Edited: on another link I found the identity of the plane was later confirmed as ED470. Tailgunner John Miller succesfully bailed out of the plane and was taken in by the local resistance. The rest of the crew perished.
http://www.oudzelhem.nl/oorlog/1944/omschrijving_historie2.htm
Translated from Dutch:
ZELHEM -The salvage of a Lancaster from fields near the Hummeloseweg in Zelhem should start in October. This was promised by mayor Henk Aalderink of the borough of Bronckhorst.
Aalderink took a delegation to Wierden (NL) where five years ago a similar was bomber was salvaged. A quotation for the Zelhem salvage has already been received back from a company specializing in such salvages. The costs will be paid 70% by the government, the remainder to be paid by the borough and other interested parties. According to Aalderink it should be possible to get the necessary money. The borough has already set aside 50.000 euro, the Roelvink foundation another 35.000.
The re-burial of the crew still inside the wreckage will be done in close cooperation with the embassies of the UK and Australia. It is intended to let the burial coincide with the (Dutch) memorial day of 04-MAY-2014.
About the crash:
http://www.oudzelhem.nl/oorlog/1944/omschrijving_historie.htm
The Lancaster crashed 23-SEP-1944 at 22:30 local time. It was part of a fleet attacking Münster and the Dortmund-Ems canal. The plane crashed nearly vertical, and was initially in pretty good shape. Within minutes though the ordnance exploded leaving nothing but small bits and pieces of the plane and crew. The explosion left a crater 18 x 23 metres in size, 6 metres deep. The shockwave could be felt over a distance of several kilometers. It destroyed a farm, and damaged several others.
A statement from the local doctor said that “one small strip of meat” was found, believed to be of human origin. It was buried at the Zelhem cemetary.
By: Arabella-Cox - 24th March 2013 at 21:50
Lanc crash
I wish the mayor and the teams involved the best of luck in their recovery efforts.
I am sceptical, though, that there will be anything left at all of either the plane or crew. If the aircraft crashed vertically then it would have been in a hole of its own making (despite the statement, above, which says the aircraft was in pretty good shape). When the bomb load went up, the explosion would have been, by definition, more or less where most of the crew remains would lie – within the fuselage .
Looking at the size of the resulting crater I would suggest that the chance of finding any remains at all are next to nil. There may be aircraft wreckage to be found, which was thrown in the crater afterwards but this, obviously, did not, or would not, have contained the crew.
Good Luck anyway. It is good to see such efforts being expended on recovering the fallen however long ago it may have been.
Anon.
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March 24, 2013 at 9:02 pm