Me-109 recovery in The Netherlands

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14 years 11 months

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http://www.destentor.nl/regio/apeldoorn/6531791/Berging-jachtvlieger-uit-oorlog-gestart.ece

Summary: in Wenum Wiesel near Apeldoorn (The Netherlands) recovery operations have started today to recover the pilot and any aircraft/explosives remains of a WW2 German Fighter. Aircraft concerned was a Messerschmidt from Hannover, that came down on January 30th, 1944 while on a sortie against a US bomber strike. Major Petersen of the air force recovery group stated there is a very high probability of finding human remains on the site. Work will take approx two weeks.

Site is in the field behind and in the garden itself of Hendrina Holtrigter who is quoted in the article: 'I was 14 months old at the time. The fighter aircraft came down on a sunday afternoon in our back garden. The explosion lifted my crib half a meter off the ground. The garden was ablaze. My sister cried on the top of her lungs with fear. The pilot's remains were hanging out of what was left of the cockpit. My father buried him in our garden.'

Aircraft concerned is a bf.109 according to the council.

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14 years 11 months

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Quick search has turned up 19 (!) Bf.109's that came down in (mostly) the eastern part of The Netherlands that day. Almost all in early afternoon. Two aircraft fit the description of the site. An unidentified Bf.109G-6/U4 flown by Uffz. R. Lennhoff (4./JG11) mentioned as '10 kilometres north of Apeldoorn' (which is a couple of kilometres away from the dig site, but close) and Bf.109G-6 Wnr. 20701 of the same unit, flown by Uffz. E. Reichwein described as 'between Zwolle and Apeldoorn' which roughly fits the description.

Would be very good indeed to give the pilot a proper last resting place...

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ID?

Eric,
has it been clarified which Bf109 it was?

Greetz
GertJan Mentink-Scramble / Aerovet

p.s. still busy with Beavers??????

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19 years

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More pics info welcome on this one

Member for

14 years 11 months

Posts: 1,755

Pilot is being identified at the moment. No word yet, but there's a good chance he will be named shortly. I understand dogtags and personal items were recovered as well...

However, further research points towards Uffz. Lennhoff's aircraft as the one that came down near Wenum Wiesel that day.

@Gert-Jan, no, the DHC-2 archive was lost in a fire some years ago. Have now turned my attention to hands-on, rebuilding vintage sailplanes...

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15 years 1 month

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Hopefully another family will soon have closure.

Was it usual for the German's not to recover the remains of the pilot and remove what was left of the aircraft ?