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.