202 inhabitants (May 31, 2009, source: CBS) and covers an area of 160 km ² (of which 10 km ² water). The municipality is mainly agricultural, but the capital of Steenbergen and town of Dinteloord
also contain some light industry.
It also includes the hamlet of t'Haantje
.
in 1272.
, Wing Commander
and the first CO of the RAF's 617 Squadron which he led in the "Dam Busters
" raid in 1943, crashed with his Mosquito
aircraft in this municipality. Having returned to operational duties in 1944 after pestering Bomber Command, Gibson was killed along with his navigator Sqn Ldr Jim Warwick, on a bombing raid on Rheydt
(nowadays a borough of Mönchengladbach
) operating as a Pathfinder Master Bomber
based at RAF Coningsby
, when his de Havilland Mosquito
XX, KB267
, crashed near Steenbergen on 19 September 1944, aged 26. It was assumed for many years that he had been shot down, but following the discovery of the wreckage of his plane, it was found that a fault with the fuel tank selector had meant that the aircraft had simply run out of fuel. An eye-witness account detailed how his aircraft circled Steenbergen, and then heard its engines 'splutter and stop'. The graves are located in the RC cemetery of Steenbergen. A street has been named after Gibson, and one of the aircraft's propeller
s is located in the city park.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
and a city in the province of North Brabant
North Brabant
North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
in the south of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
The municipality has 23,202 inhabitants (May 31, 2009, source: CBS) and covers an area of 160 km ² (of which 10 km ² water). The municipality is mainly agricultural, but the capital of Steenbergen and town of Dinteloord
Dinteloord
Dinteloord is a village in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant.The village has 5,600 inhabitants Dinteloord is known because of the sugarplant that it houses, and the Muza festivals that have been held for over 50 years.- History :...
also contain some light industry.
Population centres
- Steenbergen (population: 12,440)
- DinteloordDinteloordDinteloord is a village in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant.The village has 5,600 inhabitants Dinteloord is known because of the sugarplant that it houses, and the Muza festivals that have been held for over 50 years.- History :...
(5,680) - Nieuw-VossemeerNieuw-VossemeerNieuw-Vossemeer is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Steenbergen, about 10 km northeast of Bergen op Zoom.Nieuw-Vossemeer was a separate municipality until 1997, when it became part of Steenbergen....
(2,400) - Kruisland (2,340)
- De Heen (580)
It also includes the hamlet of t'Haantje
't Haantje (North Brabant)
't Haantje is a hamlet in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is located in the municipality of Steenbergen, about 2 km west of Kruisland.-References:...
.
The city of Steenbergen
Steenbergen received city rightsCity rights in the Netherlands
City rights are a medieval phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries. A liegelord, usually a count, duke or similar member of high nobility, granted a settlement he owned certain town privileges that settlements without city rights did not have....
in 1272.
Graves of Guy Gibson and Jim Warwick
Guy GibsonGuy Gibson
Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, RAF , was the first CO of the Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam Busters" raid in 1943, resulting in the destruction of two large dams in the Ruhr area...
, Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
and the first CO of the RAF's 617 Squadron which he led in the "Dam Busters
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
" raid in 1943, crashed with his Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
aircraft in this municipality. Having returned to operational duties in 1944 after pestering Bomber Command, Gibson was killed along with his navigator Sqn Ldr Jim Warwick, on a bombing raid on Rheydt
Rheydt
Rheydt is a borough of the German city Mönchengladbach, located in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 1918 and then again from 1933 through 1975 it was an independent city....
(nowadays a borough of Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach , formerly known as Münchengladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border....
) operating as a Pathfinder Master Bomber
Pathfinder (RAF)
The Pathfinders were elite squadrons in RAF Bomber Command during World War II. They located and marked targets with flares, which a main bomber force could aim at, increasing the accuracy of their bombing...
based at RAF Coningsby
RAF Coningsby
RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England. It has been commanded by Group Captain Martin Sampson since 10 December 2010.-Operational units:...
, when his de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
XX, KB267
United Kingdom military aircraft serials
In the United Kingdom to identify individual aircraft, all military aircraft are allocated and display a unique serial number. A unified serial number system, maintained by the Air Ministry , and its successor the Ministry of Defence , is used for aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force , Fleet...
, crashed near Steenbergen on 19 September 1944, aged 26. It was assumed for many years that he had been shot down, but following the discovery of the wreckage of his plane, it was found that a fault with the fuel tank selector had meant that the aircraft had simply run out of fuel. An eye-witness account detailed how his aircraft circled Steenbergen, and then heard its engines 'splutter and stop'. The graves are located in the RC cemetery of Steenbergen. A street has been named after Gibson, and one of the aircraft's propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
s is located in the city park.