Dronten wreckage identified as British WWII bomber

Aircraft wreckage uncovered four years ago in Dronten has been identified as a British WWII bomber, according to local officials.

Discovered in what is now the Van Veldhuizenbos forest in Dronten, the aircraft is said to be a British Avro Lancaster Mk III that was shot down by German forces on the night of September 27-28, 1943, while attempting to target Hanover, Germany.

The aircraft, run by the Canadian 405 Pathfinder Squadron stationed near Cambridge, England, crashed into what was then the Ijsselmeer.

The plane was carrying seven crew members – four Canadians, one Australian, and two Britons – whose bodies were never recovered. But human remains were found in 1959 and buried in the Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen.

Additional human remains were discovered and are now being examined by the Ministry of Defence’s Recovery and Identification Service to see if they belong to the slain crew members.

“Behind every plane wreck lies a human story,” said Dronten mayor Jean Paul Gebben, who said the aircraft’s identification was of great historical significance.

Some of the recovered wreckage will be loaned to museums and foundations.

The government estimates that some 5,500 aircraft were lost over the Netherlands during the Second World War. Annually, a maximum of three aircraft recovery operations are carried out in the country, with the costs mostly covered by the national government.