On the night of 8-9 May 1941, the Wellington Mk 1C aircraft of the No. 305 Squadron took off with nine crew members from Syerston Airport near Nottingham, for an attack on the German city of Bremen. Before the men could unload their bombs, they were intercepted over the IJsselmeer by a German fighter plane.
The bombardment was aimed at strategic targets such as the shipyards, the oil refinery, the steel factory and the Focke Wulf aircraft factory.
Above the IJsselmeer, the aircraft was fired upon by a German Messchersmitt Bf 110 of the night fighters command (4/NJG 1). These night fighters were stationed at Bergen Airport near Alkmaar. The Wellington was armed with eight machine guns, two in the nose turret, four in the tail turret and two amidships in the flanks.
Despite the heavy armament, the bomber was set on fire and at 00:48 it crashed into the IJsselmeer, 12 km southwest of Lemmer. All crew members were killed in the crash. The aircraft was recovered on August 22, 2016. After the salvage of the aircraft, this monument was unveiled in memory of the crew members on 2 May 2017 at the De Hege Gerzen recreation area in Oudemirdum.
