The tragedy of Hotel Boschoord

At the time of the fatal bombing, Boschoord - located at Hoofdweg 109 - provided shelter for fifty-six people, including evacuees who had fled from the war in Arnhem. The aim of the British bombardment was to target the railway line, but the attack on Loenen resulted in an immense tragedy. Out of the three bombs dropped, one hit the railway line, another fell nearby, and a third bomb landed on the overcrowded Boschoord. With fatal consequences: twenty-eight evacuees and seven residents of Loenen lost their lives.

Among the victims were several families with children. Three families had been evacuated from Arnhem to Hotel Boschoord with the belief of finding safety there. Seven out of ten children from one family perished. Another family was from Loenen and was on their way to visit a relative on this Sunday afternoon. Fleeing the approaching bombers, the family sought shelter halfway at Boschoord. Both the parents and their two children lost their lives in the bombing.

Information about the attack on Loenen can be found in the Public Record Office in London. Research has shown that six Spitfire fighter planes from the Royal Air Force started their attack on the Apeldoorn-Zutphen railway line at around 1:25 pm. The railway lines were bombarded almost all day to prevent the supply of German materials to the front. Due to the bad weather and low clouds, the flight commander decided to bomb the railway between Apeldoorn and Dieren at around two o'clock in the afternoon. The bombs were dropped a fraction too early or too late, resulting in Boschoord being hit.

On December 13, 1944, the bodies were buried in two cemeteries in Loenen. A memorial grave monument with the names of twenty-one deceased evacuees can be found in the Catholic cemetery of Loenen, where twenty-one victims were buried, while three others were buried nearby. The remaining eleven victims were buried in the churchyard of the Dutch Reformed Church in Loenen, seven of whom were later reburied in the Moscowa cemetery in Arnhem.

On April 18, 2015, the wall monument on the side of the former Hotel Boschoord was unveiled. This monument honors all thirty-five victims who perished. A commemoration is held annually on December 10th.