In the fall of 2020, the municipality of Almere has recovered the wreckage of the British bomber plane Short Stirling BK716 from the Markermeer. With this recovery, Almere was able to give relatives of the crewmembers the certainty of their fate. During the process, human remains were found.
For the municipality of Almere, it is important to tell the story of the crewmembers and the airplane to current citizens of Almere and surroundings. Even though our city did not yet exist during the Second World War, there are still remains of this war to be found in our grounds. The history of this Short Stirling led to create the publication The night of the Stirling, in order to tell specifically younger generations about the war.
The book contains a fictional story of the last flight of a Short Stirling. I would like to emphasise that it does not describe the last flight of the BK716. However, the story is based on historical facts. In the book, we follow four persons who experience this final night. First of all, we follow the crew of a Short Stirling on their mission to bomb Berlin. On the ground in Berlin, we encounter two young girls who witness the impact of this bombing operation. During the flight home, we read about a German soldier who shoots down a plane of the allies. And finally, we read about a Dutch girl who lives in the Netherlands while it is occupied, and who witnesses the crash of a plane in the Markermeer.
The Dutch and English versions of this book are for sale at Erfgoedhuis Almere.
