| Date: 1917 Sep 29/29 | A/C Type: Gotha G.IV | SN: 1065/16 | Code: | A/C Nickname: |  |
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| File: 356 | Airfrce: Luftwaffe | Sqn/Unit: 3e Regiment | Mission/Raid: Bombing England (London) | |||||||
| 1 | Pilot | Vizefeldw. Emil Haes KIA | 9 | |||||||
| 2 | Observer | Lt. Martin Emmler KIA, shot dead in the air | 10 | |||||||
| 3 | Gunner | Vizefeldw. Heinz Schreiber KIA | 11 | |||||||
| 4 | 12 | |||||||||
| 5 | 13 | |||||||||
| 6 | 14 | |||||||||
| 7 | 15 | |||||||||
| 8 | 16 | |||||||||
Crashed in the Zuider Sea 29 Sept 1917. Most of the wreck was found and recovered from the sea in 1917. Small parts were again found in 1963, when it was polder East Flevoland, plot S-55, Zeeasterweg, Community Dronten. |
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The bodies of the crew were in 1917 recovered from the water. Lt. Emmler had bullet wounds, showing the bomber had been under fire over England or the Northsea (the Channel). They almost made it back to Germany, but crashed in the Zuider Sea, the central sea in the middle of neutral Holland. As usual, the southwestern wind blew the bodies towards the Eastern coastline. Pilot Haes was buried in Vollenhove. His colleague Schreiber in Blankenham and Lt. Emmler was found 10.10.2017 south of Schokland by a fisherman from Urk. He got a coffin on Urk and was buried in Kampen. In the 1950's, they were reburied in Ysselsteyn, the German Centralisation Cemetery in the Netherlands, in the 1914-1918 plot. Haes has his (their) date of death 29.09.1917 engraved on the stone, he was recovered 15.10.2017. Schreiber has his wash ashore date engraved: 25.10.1917. Leutnant Emmler has no date of death engraved.
https://nl.findagrave.com/memorial/69266411/emil-haes
https://nl.findagrave.com/memorial/69266430/heinz-schreiber
https://nl.findagrave.com/memorial/69273009/martin-emmler
In 1957 this part of the Zuidersea became land, named polder Oost-Flevoland. In 1963, on plot S-55, Zeeasterweg/Lisdoddeweg-road no. 24, between Lelystad and Dronten, 'bicycle wheels' were found by the farmer. Later also a copper fuel tank, a signalling pistol and a Parabellum machinegun came from the former seabed. The RNLAF aircraft recovery team (Kapt. de Jong) first identified the parts and brought them into the press as 'a Fokker', later it was established it was a Gotha bomber. Photo below shows the first minutes of the recovery on 5 August 1963, Zeeasterweg.
On the right Sgt. Hinssen, the leader of the recovery team in the early years.
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Newspapers 1963:
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Note: the Lancaster mentioned in the newpaper article was not a Dambuster, but turned out to be the ED357.
source:
Website PATS: http://www.teunispats.nl/txxxx-gotha-1917.htm
© ZZairwar (Zuyder Zee Air War)