Their mission was drop supplies to the
Dutch resistance on drop zone codenamed 'Laloe' in the Noordoost polder,
(Northeast polder, part of the province of
Overijssel on the east side of the
IJsselmeer). The codename for this mission
was Dudley 3.
It appears the
crew had trouble locating the drop zone.
Freek Luider, himself someone who
participated in the droppings, happened to
be outside that night after 'doing some
business'. He heard the Stirling fly over
the town of Venhuizen, near Enkhuizen,
apparently looking for the DZ. It turned
out they were far away from were they were
suppose to be. The Stirling flew extremely
low and Mr. Luider heard a big thump. Then
silence. F/O Hogdson had flown his Stirling
so low it had
crashed into the IJsselmeer just of the
coast of Venhuizen, killing all of the crew.
Five of the six crew members were recovered
at the time and buried in Enkhuizen.
In 1948 the
municipality of Venhuizen unveiled a
monument at the dike near the crash site.
The unveiling
of the monument at the dike in Venhuizen in
1948. (pictures courtesy of Mr. Douglas
Nevard)
Memorial
erected in memory of the crew, at the point
of the dike behind which the Stirling
crashed.
In 1991 the
plane was salvaged and the remains of F/O
Evans were found in his turret. He is buried
in Bovenkarspel.
The caption
reads "Fallen for our Freedom"
