Wreckage excavated bomber from WW2 divided among museums

“It is close by for me. I think it was about 1,000 meters as the crow flies,” says Paul Visser of Museum Collection ’39-’45 from Winkel about the excavation last June. “And there are just very tangible things in between. I just had a piece of a radio. Someone just sat behind it. That was their only means of communication with the outside world.”

The aircraft was excavated last spring/summer in the Kostverlorenpolder near Nieuwe Niedorp as part of the National Program for Salvage of Aircraft Wrecks. This project of, and funded by, the government is for the excavation of crashed planes that probably still have crew members. The remains of five crew members were found on this aircraft. A sixth had managed to save himself with his parachute before the crash.

“This is a story that must always be told. And where future generations can see what it was like then and how the aircraft came down. And what is left of it,” says Ingrid Sijtzel, project leader on behalf of the municipality of Hollands Kroon. “Because it has been a huge blow. The current situation in the world also indicates that this story must be told.”

Text continues below the photo.

Between the ‘standard’ aircraft materials such as propellers and engine parts, there are also more personal pieces. “This is a bail-out bottle,” says Paul Vissers of Museum Collection ’39-’45. “They wore these on their bodies so that they had oxygen if they had to walk through the plane or jump at a great height, for example. We have made an exhibition especially about this aircraft. There is also a Czech ‘aviator’ in uniform.”

“And this is a chair that one of the crew members has sat on. That makes it a lot more personal,” says Lars Rustenburg of the War Museum in Medemblik. “Someone was sitting here when they came down. So we are going to find a good place for that. We are going to make an exhibition about the air war over West Friesland. And this fits very well with that of course.”

Text continues below the photo.

In addition to the museums in Winkel and Medemblik, material also goes to the Motorcycle Museum in Nieuwe Niedorp. “And some material also goes to the Czech Republic”, says Paul Visser, “That is very nice for them there because of course they have little material from crashed aircraft in which their own crew is involved.”

During the excavation, all parts were carefully studied, at least one part is being examined further. “This is the dinghy, which was on the wing of the plane. If they ended up in the water, they could save themselves with it,” says Ingrid Sijtzel. “It is still completely in color and it also contained an emergency ration. It is still being investigated by the Air Force salvage service in Woensdrecht.”