March 15, 1945 is etched in the memory of many Enkhuizers. A bombardment, carried out by English pilots, causes considerable damage in the port area, but mainly costs 25 . lives inhabitants. Now 77 years later, they are commemorated with, among other things, a new memorial plaque near the Drommedaris.
It is about 3.30 pm when four British Spitfire planes fly over. In the harbor were boats of the Wasserschutzpolizei that kept an eye on the IJsselmeer. The British wanted to prevent the boats from being used for a German attack on the liberated eastern part of the Netherlands.
Twelve bombs are dropped in a short time. The patrol boats are not hit, but the damage is enormous. And many people are unable to flee. Henk Kenter, now 83, can talk about it.
‘I stepped over my father’
He plays in the street with other children when the planes are approaching. “At one point my father came. We had to flee from him. We left like lightning. I fled into a house, which half collapsed. Then I went outside and I stepped over someone. That turned out to be my to have been a father.”
Kenter will also speak at the memorial today. About the enormous impact his father’s death had. “I had a difficult period after that. I am now 83, but I have missed a father all the rest of my life.”
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During the commemoration, the names of the 25 deceased persons were mentioned and candles were lit. Afterwards, the new commemorative plaque was unveiled on the Landje van Top next to the Drommedaris.
Also check out the report we made in 2013 about the bombing