Eric Lewis            Photo: Knud Riis      Updated:  17 MAY 2022

Airman: a014106.htm Surname: Lewis Init: E Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 149

P_link: p153.htm Plane: STI BK714 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Tarp, Esbjerg

Crash_d: d210443 Buried_d: b300443 C_link: c014.htm At_Next: Esbjerg, A.10.14

"Under en stor overflyvning af Danmark natten til den 21. april 1943, hvor bombemålene var Stettin
og Rostock, nedstyrtede mindst 17 fly på dansk område. Fra 8 af disse fly blev i alt 40 dræbte flyvere begravet i Esbjerg. De 37 begravedes om formiddagen den 30. april 1943 ved den største jordfæstelse
af allierede flyvere under besættelsen. Ved højtideligheden medvirkede en tysk feltpræst, og der blev nedlagt kranse fra både den tyske værnemagt og Esbjerg byråd." (FAF)

STI BK714 udsendt mod Rostock fik en voldsom landing (omkring her) nær Esbjerg Lufthavn
(i området omkring dette punkt). (Kilde: Kortet Flystyrt ved Esbjerg af Torben Thorsen og
Morten S. Jensen) Sergeant (Observer) Eric Lewis i flyets næse omkom under landingen.
De 6 andre besætningsmedlemmer blev taget til fange, da de forlod flyet.

Sergeant (Observer) Eric Lewis, 20 år, var søn af Alfred og Jean Lewis, Kendal, Westmorland,
United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC)

Se beretning i brev fra Squadron Leader (Pilot) T.L. Howell om flyvningen over Nordsøen og
afslutningen her (oversigtskort).
Præcis navigation om natten over åbent hav på en så lang afstand er meget vanskelig!
1 flyver fra STI BK714 er begravet i Esbjerg. 6 flyvere blev som krigsfanger sendt til Tyskland.
Se Tyske krigsfangelejre * Stettin + Rostock 20 - 21 April 1943 * Luftalarmer i Esbjerg. 7 flyvere.

"At least 17 planes crashed in Danish territory during a great overflight of Denmark on the night
before 21 April 1943 targeting Stettin and Rostock. From 8 of these planes 40 perished airmen were
buried in Esbjerg. 37 of them were buried before noon on 30 April 1943 at the greatest interment of
allied airmen during the occupation. A German army chaplain took part in the ceremony, and wreaths
were laid from the German Wehrmacht and the Town Council of Esbjerg." (FAF)

STI BK714 heading for Rostock had a hard crash landing (about here) near Esbjerg Airfield.
(Source: The map Air Crashes at Esbjerg by Torben Thorsen and Morten S. Jensen)

Sgt Eric Lewis in the nose turret perished during the landing. The 6 other crew members were captured, as they left the plane.
Sergeant (Observer) Eric Lewis, 20, was the son of Alfred and Jean Lewis, of Kendal, Westmorland, United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC)
"Death doth but hide, he is just on Christ's other side"
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 2, Panel 198.   

See the account in a letter from Squadron Leader (Pilot) T.L. Howell about the flight across the North Sea and the end here (overview).
Accurate navigation at night over the open sea at a so long distance is very difficult.

1 airman from STI BK714 is buried in Esbjerg. 6 airmen were taken to Germany as POWs. See German POW-Camps.
See No. 149 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia * Stettin + Rostock 20 - 21 April 1943 * Air-raid warnings in Esbjerg.
Stirling III BK714 OJ-L took off from RAF Lakenheath at 22.08 hrs on 20 APR 1943 targeting Rostock.(Source:Aircrew Remembered has this+Archive Report) 7 airmen