Jørgen Bech Nielsen was 13 years old when he experienced the crash of
Lancaster X.
See also D. Hansen and Bjarne Johansen
and Karen Margrethe Nørregaard
about the crash site.
On 4 February 2011 he sent this to
www.airmen.dk (translated by AS):
"In 1943 I lived in Grønlænderhuset with my
parents, brothers and sisters. I clearly remember the night of 21 April.
By the way, I think it was Adolf Hitler’s birthday. My father and my brother
came rushing home. ”A plane has been shot down. We saw a flash of fire.”
Next day I made a detour when I walked to school. I was 13 years old, and I
had to see what had happened. I saw that the plane was scattered
over about 68 acres, Kälers land. As you know the plane crashed at
Strandhotellet and Strandgaarden. The first bomb fell on the road, and as
the
plane flew very low, it was knocked out of course. The next bomb and the
plane fell where Frejasvej 17 is today. There have also been big problems
because the house sank, very likely because of the crater from the bomb and the
plane.
There was a shaft that went down into the
roof of Berthelsen’s house in Birkemosevej. It was believed to be a bomb,
so the house was evacuated.
It was not easy to come near. German soldiers were on guard, and if anyone
came too close, a shot of warning would be fired, but
I saw P. K. Justesen with his
horse-drawn carriage loading the corpses onto the wagon with a pitchfork. They were scattered all
over the place. Yes, it was ghastly, but there were no other options.
This is the way I remember it."
Jørgen Bech Nielsen kindly elaborated
his description on 10 February 2011: "I
saw P. K. Justesen's driver with his
horse-drawn carriage loading bits of the corpses onto the wagon, as said
before with a pitchfork.
The bodies were
scattered over about 14 acres. There were arms, legs, chests and a
single head. Not big parts. It was almost impossible
to see accurately.
The Germans took care that you did not get too close, you know. There were
also pieces of wreckage from the plane.
The corpses were dark,
almost black, of course due to smoke and fire from the plane.
There were
also a lot of birds - rooks and crows. The birds kept diving down to peck at
the corpses. Quite horrifying to think of."
On 10 February 2011 Hans Justesen from
P.K. Justesen confirmed that his
late father had to do the job. He did not know further details.
The Germans demanded that the company should perform a number of tasks.
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