The relatives of the crew members have been notified, proper funeral services are planned to inter the crew's remains with full military honors.
The wreckage of that plane was discovered in January 2020, 77 years after it crashed into Lake Markermeer in the Netherlands, shot down by German ace pilot Werner Rapp over Holland when returning from a bombing mission.
Lake Markermeer is one of Europe’s largest freshwater lakes, a vast 270-square-mile expanse of water, which regulates the level of water in the rest of the Netherlands
After first locating the wreckage in 2008, the plane was mistakenly identified as BK710 but was later identified correctly as BK716 using the identification numbers from a raised piece of the tail section.
When divers scoured the debris site of the sunken bomber, some of the items helped prove the identity of the plane beyond a doubt, he said.
“We found a cigarette lighter with the initials JMC for James Michael Campbell,” said Graaf.
Campbell was one of the seven flight crew assigned to the RAF 218 Squadron who took off from an airfield near Downham Market.
He said divers also found four parachutes still unused in the plane indicating the crew never managed to bail out of the fuselage before it dived or spiralled into the inky nighttime blackness of the lake below.
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/short-stirling.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-51249752
Thanks for posting this. When we think of British heavy bombers we always think of the Lancaster, but the Stirling did yeoman's work and often carried bombs that were too big for the Lancaster. The enormity of WW2 is shown in how we're still finding ships and planes after 75 years or more.
ReplyDeleteWhy the hell do these guys doing documentaries have such shitty sound quality!? Damn I hate that.
ReplyDeleteI find this fascinating also sad,
ReplyDeleteIs the project now Finnished?
Much respect to all those people in Holland who have spent much time and dedication to this project.
Finnish, you mean the people of the country Finland? Or finished, as that something is completed?
DeleteI only posted what the two sources had to say, if there is more info, you'll find out not by asking me, but by asking google.
Agreed, much respect. There aren't many people who'll volunteer their time to do something about a history project