Kokkelweg 8, Biddinghuizen

 

On March 17, 1954, at 1:23 pm, Gloster Meteor I-301, a fighter aircraft equipped with two jet engines, took off from Soesterberg Air Base for an 'instrument flight' exercise. Ten minutes later, those on board two barges towing a houseboat across the IJsselmeer saw the plane come over at an altitude of 100-200 metres. The plane made a mock attack on the ships. The skippers saw how the aircraft hit the water about 100 meters away, the nose broke off and the fuselage disappeared backward under the water. Both pilots were killed.

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Crew

• Pilot: Barend Nieuwenhuis, Sergeant pilot, 24 years old

• Pilot: Arnoldus Diederikus Moeke, Sergeant pilot, 23 years old

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Moeke's body was found that same afternoon and later buried at the Landscroon cemetery in Weesp. Nieuwenhuis' body was recovered a few days later. He was buried on March 25 at the Crooswijck cemetery in Rotterdam.