On 28 July 1944, the bomber aircraft (Handley Page Halifax III EY-X MZ340) was part of a convoy of 199 aircraft whose objective was to bomb the V1 rocket launch sites in Forêt de Nieppe (France). It was shot down by anti-aircraft guns located in Mariakerke, Ostend, and crashed near the Groot Neerhof farm in Ramskapelle.

Canadian Pilot Flight Lieutenant, William Gladstone Hoffman and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Russell Harry Winter, were killed. At the site where the monument was erected, one of the crew members managed to hide in the canal, while five others were taken away as prisoners of war.

The aircraft was loaded with 16,225 kilogram bombs, which after the direct hit, were dropped between Sint-Joris and Ramskapelle, killing two villagers. However, the pilot was able to manoeuvre the aircraft and prevent it from crashing into the centre of the nearby town of Nieuwpoort. In doing so, he spared the civilian population but paid for it with his life.

The memorial here commemorates the crew of the 78 Squadron, Breighton bomber aircraft, as well as the two civilians, Marie Couvreur and Désiré Vanhaeverbeke, a married couple from Sint-Joris, who lost their lives due to the dropped bombs.