Allied court of honour Wierden

Those buried here are all aircrew members from aircraft that were shot down in the area between 1942 and 1945. They include seventeen Britons, two Canadians, and two New Zealanders.

From 1941 onwards, the British Royal Air Force carried out regular air raids on targets in Germany. Almelo and Wierden lay along an important flight path, and aerial combat was a frequent sight in the skies over Twente. Initially, bombers carried out their missions at night, but when the United States entered the war, flights were also conducted in daylight. From 1942 onwards, the number of missions increased.

These flights were dangerous, as the occupying forces tried by every means to bring down the aircraft. Fast Messerschmitt fighters from the Twente airbase attempted to destroy the Allied planes in the air, while anti-aircraft guns on the ground fired continuously.

The last Allied aircraft to crash near Wierden came down on 23 September 1944 on a sandy road near the hamlet of Zuna. As the bomb was still on board, a violent explosion followed, causing extensive damage to nearby farmhouses. The three crew members killed - Sergeant Air Gunner A.D. Jones, Flight Sergeant T.A. Harrington, and Sergeant Air Gunner F. Wilcock - were buried the next morning in Wierden cemetery.​​