Ken Foster                                          Tarm 2015        Tarm 2020                                      Updated: 25 MAR 2020

Airman: v999019.htm Surname: Foster Init: K Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 103

P_link: p409.htm Plane: LAN ME449 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Østergårde at Tarm

Crash_d: d120345 Buried_d: v999 C_link: v999.htm At_Next: EVD

"Efter at have udlagt miner i Kattegat natten til den 13. marts 1945 var en Lancaster på vej hjem til England. Over Vestjylland blev flyet imidlertid meget pludseligt angrebet af en tysk natjager og skudt i brand.Det lykkedes 5 af de 7 besætningsmedlemmer at springe ud med faldskærm, mens de 2 skytter, D. Morris og H.J. Porter, endnu sad i flyet, da det brændende styrtede ned på gdr. Svend Jensens mark i Østergårde." (FAF) 
Styrtet var her, overblik her. Det er omkring 300 m nordvest for Skærbækvej 2, 6880 Tarm. (Kilde: Knud Raunkjær, 26. juni 1923 - 26. august 2014.)

Se historien om Englændergravene. Se den danske mindesten mellem de to headstones og RAF gravene i Tarm fra Arne Mosgaard.

"Foster gik den 13/3 ind hos landmand Hans P. Hansen, der ved 22-tiden henvendte sig til førstelærer Søgaard, Lyne, i sagens anledning. Førstelæreren hentede lærer Tage Sinding, der kunne engelsk bedre, hvorpå flyveren blev hentet hen på skolen. Senere blev der truffet aftale med skolekommissionens formand Aage Uhre, om at flyveren kunne opholde sig i hans lade indtil videre. Uhre knyttede forbindelse til modstandsbevægelsen i Skjern. En politibetjent, under jorden, kom ud til gården
for at se på gæsten. Et par dage senere kom betjenten med civilt tøj, og Tage Sinding ledsagede flyveren til en gartner i Ølgod, der skulle foretage det videre fornødne." (DFEV)

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Ken Foster kom til Sverige i foråret 1945 med hjælp fra en kæde af danskere. Denne historie viser at den første kontakt var meget vigtig, at
det ikke var normalt at kunne tale engelsk, at der blev taget forholdsregler for at sikre, at der virkelig var tale om en allieret flyver og at flugtruten ikke altid kunne rekonstrueres. Dansk politi blev arresteret af tyskerne den 19. september 1944. 2000 politifolk blev sendt til tyske koncentrationslejre, men mange undgik arrestation
og gik under jorden. En del af dem kom med i modstandsbevægelsen. Se Deportationen af det danske politi.

Se Beretning fra Knud Raunkjær om flystyrtet og mere fra hans datter Karen Raunkjær 2020. Se også Lynegruppen og Benneth, 8 år 1940.
Knud Raunkjær i Modstandsdatabasen. Raunkjærgaard er her, Knudevej 3, 6880 Tarm.
Fra LAN ME449 blev 2 flyvere begravet ved Tarm og 5 flygtede til Sverige. Se mere ved hver af de 5 flyvere. Se Lancaster fotos.
Lancaster ME449 Shot down in Denmark med Mitchell & Bertie's Evasion Story * 12 March Crew + meget mere af Gail R. Michener, datter af Stoney Mitchell.
7 flyvere.

"After a mine laying operation in the Kattegat on the night before 13 March, 1945 a Lancaster was on its way back to England. However, over West Jutland the plane
was suddenly attacked by a German night fighter and caught fire.
5 of the 7 members of the crew managed to bail out, while the 2 gunners D. Morris and H.J. Porter were still sitting in the plane, when it  crashed, burning, into farmer Svend Jensen´s field in Østergårde." (FAF) The crash was here, overview here. (Source: Knud Raunkjær). It is about 300 m north west of Skærbækvej 2, 6880 Tarm.
See the story about the British War Graves. See the Danish memorial stone between the two headstones
and The RAF Memorial at Tarm from Arne Mosgaard received on 22 JAN 2012.

Foster came to farmer Hans P. Hansen´s house on 13 March. At 10 p.m. the farmer therefore called head teacher Søgaard, Lyne. The head teacher fetched teacher
Tage Sinding, who had a better knowledge of English, and the airman was taken to the school. Later it was arranged with the chairman of the education committee
Aage Uhre that the airman could stay in his barn until further notice. Uhre contacted the resistance movement in Skjern. A policeman, who had gone underground,
came to the farm to have a look at the guest. A couple of days later he came with civilian clothes, and Tage Sinding accompanied  the airman to a gardener in Ølgod,
who was to take further action. (Source: DFEV)

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Ken Foster came to Sweden in the spring of 1945 helped by a chain of Danes. This story shows that the first contact was very important,
that it was not normal to be able to speak English, that precautions were taken to ensure that he really was an allied airman and that the escape route could not
always be reconstructed. Danish police were arrested by the Germans on 19 September 1944. 2000 policemen were sent to German concentration camps, but many avoided being caught and went underground. A number of them joined the resistance movement. See Deportation of Danish police.

See Eye witness account from Knud Raunkjær. Raunkjærgaard is here, Knudevej 3, 6880 Tarm.

From LAN ME449  2 airmen were buried at Tarm and 5 evaded to Sweden. See more at each of the 5 airmen. The story of Foster´s way to Sweden is typical.
See No. 103 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia.  LAN ME449 took off from RAF Elsham Wolds at 1743 hrs on 12 SEP 1943. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.)
Lancaster ME449 Shot down in Denmark with Mitchell & Bertie's Evasion Story*12 March Crew + much more by Gail R. Michener, daughter of Stoney Mitchell. 
7 airmen.