There is a green sign of the War Graves Foundation on the entrance gate of the General Cemetery in Workum. It indicates that six airmen from the United Kingdom and three from Canada are buried in this cemetery.
In the night of 4 to 5 May the British Lancaster W4888 crashed near Workum. With nearly six hundred other Allied aircraft, the bomber had taken part in an air raid on the German city of Dortmund. On the return flight to England, the Lancaster was intercepted by a German night fighter over the IJsselmeer, causing it to catch fire.
The pilot managed to maneuver the battered aircraft back to the Frisian coast. Before the Lancaster could be grounded, disaster struck and the plane exploded. Six of the seven crew members were killed in the crash.
On May 7, 1943, five crew members were buried at the General Cemetery in Workum. Later, tail gunner John Milner Hadfield followed, he had previously been ejected from the bomber, and was not found until a few days after the crash. In the night of 12-13 June 1943 the Lancaster III ED603 took off from Wyton airfield for an air raid on the German city of Bochum. On the return flight, the bomber was intercepted by a German night fighter, causing it to catch fire and crash into the IJsselmeer.Â
The entire crew was killed in the crash. Later, the bodies of bomber Arthur G. Fletcher, navigator Harold E. Howsam and navigator Leonard Sprackling washed ashore at Workum. They were later buried in the General Cemetery.
