

Ernest James Presland
Updated:
11 OCT 2021
Airman: a003010.htm Surname: Presland
Init: E J Rank: F/Lt Service: RAF Sqdn: 576
P_link: p314.htm
Plane: LAN ME726 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Gamtofte.
Crash_d: d160544 Buried_d: b160544
C_link: c003.htm At_Next: Assens
Den 16. maj 1944 blev
LAN ME726 skudt ned over Gamtofte
her
på vej til mineudlægning i Kiel
Bugt. Da RAF ikke havde andre større operationer den nat blev formationen
hurtigt sporet af det tyske radarsystem, og 3 Lancasters blev skudt ned over
dansk område. De 2 andre var
LAN LL963
ved Avernakø og LAN LL984 i Nordsøen. (Kilde: FT
86-66-33)
"Et "Lancaster" fly på
mineudlægningsoperation blev den 16. maj 1944 kort efter midnat skudt ned
over Syd-Fyn. Flyets last af miner eksploderede, da det ramte jorden ved sydsiden af
en lille dam i præstegårdshaven i Gamtofte. Præstegården, kirken og en del
ejendomme i byen blev stærkt beskadiget, i hvert fald præstegården i en sådan
grad, at en ny måtte bygges.
Hele flyets besætning blev dræbt. De omkomne blev begravet den 16. maj 1944,
tilsyneladende af
den tyske værnemagt.
Sognets beboere rejste en
mindesten ved nedstyrtningsstedet i Gamtofte." (FAF)
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Ernest James
Presland, 22 år, var søn af Ernest Walter og
Elizabeth Mary Presland, East
Ham, Essex, United Kingdom.
Hæderstegn: DFC, Distinguished Flying Cross.
(Kilde:
CWGC)
Se artikel
Den nat
himlen faldt ned af Lone Theils i
Berlingske Tidende lørdag den 24. april 2004 og
Foto af
Ernest James Presland.
Avisartikler på engelsk og dansk gav kontakter med
Elisabeth Ege Olsen som anker på dansk side,
så familiemedlemmer besøgte Fyn
i 2004 og i 2005.
Graven med Ernest James
Presland
blev besøgt af 4 med særlig interesse for ham.
Eileen Kingston og han skulle have været gift en måned senere,
fortæller hun i artiklen
After 60 years families visit aircrew´s graves.
Se også brev fra Eileen Kingston 2014 70 år efter
styrtet.
Kvinder.
Se Besøget 2004 *
Doris Hendrick *
Faldne engelske flyvere mindes *
Assens i engelsk avis *
Propellen *
Gamtofte 16. maj 2004 *
Besøg fra Canada 2005.
Mere om senere besøg og om flyet på siden
LAN ME726.
8 flyvere.
On 16 May 1944
LAN ME726 was shot down over Gamtofte
here on its way to Kiel Bay
on a minelaying mission. The formation was quickly traced by the
German
radar system, as the RAF had no other greater operations that night, and 3
Lancasters were shot down over Danish territory. The 2 others were
LAN LL963
at Avernakø and LAN LL984 in the North Sea. (Source: FT
86-66-33)
"Shortly after midnight on 16
May 1944 a Lancaster on a minelaying operation was shot down over South Funen. The bomb load of
mines exploded when the plane
hit the ground at the south side of a small pond
in the garden of the rectory in Gamtofte. The rectory, the church and a number
of houses in the village were severely damaged - at least the rectory so much
that a new house had to be built.
All of the crew were killed. The perished were
buried on 16 May 1944, apparently by the German Wehrmacht.
The residents of the parish of Gamtofte erected a
memorial stone at the crash site in Gamtofte." (FAF)
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Ernest James
Presland, 22, was the son of Ernest Walter and Elizabeth Mary Presland, of East
Ham, Essex, United Kingdom.
Awards: DFC, the
Distinguished Flying Cross. (Source:
CWGC)
Into the mosaic of victory was laid this precious piece
He
is remembered on
The Walls of Names at the
International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 86.
See article
Den nat
himlen faldt ned (The night the sky came down) by Lone Theils in
Berlingske Tidende on 24 April 2004 and Photo of
Ernest James
Presland.
Articles in English and Danish gave contacts with
Elisabeth Ege Olsen as the Danish anchor, so relatives of the airmen visited
Funen in 2004 and in 2005.
The grave of Ernest James
Presland
was visited by 4 people with a special interest in him. Eileen Kingston
and he were to marry a month later, she tells in the
article
After 60 years families visit aircrew´s graves.
See also letter from Eileen Kingston 2014 70 years
after the plane crash.
Women.
See The visit 2004 *
Doris Hendrick * Programme * The
propeller *
Gamtofte 16 May 2004 *
A visit from Canada 2005.
See article
Den nat
himlen faldt ned (The night the sky came down) by Lone Theils in
Berlingske Tidende on 24 April 2004 about the crash of
LAN ME726 and
Photo of
Ernest James
Presland. More about later visits and about the plane on
LAN ME726. 8 airmen.
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