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View Full Version : Bomber crew coming Home ?


fitliker
4th Sep 2022, 11:35
British bomber shot down in WWII to be recovered from Dutch lakeNearly 80 years after German forces shot down a British bomber over a Dutch lake, work is set to begin on recovering the aircraft — with hopes of finding remains of its missing crew.
https://www.dw.com/en/british-bomber-shot-down-in-wwii-to-be-recovered-from-dutch-lake/a-62996939

Self loading bear
4th Sep 2022, 12:42
Earliest recovery next summer.
3 airmen still missing
Dutch news (https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/09/lancaster-ed603-with-remains-british-airmen-to-be-salvaged-from-ijsselmeer/)

uxb99
4th Sep 2022, 15:48
Great that the Dutch are still remembering their sacrifice and helping to recover them.

fitliker
4th Sep 2022, 23:37
I am tormented emotionally by the thought of disturbing a war grave and honouring our heroes . Their spirit knows we are grateful for their sacrifice , maybe their bones should be given the opportunity to hear our thanks . The families are in favour of finding their heroes remains . Otherwise I might be against disturbing a sacred war grave and disturbing the peace those brave souls have found at the bottom of the lake . Some Might say it is unconscionable to disturb a war grave or disrespectful. I know I am torn between moving them and respecting the families wishes to bring them home .
If they do find them I hope our heroes are given a heroes welcome home and We all get a chance to say thank you . Big send off and street party in their hometowns to follow .

Jhieminga
5th Sep 2022, 10:56
For many years recovering the remains from sites such as these was not possible, too expensive, there were other more pressing issues... and so on. Now that the facilities are available and there is a request from the families to do so, the recovery becomes an option. The councilor mentions in the press release that they have weighed the options and decided to grant this request. There is a national fund to cover the costs of operations like these.

Chances are that over time war graves such as these will end up being disturbed in some way, by fishing operations, civil engineering projects or other circumstances, that risk is always around. Or they will have to be recovered because they are in the way of specific plans, as happened a few years back with a Wellington wreck in the IJsselmeer. Because of this, a recovery operation while there's still a family around and there's the willingness for a proper send off is not the worst outcome.

WB627
5th Sep 2022, 14:12
As the son of a war time RAF pilot, if one of the crew had been my Dad, I would want him home for a proper burial. I would not want him left in a watery grave. My wife who's dad was also a wartime pilot, would want him home as well.

Richard Woods
5th Sep 2022, 18:25
What isn't mentioned in that article is that there's a good chance of the crew being recovered due to the aircraft being substatially intact, albeit inverted.

More info here -

https://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/27.html

WB627
6th Sep 2022, 12:45
What isn't mentioned in that article is that there's a good chance of the crew being recovered due to the aircraft being substatially intact, albeit inverted.

More info here -

https://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/27.html

That is an incredible web site