Charles Edward Suffren

Charles Edward Suffren Updated: 16 AUG 2012

Airman: o888120.htm Surname: Suffren Init: C E Rank: F/O Service: RAAF Sqdn: 460

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

Crash_d: d100444 Buried_d: o888 C_link: o888.htm At_Next: POW

Se tekst på dette monument for 6 flyvere fra LAN ME663 rejst ved nedstyrtningsstedet her og 47 navne i St. Clement Danes og i Horsens.
See the text on this memorial stone to 6 airmen from LAN ME663 erected at the crash site here 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."

Læge og ambulance blev tilkaldt. Suffren blev ført til sygehuset i Horsens, hvor man straks gjorde klar til en operation. Tyskerne ankom dog kort efter og forlangte Suffren udleveret omgående. Det medførte højlydte protester fra de implicerede læger og sygeplejersker. Men den stærkt lidende flyver blev ubarmhjertigt anbragt på ladet af en lastvogn og transporteret til et tysk lazaret i Århus. En af Horsens-lægerne måtte kort efter stille på den tyske kommandantur i Horsens, hvor han modtog en særdeles kraftig reprimande for protesterne og det saftige sprogbrug over for afhentningsholdet. Straks forlød det rygtevis i Horsens, at Suffren var død efter den umenneskelige behandling. Rygtet fandt vej til BBC, der den 19. april nævnte det i den danske udsendelse. Dette afstedkom, at tyskerne som dementi så sig nødsaget til i dagspressen at indrykke et billede af Suffren, fotograferet i live på det tyske lazaret. Nogle uger senere blev Suffren overført til Tyskland. Han døde den 16. februar 1945 på et Luftwaffe hospital i Bad Tölz, og idag ligger han begravet på Durnbach kirkegård syd for München." (FT 90-104-24)

Flying Officer Charles Edward Suffren, 23 år, var søn af Charles Edward og Euphemia Mabel Suffren, Ballarat, Victoria, Australien. Han havde fået tildelt DFC, Distinguished Flying Cross. Han er begravet på Durnbach War Cemetery i Tyskland. (Kilde: CWGC)

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.
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. 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, "Attacked at 03.40 10/4/44. Thrown out of a/c. Have broken back. Give my love to my family. Jod. 05.10 pain unbearable." (FT 90-104-24)

A doctor and an ambulance were called. Suffren was taken to the hospital in Horsens, where an immediate operation was prepared. However, the Germans arrived shortly after and demanded that Suffren be handed over at once. That caused loud protests from the doctors and nurses involved. But the severely suffering airman was ruthlessly placed on a truck body and transported to a German field hospital in Århus. Shortly after one of the doctors in Horsens was called to the German HQ in Horsens, where he received a highly powerful rebuke for the protests and the abusive language to the team that fetched the airman. Soon rumours went around in Horsens that Suffren had died due to the inhumant treatment. The rumour found its way to the BBC, which on 19 April mentioned it in the broadcast to Denmark. That caused the Germans to publish a photo of Suffren alive in the German field hospital in the newspapers as a retraction. Suffren was transferred to Germany some weeks later. He died on 16 February, 1945 at a Luftwaffe hospital in Bad Tölz, and today he rests at Durnbach Cemetery south of Munich." (FT 90-104-24)

Flying Officer Charles Edward Suffren, 23, was the son of Charles Edward and Euphemia Mabel Suffren, of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Awards: DFC, the Distinguished Flying Cross. He rests in Durnbach War Cemetery in Germany. (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.