(former) house family Stegge (P0016)

On Sunday morning, January 14, 1945, around 10:30 a.m., a dogfight took place at Losser between various aircraft. A stricken German fighter flew into the village from the west and crashed into two double houses on the current Scholtinkstraat, inhabited by the families of J.H. Elferink, G.F. Krabbe, J.A. Stegge and the wed. E. de Vries. The Stegge family house was the hardest hit and burned down completely. Father John and five of his children, aged 17 to 4 months, were killed. The mother and six other children were injured but survived the disaster. Two children were not home at the time and were unharmed. Almost the entire contents of the other families could be saved and they too were unharmed. In a few moments, a family was torn apart by the violence of war, a tragedy that made a great impression in Losser at the time and which is still spoken of with great compassion.
Johannes Stegge and his five children who died on 14 January 1945 are buried in the r.k. cemetery in Losser.

The house was demolished in 2021. Presumably a new road to be built is named after the Stegge family.

Stichting Historische Kring Losser