Well Done the Cloggies - New Memorial Opened in the Netherlands

[buffnut453]

Wasn't sure where to put this...but hats off to our Dutch friends for this remarkable memorial which was opened last month. It commemorates the airmen who crashed in the IJsselmeer in WW2, and remain missing unto this day.

"A broken wing lies in a place where it does not really belong; just as the missing airmen have remained in a place, far away from their loved ones, where they do not really belong."

Troost voor nabestaanden 220 vermiste vliegeniers met nationaal monument

Tot op de dag van vandaag zijn er nog veel geallieerde vliegeniers vermist die tijdens WO2 boven het IJsselmeer werden neergeschoten.

nos.nl

nationaalmonumentmissingairmen.nl


So...a heartfelt THANK YOU to the people of the Netherlands for refusing to forget. Bless you all!

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

My gramps went missing over NW Europe in 1943. I've often wondered if he wasn't swallowed up by the polder. All the same, good on them, and I'm grateful for anyone who remembers the sacrifice.

 

[Gnomey]

 

[Snautzer01]

not only allied just today Neergestorte Duitse piloot bij Nijtap na 79 jaar geïdentificeerd

A German pilot who crashed with a fighter plane in Nijtap near Opeinde in World War II has been identified after 79. It concerns non-commissioned officer Konstantin Benzien.
The plane crashed on December 11, 1943 at a butcher's shop in the hamlet. Because it happened at such a high speed, the aircraft ended up deep in the ground.

Only some remains of the pilot were found. He was buried in an unnamed grave. The Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation (SMAMF) subsequently tried for a long time to find out the name of the pilot. This has now been achieved through DNA testing.
Benzien's ring

German pilot gets a name
The plane carrying Benzien was not the only plane to crash. According to the foundation, it was raining planes that day. This was because the Luftwaffe was able to intercept a group of American bombers. Then fierce dogfights ensued. At least twenty American and ten German planes have crashed.
Two missing
Most victims could be identified fairly quickly. But exactly which German pilots had died remained a mystery for a long time. Archive research by the SMAMF shows that only two German pilots were missing on 11 December 1943: Friedrich König and Konstantin Benzien. One of them had to be the victim in Nijtap.
Ring fan Konstantin Benzien © SMAMF

In 1999 it became clear that König had died at the Drentse Peest. According to the SMAMF, this made it clear that it was Benzien who died in Nijtap. However, the German authorities only identify people on the basis of DNA evidence and there was none yet.
Getting DNA Wasn't Easy
Retrieving the DNA of the Benzien family was not easy. His immediate family was already dead. And the grandchildren of one of Benzien's sisters were no longer eligible to provide a DNA sample.
Researcher Alexander Tuinhout did receive two letters from Benzien's eldest sister. The National Forensic Institute succeeded in securing DNA via the stamp and the glue edges. The DNA profile of the unknown pilot's bones matched the DNA profile of the oldest sister. This made it clear that it was Konstantin Benzien.

 

[special ed]

Many years ago there was an article in an aviation magazine about a Fw 190 found in a low water time that apparently belly landed and sank in the shallow water. The canopy was back and the seat belt unfastened. No trace of the pilot or his gear was found. There was some speculation that he survived and simply quit the war. I have wondered for years about this story.

 

[MiTasol]

The Dutch have always been ahead of many other countries in honouring those who died in WW2.

Many of you are familiar with the tune Il Silenzio from 1965. What most do not know is that to quote Wiki

Il Silenzio (song) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Old Wizard]

I always mist up when I hear this song.