Three British airmen whose plane was shot down over the IJsselmeer in 1943 have been reburied with full military honours in Workum, reuniting them with two of their crewmates more than 80 years after their deaths.

The remains of Raymond Moore, Arthur Smart and Charles Sprack were discovered in 2023 during the recovery of the Lancaster ED603 bomber from the bottom of the lake.

The three men have now been laid to rest at Workum’s municipal cemetery, where fellow crew members Arthur Gordon Fletcher and Harold Howsam had already been buried.

The ceremony, organised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission together with the British defence ministry and local authorities, was attended by relatives, officials and representatives of military organisations.

The Lancaster ED603 crashed into the IJsselmeer on the night of June 12–13, 1943, while taking part in a bombing raid on the German city of Bochum. All seven crew members were killed. Some of their bodies washed ashore in Friesland soon afterwards, but three men remained missing for decades.

Five of the seven airmen are now buried together in Workum. Pilot Eric Tilbury was laid to rest in Stavoren shortly after the crash, and tail gunner Gordon Sugar is buried at the St Gertrudis churchyard in Hindeloopen.

“This marks the closing of a remarkable and emotional story of seven young men who fought for our freedom,” said Workum alderwoman Petra van den Akker. “Today felt like a dignified and respectful conclusion — one for which we will always be grateful.”

Some 250 to 300 planes were shot down over the IJsselmeer and Zuiderzee during WWII and many have never been found. Some 30 to 50 of the 5,500 war planes shot down over the Netherlands are thought to still contain human remains.