Memorial poles along the crash route
Mainly during World War II, several aircraft have crashed in Oostelijk Flevoland. During the reclamation of the polder, many of these aircraft were found and salvaged. In 2008, the "Stichting 4 mei herdenking Dronten" got the idea to register and describe these aircrafts and mark the crash locations with a memorial pole. This in order to implement a lasting reminder of the Airgunners and at the same time to reveal a piece of history that was discovered during the reclamation.
The disclosure of the first memorial pole took place on the 29th of April 2011 and was done by Mr. Gerrit Zwanenburg (former salvage officer), Rutger Kuiper (former National Office IJsselmeerpolders and as such, involved in the depopulation of the first airplane wrecks) and one of the longest visiting Airgunners, Ron Powers.
Memorial pole #1 was the first in a series of 16 poles, placed by the "Stichting 4 Mei Herdenking Dronten" in 2011.
Below an overview of all memorial poles placed in Oostelijk Flevoland.
The Memorial poles: | Information Sign: | |
Memorial pole 1 | Eskimolaan, Dronten | ![]() |
Memorial pole 2 | Oudeboschweg, elektrahuisje, Dronten | ![]() |
Memorial pole 3 | Alikruikweg 20, Biddinghuizen | ![]() |
Memorial pole 4 | Alikruikweg 35, Biddinghuizen | ![]() |
Memorial pole 5 | Mosselweg 8, Biddinghuizen | ![]() |
Memorial pole 6 | Kokkelweg 1, Biddinghuizen | ![]() |
Memorial pole 7 | Kokkelweg 8, Biddinghuizen | ![]() |
Memorial pole 8 | Meeuwenweg 12, Lelystad | ![]() |
Memorial pole 9 | Knarweg 8, Lelystad | ![]() |
Memorial pole 10 | Eendenweg 20, Lelystad | ![]() |
Memorial pole 11 | Natuurpark Lelystad | ![]() |
Memorial pole 12 | Zeebiesweg 25, Biddinghuizen | ![]() |
Memorial pole 13 | Lisdoddeweg 24, Dronten | ![]() |
Memorial pole 14 | Vuursteenweg 33, Swifterbant | ![]() |
Memorial pole 15 | Visvijverweg 57, Lelystad | ![]() |
Memorial pole 16 | Tarpanweg 3, Swifterbant | ![]() |
During the search for the crash sites, many stories became known. These stories will be placed on this website later.
For this project, the "Stichting 4 mei Herdenking Dronten" has had the helpful cooperation of Flevolandschap management and the following sponsors: National Postcode Lottery, the Prins Bernhard Fonds, Rabobank Flevoland, HAZO Technology Lelystad (creator of the poles) and Van Werven (taking care of the placement of the poles).
Other counties expressed their interest to participate in this project, also the "Nieuw Land Erfgoedcentrum" and the Archaeological Group Netherlands are interested.
The working group "Ongeland" records all crash sites in Flevoland and marks them.
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