Researchers identify British bomber near Dronten
Wreckage came from an Avro Lancaster shot down over the IJsselmeer in 1943.
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Researchers have established which aircraft crashed during the Second World War at the site where the Van Veldhuizenbos near Dronten now stands. It was Avro Lancaster Mk III JB120 LQ-D, whose seven crew members have been missing since 1943.
The identification was announced on Wednesday by the municipality of Dronten and Omroep Flevoland. Decisive evidence came from parts of a unique identification number on two pieces of aluminium. These were compared with historical data on British bombers from the Second World War.
The Lancaster was part of the Canadian 405 Pathfinder Squadron, which operated from England. On the night of 27–28 September 1943, the aircraft joined a major Allied attack on Hannover. It did not reach the target: on the way there, it was shot down by a German night fighter at around 10.10 pm.
The remains only came to lie in Dutch soil after Flevoland was reclaimed. In 2022, municipal employees found pieces of aluminium and other metal remains during work in the forest. The site was cordoned off because there might still have been munitions around the wreck.
The municipality decided to recover the wreck in 2024. Defence carried out the operation in November 2025. Specialists excavated parts of the site for four weeks and examined the components they found. They also discovered parts of target markers, equipment used by Pathfinder aircraft to indicate targets for other bombers.
The seven crew members were four Canadians, an Australian, a Scotsman and a Briton. Human remains had already been found in the area in 1959; they were buried as unidentified airmen at Jonkerbos military cemetery in Nijmegen. Further human remains were found during the 2025 recovery operation.
Defence is still investigating whether those remains came from the crew of the JB120. The identification of the aircraft therefore provides clarity about the plane, but not yet about the identity of the remains found. According to the municipality, some of the wreckage will be loaned to museums and foundations.
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The current identification and historical context can be found directly in Omroep Flevoland and Defence information. The article explicitly keeps the status of the human remains uncertain.
- confirmed The wreck near Dronten is Avro Lancaster Mk III JB120 LQ-D. — Omroep Flevoland reports that researchers established this on the basis of identification numbers. source
- confirmed The aircraft was shot down over the IJsselmeer on the night of 27–28 September 1943. — The historical reconstruction appears in Omroep Flevoland’s current report. source
- confirmed The remains were found in 2022 and recovered in November 2025. — Omroep Flevoland describes both moments. source
- confirmed The seven crew members are still missing. — This is reported in the current regional report. source
- confirmed The human remains found during the recovery have not yet been linked to the crew. — Omroep Flevoland reports that Defence is still investigating this. source
Editor's note
The identity of the aircraft and the historical flight have been confirmed. The origin of the human remains found is still being investigated.Sources
- Onderzoek geeft duidelijkheid: dit is het vliegtuig dat neerstortte bij Dronten — Omroep Flevoland
- Vliegtuigwrakken Tweede Wereldoorlog — Ministerie van Defensie
More on this in Dutch media
- de Volkskrant — „dronten avro lancaster”
- RTL Nieuws — „dronten avro lancaster”
- NOS — „dronten avro lancaster”