Amsterdam:Eighty years after they were shot down by the Germans over Dutch waters, British airmen Arthur Smart, Raymond Moore and Charles Sprack can be laid to rest after the Dutch defence ministry confirmed their remains had been identified.Two silver-plated cigarette cases were found with the initials of the 27-year-old flight engineer Smart and 21-year-old wireless operator Moore.
Their Lancaster bomber never returned from a mission targeting Bochum in Germany on 13 June 1943. Instead the “Pathfinder” was tracked on its way home and shot down into the Dutch waters of the IJsselmeer with seven men onboard.While the bodies of four men were washed up and buried in Stavoren, Workum and Hindeloopen, Smart, Moore and 23-year-old mid-upper gunner Sprack were registered as missing in action.Johan Graas, of the Stichting Aircraft Recovery Group, which helped with the investigation, said the men’s families were relieved.“
