Translation with the help of Google translate. Klik hier voor de versie in het Nederlands.
The six locations
Locations of the Memorial Columns, the numbers correspond to the addresses below. Click on the map to enlarge.
Directly to the relevant Memorial Column? Click on the name of the aircraft.
- Waverveen, Veldweg between house numbers 1a and 1b – Avro Lancaster, March 30th 1943
- Waverveen, Poeldijk opposite house number 2a (Fa. Ruizendaal) – Bristol Blenheim, June 27th 1940
- Mijdrecht, Tienboerenweg opposite house number 9 – Vickers Wellington, March 29th 1942
- Wilnis, roundabout Mijdrechtse Dwarsweg/N212 Ir. Enschedeweg, at the entrance of the parking lot – Vickers Wellington, May 5th 1943
- Wilnis, Mijdrechtse Dwarsweg, on the cycle path just east of the water storage/cellar – Dornier, May 10th 1940 (German, empty)
- Vinkeveen, near Botsholsedijk 30, to the left of the entrance to the black work shed Natuurmonumenten – Junker May, 13th 1941 (German)
The columns
&bnsp;
(1) Avro Lancaster, March 30th, 1943
Memorial column near the place where a warplane crashed in World War II. This column is located on the Veldweg (between house numbers 1a and 1b) in Waverveen where it is commemorated that an Avro Lancaster crashed on March 30th 1943 (behind the dike).
Detail of a memorial column with information panel and the date of the event. Click on the picture to enlarge the information panel
To the top
(2) Bristol Blenheim, June 27th 1940
Waverveen, Poeldijk opposite house number 2a (Fa. Ruizendaal)
Click on the picture to enlarge
View of the place where the fighter plane crashed, at the foot of the dike. Click on the picture to enlarge the information panel.
Visitors to the Memorial Column have brought flowers and a photo collage of the crew (photo August 5th 2019)
More about the history (in English and Dutch) and photos: Luchtoorlog Waverveen en omstreken
To the top
(3) Vickers Wellington, March 29th 1942
Mijdrecht, Tienboerenweg opposite house number 9
After 3 months, the characteristic rust formation of weathering (corten) steel can already be seen.
Click on the picture to enlarge the information panel.
More about the history (in English and Dutch) and photos: Luchtoorlog Waverveen en omstreken
To the top
(4) Memorial column Vickers Wellington, 5 mei 1943
Wilnis, roundabout Mijdrechtse Dwarsweg/N212 Ir. Enschedeweg, at the entrance to the P+R parking lot
Vickers Wellington memorial column that crashed further away (behind the trees) on May 5, 1943. Click on the photo to enlarge the information panel.
On May 5, 2020, a passerby had put a rose in the three of 1943. Photo taken 7 hours and 77 years after the crew members died.
In connection with this Memorial column …
1. The Bristol Hercules XVI-engine monument, to the left of this column.
2. The Robert Moulton path, halfway to Wilnis village, the walking path over the railway embankment is named after the pilot (April 2019).
3. In Wilnis village: Memorial to fallen Canadian soldiers by Edwin Merks and their graves in the adjacent cemetery of the NH church.
To the left of the Memorial column Vickers Wellington is the Bristol Hercules XVI engine monument of this aircraft.
Location of the impact and excavation in September 2002. The square indicates the location of the Memorial column Vickers Wellington. The parking lot in the woods. Photo collection Piet Kroon.
If you walk through the parking lot to the end, you will have a good view of the place. In the photo the cows are lying exactly where the plane crashed. The pasture there was slightly raised after the salvage operation in 2002.
More about the history (in English and Dutch) and photos: Luchtoorlog Waverveen en omstreken
To the top
(5) Dornier, May 10th 1940, German (empty)
Wilnis, Mijdrechtse Dwarsweg, on the cycle path just east of the water storage/cellar
Memorial column oriented to the place of the crash. Note the spire of Wilnis, just above the trees on the horizon. Click on the image to enlarge the information board
More about the history (in English and Dutch) and photos: Luchtoorlog Waverveen en omstreken
To the top
(6) Junker, May 13th 1941, German
Vinkeveen, near Botsholsedijk 30, to the left of the entrance to the black work shed Natuurmonumenten
The Junker crashed in the lake ‘Vinkeveense Plassen’. Click on the image to enlarge the information board
More about the history (in English and Dutch) and photos: website Luchtoorlog Waverveen en omstreken
To the top
Memorial summary
| design | |
| name | Bart van Tol from Brouwer Sign b.v. te Mijdrecht |
| object | |
| title |
Six memorial columns war planes WW II: four Allied and two German aircraft
|
| unveiling |
November 6th 2018 by alderman Mrs. Marja Becker and researcher Mr. Chris v.d. Linden.
|
| budget | € 9.000 |
| format | Column: ca. 165h x 65b x 08d, kink at op 102,5h, plate length 140. Letters: 5,5h. Information panel: 60b x 40h (column: 60b x 54h). Measurements in centimeters. |
| technieken |
Laser Cutting
|
| materials |
Weathering (corten) steel, brushed aluminum.
|
| execution |
Korver e.g. Mijdrecht (steel frame, delivery at cost price as a gesture).
|
| description |
Memorial column in the shape of a lectern, consisting of a kinked weatering (corten) steel plate. The date is cut out in the base and the silhouette of the crashed aircraft underneath. On the upper (kinked) part is attached the information panel with details of the aircraft, the flight and the crew.
|
| locations | |
| type of location |
Road verge, near the place where the warplane crashed.
|
| address | 6 locations, see at the top. |
| place | Mijdrecht (1), Waverveeen (2), Vinkeveen (1) en Wilnis (2). |
|
Client/Assignment
|
|
| client |
Historical Society De Proosdijlanden (Stichting Proosdijer Publicaties bears the costs). A contribution of € 4,000 came from the Municipality of De Ronde Venen.
|
| type of client |
Association
|
| type of assignment |
Remember
|
Read more…
A cut-out of Chris van der Linden’s funeral card. Source: Nieuwe Meerbode August 21st 2019. Sad at his passing, but full of admiration for the man who gave the fallen crews a name and a face on his website and the Memorial Columns. Henk B. Click on the image to enlarge.
Collage that Chris van der Linden received just before his death from the Historical Society De Proosdijlanden. At that time, the last two (German) Memorial Columns had been placed. This collage was later the basis for the collage that Mayor Maarten Divendal received at the unveiling of the Monument Bristol Hercules XVI engine. Click on the picture to enlarge.
“Je wilt gewoon weten wat die jongens heeft bewogen om in die vliegtuigen te stappen”
“You just want to know what motivated those guys to get on those planes”
Chris van der Linden
Impression of the unveiling on 6 November 2018
In addition to these pictures, there is a youtube film of RTV De Ronde Venen nieuws over de onthulling
The Memorial Column before the unveiling.
Impressive was the played Last Post
Afterwards, the memorial column was unveiled by alderman Mrs. Marja Becker and researcher Mr. Chris van der Linden. Chris was already seriously ill at the time, he passed away on August 20th 2019.
Out of respect for the fallen, there is applause.
To the top