John Vilhjalmur Johnson Updated: 21 DEC 2009
Airman: o888148.htm Surname: Johnson Init: J V Rank: F/O Service: RAF Sqdn: 58
P_link: p427.htm Plane: HAL JP336 Operation: Anti ship Crash_site: Kattegat
Crash_d: d240445 Buried_d: o888 C_link: o888.htm At_Next: POW
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De kunne se den danske kyst, men vinden kom fra vest, og strømmen førte dem hurtigt til havs. Den efterfølgende nat døde F/Sgt Rosenthal, og da gummibåden var utæt, måtte han begraves til havs. Senere drev Rosenthal dog i land ved Svarthall (måske omkring her), og den 26. juli 1945 blev han begravet på Varberg kirkegård i Sverige. Efter 36 timer blev de nødstedte omsider opdaget af en tysk observationspost på Anholt (her), og to udsendte danske fiskekuttere "Vera" og "Hafnia" samlede de 3 flyvere op, og bragte dem ind til Anholt. Via Grenå (her) blev de overført til Århus Kommunehospital, hvor de i dagene efter befrielsen nød stor opmærksomhed." (FT 91-10-54) Fra
HAL JP336 er 3 flyvere begravet i Odder, 1 i Sverige, 2
har ingen kendt grav og 3 blev taget til fange.
"F/O Lawrence Barclay Davey took off from Stornoway in HAL JP336 on 23 April 1945 at 20:15. At midnight the plane spotted a German convoy from Norway, and the plane was heavily damaged by flak during the first attack. Davey tried to reach land, but the plane had to ditch about 1 nautical mile (maybe about here) northeast of Gjerrild in Djursland (Gjerrild Lighthouse here). It floated, burning, for half an hour. The fire was seen from land, but nobody sailed out to their rescue. When F/O Davey got off the plane, he heard Co-Pilot F/Sgt Thomas Ernest Parker Rosenthal shouting for help from within the burning plane. Davey crawled into the wreck and helped Rosenthal out. The Wireless Operators F/O John Vilhjalmur Johnson and Sgt Gerard Anthony Guinane had also come off the plane and together they inflated their dinghy and rowed around to find the other 5 crew members, but in vain. They could see the coast of Denmark, but the wind came from the west and the current quickly took them off the coast. F/Sgt Rosenthal died in the following night, and as the dinghy leaked he had to be buried at sea. However, Rosenthal later drifted ashore at Svarthall (maybe about here), and he was buried in Varberg Churchyard in Sweden on 26 July 1945. After 36 hours the airmen in distress were finally spotted by a German observation post on Anholt (here) and two Danish fishing boats "Vera" and "Hafnia" were sent out to pick up the 3 airmen. They were then taken to Anholt. Via Grenå (here) they were transferred to Århus Municipal Hospital. In the days after the liberation they were met with great attention here." (FT 91-10-54) 3 airmen from
HAL JP336 are buried in Odder, 1 in Sweden, 2 have no
known graves and 3 became POWs. |
