The crew had no chance and came down near the hill “Kruisberg . It is in that part of the dunes the most fragments were found. One of the engines was recovered in Wijk aan Zee. Pride the Germans claimed that the aircraft was ' abgeschossen '. But Ranger Aalt Bruinekool, watching the entire scene behind his window of his cottage in the dunes nearby, was sure there was no German shooting that night. Other eye-witnesses later stated that the plane was already loosing speed and lost contact with its squadron. Then what was the cause of the crash of the plane? It is generally assumed that the plane crashed due to an accident. It turned out that the plane was brand new and had flown for only 4 hours. Initially there were only five bodies found. The Germans knew, however, that aircraft of that type had 7 crew members on board. For this reason the house of family Bruinekool, living near the crashsite, was turned upside down in a search for the missing two crewmembers. The next day, when it became clear to the Germans that there were no survivors, Aalt Bruinekool, and military police member Kees de Meester were send accompanied by a German patrol were send to seach the surroundings of the crashsite.The missing  two crew members were soon found. At the sight of the killed pilots saluted Bruinekool and De Meester. The Germans were not pleased by this form of respect, Angry they corrected the two Dutchmen telling them that the Britisch pilots threw bombs on their women and children. On 20 december the crew members were buried on the General Cemetery at the Dutch Reformed Church in Heemskerk. The occupiers only allowed simple wooden crosses inscribed on with the names of the deceased were listed, to be posted on the graves. Historie: On 16 december 1943  the Lancaster DS835 departed from RAF Witchford, with the mission: a bombing raid on Berlin. The plane was part of a formation of 483 Lancasters and 10 mosquito 's. 16th december the sky was pitch black. There were no German fighters in the air. Searchlights and anti-aircraft guns (FLAK) were not in use due to the thick layer of clouds. Then at 18:15 hour a heavy bang was heard in Heemskerk a and a red glow illuminated the sky. The Lancaster DS835 exploded with her entire payload at an altitude of 5 km . It was raining shrads and debris.   PLANE Crashdate 16 December 1943 Researchdate december 2012 Radiocode KO-K Serialnumber DS835 Unit 115 Squadron Lancaster Heemskerk 2011/2013 YEAR LOCATION