Harold Roger Reardon   Photo: Mogens Jeppesen    Updated: 06 OCT 2021

Airman: a113115.htm Surname: Reardon Init: H R Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 625

P_link: p262.htm Plane: LAN R5702 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Near Avne

Crash_d: d150244 Buried_d: b250244 C_link: c113.htm At_Next: Aabenraa, R 4-11

 Den 15. februar 1944 styrtede LAN R5702 omkring her ved Avne Vig. Se p262MACR.
Se Informationstavle 2014 og fotos Avne 2014.

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Harold Roger Reardon, 19 år, var søn af Roger Prosser Reardon og Sarah Ann Reardon, Caerphilly, Glamorgan, United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC) Se foto fra Aabenraa Kirkegaard 2009.

En kort erklæring og varme hilsener fik unge Reardons forældre til at besøge sønnens grav i september 1949
og de aflagde ved samme lejlighed visit i Fjelstrup. I brev til Simon From den 26. september 1949, ved LGT:

"....vi værdsætter i høj grad alt, som De har gjort for os. Vi ønsker blot, at vi kunne være blevet længere for
at beundre Deres smukke land. Skulle det nogensinde blive muligt for Dem at komme til Wales, vil vi prøve
at vise Dem den samme venlighed. Vi ønsker også at sige tak for smørret og æggene, som vi bragte hjem
uden uheld."

I 1945 blev der afsløret mindesten for de 6 flyvere. Se Informationstavle 2014 og fotos Avne 2014.
I 1949 sendte beboerne i Fjelstrup en kort erklæring og varme hilsener til de efterladtes familier og fik
en tak fra Air Ministry - og meget varme takkebreve fra forældre til Sgt H. R. Reardon, F/Sgt S. W. Downes
og Sgt R. A. Campbell er bevaret.
Hvert år den 15. februar er der en mindesammenkomst ved mindestenene.
På Fjelstrup Kro ses en mindevæg for LAN R5702, der styrtede 3 km fra Fjelstrup.
I 2009 - 65 år efter styrtet - var der fra familien Campbell et tryk af maleriet Lancaster at Rest til
mindevæggen, se avisartikel om En gave i 2009. Flyverne mindes stadig!
6 flyvere fra LAN R5702 er begravet i Aabenraa. 1 blev krigsfange. 7 flyvere. 

On 15 February 1944 LAN R5702 crashed about here at Avne Vig.
Memorial stones to 6 airmen were unveiled here in 1945. See Information board 2014 and Avne 2014.

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Harold Roger Reardon, 19, was the son of Roger Prosser Reardon and Sarah Ann Reardon, of Caerphilly, Glamorgan, United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC) In loving memory of Harold. Dear son of Roger and Sarah Reardon   brother of Dilys. See photo from Aabenraa Cemetery 2009.
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 88.

A brief statement and kind greetings made the parents of young Reardon visit his grave in September 1949, and on that occasion they also paid a visit to Fjelstrup.
On 26 September 1949 they wrote this letter to Simon From, abstract by LGT:

"....we greatly appreciate everything you have done for us. We only wish that we could have stopped longer to admire the beauty of your country. If ever it is possible
for you to come to Wales we shall try to show you the same kindness. We also want to thank you for the butter and eggs which we carried home without a mishap."

Memorial stones to the 6 airmen were unveiled in 1945. In 1949 the inhabitants of Fjelstrup sent a brief statement and kind greetings to families of the airmen and
received grateful thanks from the Air Ministry - and very warm letters from the parents of  Sgt H. R. Reardon, F/Sgt S. W. Downes and Sgt R. A. Campbell are preserved.
On 15 February every year there is a gathering at the memorial stones. There is a memorial wall in Fjelstrup Inn to LAN R5702 which crashed 3 km from Fjelstrup.
In 2009 - 65 years after the crash - the Campbells gave a print of the painting Lancaster at Rest to Fjelstrup, see  A present in 2009. The airmen are still remembered!
6 airmen from LAN R5702 are buried in Aabenraa. 1 became a Prisoner of War - see German POW-Camps.

See No. 625 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia * Lancaster * Lancaster Photos * RAF Kelstern in Lincolnshire
Lancaster I R5702 CF-Y took off from RAF Kelstern at 1725 hours on 15 FEB 1944 (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) See p262MACR.
Earlier this Lancaster had 24 operations with another pilot, see Roy O. Calvert - LAN R5702. 7 airmen.