WW2 Lancaster recovered from the sea bed

[iggie]

https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/ww ... -80-years/

[DavidWomby]

Wonderful that they still go to the effort to do things like this for those who sacrificed and their families.

David

[iggie]

Wonderful that they still go to the effort to do things like this for those who sacrificed and their families.

David

Isn't it just? A magnificent effort by all concerned...

[Davem]

I wonder what's buried on the recovered areas of land i.e. now dry land?

[beany]

The individual photos of the lost aircrew are very poignant - they deserve a memorial of some type which I hope will be part of the project.

[wokka]

Yes, a lot of these guys were 20-22years old.

[rob_van_riel]

I wonder what's buried on the recovered areas of land i.e. now dry land?

Good question, so I asked a friend who works in archeology if any serious recovery efforts had been made during the reclamation. I'd expected a quick one or two lines of response, which I would have gladly paraphrased, but I got a rather more complete story, so without further ado I'll hand the microphone to Godfried (any translation errors are on me):

"During the land reclamations in the Ijsselmeer in the 1960s and '70s, the recovery department of the KLu (Dutch Airforce) spent serious effort on locating WWII airplane wrecks. The wrecks recovered even included a German Gotha G.V bomber from 1917 that had gotten lost over The Netherlands. My uncle, who was a KLu sergeant-major at the DVM (aircraft materials depot) at Gilze-Rijen, took part in the recovery of several allied bombers in those years.

The main purpose of the recovery work in those days was to clear out any live ordinance and munitions still contained in the wrecks, in view of the potential danger those posed to residential areas and roads planned for the reclaimed land. For the government at the time, safety was the primary concern, not historical research or the recovery of the remains of any crewmembers that might still be inside the wrecks.

Not all wrecks in what are now the Ijsselmeerpolders were recovered at that time, only those that were identified from the surface, and now on dry land. Wrecks still under water typically pose no immediate danger, and are mainly recovered if they become some form of hazard. Starting about four years ago, plans have been drawn up for the recovery of about fifty allied aircraft wrecks, some of them in the Ijsselmeer, the crews of which are still listed as missing after eighty years."

[Gregers]

I watched a documentary years ago where a B24 was found in reclaimed land. After investigations the fuselage was filled in with concrete.
Anyone have a link to it?:I wouldn't mind watching it again.

All the best

Greg