Dennis Fallon   Photo: Lars Wikander   Updated: 17 JAN 2022

Airman: e222007.htm Surname: Fallon Init: D Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 460

P_link: p366.htm Plane: LAN NE144 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Sea off Anholt

Crash_d: d300844 Buried_d: e222f C_link: e222f.htm At_Next: Falkenberg, Sweden

Den 30. august 1944 nødlandede LAN NE144 i Kattegat nord for Anholt omkring her
under bombetogt til Stettin (Szczecin).
Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver:
"Kl. 21.06 lettede LAN NE144 fra Binbrook i Lincolnshire. Udturen var stille og rolig, indtil
flyet over den jyske østkyst pludselig blev angrebet bagfra af en tysk natjager. Agterskytten
Sgt Philip Bodein Aviet blev hårdt såret, og hele halepartiet brød i brand. For at genvinde
kontrol over flyet, måtte piloten F/Lt Kevin Willoughby Humpfries hurtigt kaste bombelasten,
der bestod af en enkelt 4000 lb "cookie". Bomben landede i Kærgade (nr 25
her) i Vorup,
en af Randers sydlige forstæder. Fire villaer blev helt ødelagt, andre blev svært beskadiget
og i selve Randers blev mange ruder knust. 6 beboere blev dræbt i Kærgade 24 og 25, og
11 blev såret.
(Se fotos efter bombeeksplosionen og se en Lancaster med en speciel 4000 lb bombe
nederst på siden.)


Over Kattegat forsøgte rygskytten Sgt Dennis Fallon og telegrafisten F/O
Ronald Kenneth Stratford, DFM, at komme agterskytten til undsætning, mens F/Lt Humpfries satte kursen mod Sverige. Flyet tabte dog langsomt højde, og nord for Anholt (omkring her) nødlandede flyet på vandet. Halepartiet med Aviet, Fallon og Stratford brækkede af og sank hurtigt, mens det lykkedes de øvrige 4 flyvere (Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Kevin Willoughby Humpfries, Flying Officer (Navigator) T.B. MacNeill, Sergeant (Bomb Aimer) G.D. Walsh og Sergeant (Flight Engineer) S.R. Wild) at komme fri, og i deres gummibåd begyndte de at
drive mod øst.

Om morgenen kl. 05.45 blev de opdaget fra Anholt, og redningsbåden kom ud og samlede
dem op. I land blev de overdraget til tyskerne, og efter 4 behagelige dage på øen blev de
sejlet til København med den ugentlige forsyningsbåde. Her tilbragte de en uge, før de med
tog blev transporteret til Frankfurt, hvor de efter endt afhøring (se forhør i Dulag Oberursel)
blev ført til Stalag I ved Barth (se fotos) på Rügen (øen er her). Under deres sidste tur blev jernbanelinjen bombet af amerikanerne, men toget blev ikke ramt." (FT 91-7-39)

R.K. Stratford drev ind på Anholt ved Vesterstrand (måske omkring her) den 4. september 1944. Han blev begravet på Anholt Kirkegård af værnemagten samme dag.
P.B. Aviet og D. Fallon ligger begravet i Falkenbergs Skogskyrkogård i Sverige. (Kilde: FAF)

Sergeant (Air Gunner) Dennis Fallon var fra United Kingdom.
Han hviler på Falkenberg Forest Cemetery.
(Kilde: CWGC) Han blev fundet her den 9. september 1944 (Kilde: Lars Wikander).

1 flyver fra LAN NE144 blev begravet på Anholt og 2 i Falkenberg i Sverige. 4 flyvere blev sendt til Tyske krigsfangelejre.
Se Lancaster fotos og
Operation 30 AUGUST 1944 - ruter og tab. Den britiske bombe i Vorup - og Estruplund (6 MB) i Randers Amtsavis 30 AUG 2014. 7 flyvere.

On 30 August 1944 LAN NE144 ditched in the Kattegat north of Anholt about here on a bombing raid on Stettin. (Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes:

"LAN NE144 took off from Binbrook in Lincolnshire at 21:06. The flight out was calm, till the plane over the west coast of Jutland suddenly was attacked from behind
by a German night fighter. Sergeant (Rear Gunner) Philip Bodein Aviet was severely wounded, and all of the rear part caught fire. To regain control over the plane,
Flight Lieutenant Kevin Willoughby Humpfries very soon had to drop the bomb load consisting of a single 4000 lb "cookie". The bomb landed in Kærgade (no 25
here)
in Vorup, a southern suburb of Randers. Four houses were completely destroyed, others were heavily damaged and many windows were broken in the town of Randers.
6 residents were killed in Kærgade 24 and 25, and 11 were wounded.
(See photos after the bomb detonation and see a Lancaster with a very special 4000 lb bomb.)

Over Kattegat Sergeant (Top Turret Gunner) Dennis Fallon and Flying Officer (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner) Ronald Kenneth Stratford, DFM, tried to rescue the rear gunner, while F/Lt Humpfries headed for Sweden. However, the plane slowly lost altitude, and the plane ditched north of Anholt (about here). The rear
part with Aviet, Fallon and Stratford broke off and quickly sank, but the 4 other airmen (Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Kevin Willoughby Humpfries, Flying Officer (Navigator)
T.B. MacNeill, Sergeant (Bomb Aimer) G.D. Walsh and Sergeant (Flight Engineer) S.R. Wild) managed to get out, and they drifted towards the east in their dinghy.

In the morning at 05:45 they were spotted from Anholt, and the rescue boat came out and picked them up. On land
they were handed over to the Germans, and after
4 pleasant days on the island they were sailed to Copenhagen with the weekly supply boat. Here they spent a week, before they were transported by train to Frankfurt. When the  interrogations had finished
(see interrogators in Dulag Oberursel) they were taken to Stalag I at Barth (se photos) on Rügen (the island is here). Americans bombed the railway during their last trip, but the train was not hit." (FT 91-7-39)

R.K. Stratford drifted ashore on Anholt at Vesterstrand (maybe about here) on 4 September, 1944. He was buried on the same day in Anholt Cemetery by the
Wehrmacht. P.B. Aviet and D. Fallon rest in Falkenberg Forest Cemetery in Sweden.

Sergeant (Air Gunner) Dennis Fallon was from the United Kingdom.
He rests in Falkenberg Forest Cemetery. (Source: CWGC) He was found here on 9 September 1944. (Source: Lars Wikander)

1 airman from LAN NE144 is buried on Anholt and 2 in Falkenberg, Sweden. 4 airmen were taken to German POW-Camps.
The British bomb in Vorup - and Estruplund by Anders Straarup in Randers Amtsavis on 30 AUG 2014.
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 34. 

See 460 Squadron RAAF * No. 460 Squadron RAAF-Wikipedia * Lancaster photos * Operation 30 AUGUST 1944 - routes and losses. RAF-Lincolnshire.info has this.
Lancaster III NE144 AR-F2 took off from RAF Binbrook at 21:06 on 30 AUG 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this + p366MACR) 7 airmen.