 On the night before 3 April 1945
STI LJ942 crashed into the Roskilde Fjord
here north of Frederikssund.
See
Google Map p418r.
See also www.gunnarmarboe.dk about
a family 1940-1945
and
Pilot under jorden about Dillon and other airmen from this plane. In
Danish but with some photos.
3 airmen evaded to Sweden, 2 became prisoners of war and 1 one was buried at Kirke
Værløse. (Source: FT 88-44-51) See the long story here:
"On the night between 2 and 3 April
1945 three Stirlings were to drop weapons to a large Danish team who were
ready to receive them on Orø (here)
in the Isefjorden.
The cloud cover was very thick and two of the planes returned, while LJ942
carried on. Pilot, P/O Charles Thomas Dillon and several of the crew members
had
joined 299 Squadron in May 1944, and they had flown with supplies and troops
on D-Day, to
Arnhem and during the attack
across the Rhine. In addition to
that
they had flown several sorties with supplies for the resistance movements in
France, Holland and Norway - and two bombing raids. LJ942 approached
Sjælland
(Zealand) near Nykøbing Sjælland
(here),
but it was difficult to get a good sight of land to establish their
position, so P/O Dillon started circling over Hundested.
German flak at Melby (here)
opened fire, and the plane was hit in the tail section. Quickly the plane
turned away from the area and now flew south at a low
height along the Roskilde Fjord. P/O Dillon was convinced that it was the
right fjord (inlet). He tried to climb but damaged cables to the elevator
broke and the plane
crashed heavily into the water (here)
600 metres north of Stenø and about 100 metres from land (at close range
here).
W/O Thomas Albert McBeath
(air bomber) was killed and F/Sgt. Harold Joseph Farmer (flight
engineer) hit his head against the control panel and was unconscious
for some minutes. In addition to a severe injury to his face he also had a
concussion of the brain. Charles Dillon had hurt his head as well and he had
a minor cut
across his nose. F/Sgt. Cyril Victor Laing (wireless operator) had broken a
finger and one of his legs. The plane had landed in water about 1 metre deep,
and the tail
section had broken off and now lay about 200 metres behind them. W/O H. J.
Hart (navigator) was unharmed, and immediately he started helping his
wounded pals
out of the plane and out on a wing from where they launched a dinghy.
Suddenly they heard sounds in the darkness. It was W/O R. A. Hills (rear gunner)
who had
just escaped drowning in the broken off rear turret. Now he came wading
through the water.
The five airmen went ashore and got help from
fisherman Alfred Olsen. (Villa Alka, Græse Strandvej 9, 3600 Frederikssund -
see
photo. AS) Hills and Hart immediately started on their way to
Sweden, and at Gørløse (here)
they got
in touch with members of the resistance who provided for the further
transport. The three injured
airmen were taken in an ambulance to
Frederikssund Hospital
(here).
Farmer and Laing were in a really bad condition, but consultant Gejlager
thought that it was
obvious that Dillon should be taken to Sweden, so he quickly
contacted
members of the resistance. At 11:00 Dillon was fetched and taken out of the
back door. It was
at the last moment, as the Germans were just entering via
the
main entrance. Dillon spent a couple of days on Strandgården at Over Dråby (here
- Strandgaardsvej 27 B, 3630 Jægerspris - see
photos) before he went on to Sweden, where he arrived shortly before the liberation.
(See all of the story
Pilot under
jorden. Gunnar Marboe was very active
1940-1945. His daughter Kirsten Løffler Reich made the website
www.gunnarmarboe.dk.)
The Germans immediately removed Farmer and Laing
from Frederikssund Hospital. They were taken to a German army hospital near
Værløse (here).
Farmer was
very soon transferred to Lübeck (here),
where he was liberated by British troops. Laing experienced the liberation
in the army hospital in Værløse. Shortly after
he was taken to
RAF Hospital Cosford in England, where he met Farmer.
After the liberation P/O Dillon participated in
the many transports carried out by
No. 299 Squadron. He flew a number of
sorties to Norway, and on 21 July he
landed in Kastrup (here).
As the plane was not to return until next day Dillon found time to meet
several of the Danes who had helped him. On 6 October 1945
F/O Dillon and his crew of Stirling L1668 flew from Cairo with 20 passengers.
On 7 October at 00:30 Dillon went through a thick cloud cover at an altitude
of
200 feet 1 mile south of Rennes in France trying to find the local airfield.
With the wheels down and in a slight turn the plane suddenly lost altitude,
hit the ground
and exploded. All on board including three married couples were killed."
(FT 88-44-51)
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