Leslie Harold Chapman      Photo: Knud Riis         Updated:  14 OCT 2011

Airman: a014197.htm Surname: Chapman Init: L H Rank: F/Sgt Service: RAAF Sqdn: 460

P_link: p289.htm Plane: LAN ME663 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Aale

Crash_d: d100444 Buried_d: b150444 C_link: c014.htm At_Next: Esbjerg, A. 7. 10

 Se dette monument ved nedstyrtningsstedet og 47 navne i St. Clement Danes og i Horsens.
See this memorial stone at the crash site and 47 names in St. Clement Danes and in Horsens.

LAN ME663 blev skudt i brand omkring kl. 03.30 over Østjylland af en tysk natjager i 23.000 fods højde. "Efter en undvigelsesmanøvre ned til 18.000 fod gav piloten Peter Crosby ordre til at forlade maskinen. Alle bekræftede ordren, da flyet i det samme krængede over og først fladede ud i 6.000 fods højde. Piloten gentog ordren og nu hastede det, idet flyet igen dykkede. Det brændte fra begge vinger, og flammer slikkede hen langs kroppen, da det lykkedes agterskytten Stanley Hodge at slippe ud af tårnet. Han landede på en ejendom umiddelbart nord for Bjerregaard, mens flyet fortsatte og eksploderede 1 km nord for Aale by." (Fra Jens Thomsen, Tørring)
Gå til Stanley F. Hodge og læs mere.

"Vragdele blev spredt ud over et par kilometer. En vinge faldt ved Aale-Mattrupvejen, og to motorer faldt på en nærliggende mark, hvor også et par flyvere lå dræbt. Flykroppen havde pløjet sig ind i den sydlige ende af Mattrup plantage, hvor man fandt endnu et par besætningsmedlemmer. Ved otte-tiden stødte man langt inde i plantagen på den sjette flyver i nærmest livløs tilstand. Det var navigatøren F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. På sin vandpose havde han skrevet: "Kl. 3.40 angrebet af jager, slynget ud af flyet. Brækket ryggen. Hils min familie, Ted - kl. 5.10 smerter ulidelige." (FT 90-104-24)
Gå til Charles E. Suffren og læs mere.

Flight Sergeant Leslie Harold Chapman, 20 år, var søn af Harold Henry og May Chapman, Stawell, Victoria, Australien. (Kilde: CWGC)

Se avisartikel fra 1994 Omsorg for de faldne og Krigsminder sendt hjem til Australien.
Se Om mindeceremonier 4. maj 2011 og tale af Anders Straarup.
5 flyvere fra LAN ME663 begravet i Esbjerg 15. april 1944. 2 blev krigsfanger. Den ene af dem var
hårdt såret og døde i Tyskland 16. februar 1945.  7 flyvere.

LAN ME663 caught fire about 03.30 over East Jutland, hit by a German night fighter at an altitude of 23,000 feet. "After an evasive manoeuvre down to 18,000 feet Pilot Peter Crosby gave the order to abandon the plane. They all confirmed the order, but the plane turned over and went down to 6,000 feet before he regained control. The pilot repeated the order and now it was urgent, as the plane dived again. Both wings were burning and flames were licking along the fuselage, when Rear Gunner Stanley Hodge managed to get out of the tower. He landed at a farm just north of Bjerregaard, while the plane went on and exploded 1 km north of the village of Aale."
(From Jens Thomsen, Tørring) Go to Stanley F. Hodge to read more.

"Debris was scattered over a couple of kilometres. A wing fell at the Aale-Mattrup road, and two engines fell on a field nearby, where also a couple of deceased airmen were found. The fuselage had ploughed itself into the southern part of Mattrup plantation, where another couple of crew members were found. Way into the plantation about 8 a.m. the search party found the sixth airman nearly lifeless. It was Navigator F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. He had written on his water bag, "At 03.40 attacked by fighter, thrown out of the aircraft. Back broken. Love to my family, Ted - 05.10 pain unbearable." (FT 90-104-24) Gå til Charles E. Suffren og læs mere.

Flight Sergeant Leslie Harold Chapman, 20, was the son of Harold Henry and May Chapman, of Stawell, Victoria, Australia. (Source: CWGC)

5 airmen from LAN ME663 were buried in Esbjerg on 15 April, 1944. 2 became POWs. One of them badly injured, so he died in Germany on 16 February, 1945.
See 460 Squadron RAAF * No. 460 Squadron RAAF * RAF-Lincolnshire.info has this. Bomber Command No. 460 Squadron RAAF.  7 airmen.