Ernest Albert Cecil Thirkettle                  Stadil 4 SEP 2013                               Updated: 12 APR 2021

Airman: a120007.htm Surname: Thirkettle Init: EAC Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 460

P_link: p216.htm Plane: LAN EE138 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Near Stadil

Crash_d: d040943 Buried_d: b111111 C_link: c120.htm At_Next: Stadil

E.A.C. Thirkettle og resten af besætningen på Lancaster III EE138 blev dræbt, da deres fly styrtede ned her nær Stadil, se Skilt ved Stadiløvej
syd for gården Stadiløvej 8 ved Stadil, dengang ejet af Ingemann Halkjær, nu af hans søn Erling Halkjær. Marken med nedstyrtningsstedet ejes nu af Erik Jepsen.
Flyet med besætning blev totalt knust og forsvandt i det vandfyldte hul, som flyet lavede, da det ramte jorden.

Sergeant Ernest Albert Cecil Thirkettle var fra United Kingdom.
Se hans navn på Panel 166 på the Runnymede Memorial blandt mere end 20.000 navne på andre flyvere, der ikke har en kendt grav. (Kilde:CWGC)

TV/MIDT-VEST sendte 28. december 2008 Det lange farvel (film, 21 min.) hvor historien fortælles via interview med Jessie Bowler, enke efter E.A.C. Thirkettle.
Den film blev 12. februar 2010 fulgt op af Bunkerne - Dødens Forposter (film, 36 min.) med mere om nedskydning af B17 42-31377 med Lester Schrenk og
LAN EE138, se denne side. Der er sekvenser med Lester Schrenk og Jessie Bowler.

Som skrevet i Stadil - Historien blev trækorset på nedstyrtningsstedet i 1950 afløst af mindestenen. Se teksten her og se fotos fra 15. marts 2008 og 30. juni 2009.
Den 4. september 2008 blev der afsløret nye bronzetavler og en kopi af trækorset, se Stadil - Flyverminde ved en højtidelighed 65 år efter styrtet.
Se tekst på Tavler og kors. Meget mere på Lancaster EE138 AR-E2 lavet af slægtninge til flyverne. Se også Stadil 4 SEP 2013 og Kvinder.
8 flyvere. Se mange links i engelsk version. p216MACR.

E.A.C. Thirkettle and rest of the crew of Lancaster III EE138 were killed, when their plane crashed here near Stadil, see Sign at Stadiløvej
south of the farm Stadiløvej 8 at Stadil, then owned by Ingemann Halkjær, now by his son Erling Halkjær. The field with the crash site is now owned by Erik Jepsen.
The plane with the crew was totally broken to pieces and disappeared in the waterfilled hole made by the plane, when it hit the ground.

Sergeant Ernest Albert Cecil Thirkettle was from the United Kingdom.
See his name on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 166, among more than 20,000 other airmen who have no known grave. (Source: CWGC)
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 106.

On 28 DEC 2008 TV/MIDT-VEST sent Det lange farvel The long Farewell (film, 21 min.) where the story is told via interview with Jessie Bowler, the widow of
E.A.C. Thirkettle. On 12 February 2010 that film was followed by  Bunkerne - Dødens Forposter The Bunkers - Outposts of Death (film, 36 min.) with more about
the shotdown of B17 42-31377 Pot O'Gold with Lester Schrenk and LAN EE138, see this page. There are sequences with Lester Schrenk and Jessie Bowler.

As told in Stadil - The story the wooden cross at the crash site in 1950 was replaced by the memorial stone. See the text here and see photos from the crash
site seen on 15 March 2008 and on 30 June 2009. On 4 September 2008 new bronze plaques and a copy of the wooden cross were unveiled, see Stadil Memorial.
See the inscriptions on Plaques and cross. See also Stadil 4 SEP 2013 and Women.
Lancaster EE138 AR-E2 is a website made by relatives of the airmen with many details including Commemorations in 2008 and 2013, and the BBMF Fly Past 2011. The website of 460 SQUADRON also tells about Lancaster EE138. See  Lancaster-Archive with an enormous amount of information.
No. 460 Squadron RAAF - Wikipedia * See RAF-Lincolnshire.info about RAF Binbrook * Lancaster Photos * Bomb Berlin * Google Map 460 Squadron RAAF-DK.
Lancaster III ED138 AR-  took off from RAF Binbrook at 19.58 hrs on 03 SEP 1943. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.)
8 airmen. See also Lancaster photos.  LAN JA713 of 7 Squadron was also lost - see a lot about the operation.  p216MACR.
See also Stadil 4 SEP 2013 70 years after the crash and Women.