Emotion among relatives of soldiers who died in a plane crash above the IJsselmeer during the Second World War. Today they visited an exhibition about the plane and the crash in Fort Veldhuis. On June 12, 1943, the aircraft crashed after returning from an attack in Germany. Six British and one Canadian die. The remains of the last three missing persons may have recently been found in the salvage yard of the Lancaster ED603.
Assendelver Johan Graas of the Airport Recovery Group 1940-1945 foundation has been researching the hundreds of aircraft that crashed in the IJsselmeer during the Second World War for decades. His primary goal is to find the victims so they can be buried.
“That is incredibly important for relatives,” he says while waiting for relatives of the Lancaster ED603. “In 1996, fishermen from Volendam found an aircraft engine that we were able to trace. And after that we went diving numerous times. Everything that was found is displayed in the Fort.”
After 27 years, the aircraft is now finally being recovered and the defense has been working for weeks in the IJsselmeer near the Afsluitdijk. Last week, remains were found, possibly those of the last three missing crew members. The other four are buried in Friesland.
Eric Tilbury
Hazel and her brother Peter Hill are Eric Tilbury’s niece and nephew. According to Graas, the 25-year-old pilot of the plane tried in vain to make an emergency landing after being shot at by the Germans. Hazel and Peter visited their uncle’s grave in Stavoren last week and also visited the salvage yard.
“That was very impressive,” says Peter, “All the water had been pumped away so that you looked directly at the remains of the crashed plane. You realized even more what had happened. Our uncle came to life even more.”
The exhibition includes a film about Eric and his airplane seat can also be seen. “That hits you in the heart,” says Hazel, “that you know this was the last place my uncle was.”
Fiance
Hazel and Peter are very grateful to Johan for unearthing so much information and objects. For a long time they knew nothing about their uncle. They only found out about this through a daughter of Eric’s fiancée: Diana Marsh. At one point she found a photo of a young man in uniform at home and wondered who he was.
When her mother told her it was her fiancé who had died, she went to investigate. That’s how she eventually ended up with Johan. When she is asked whether she carries Eric in her heart, she falls silent and has to swallow back tears: “Absolutely, no doubt whatsoever.”
Peter realizes very well that they, as a family, were lucky that their uncle had a grave to which they could go. “That is why I hope that the other three crew members will be identified. It is so important for the family to be able to end it with dignity.”