Milton Harold Bender   Photo: Knud Riis         Updated: 12 JAN 2022
                                                                       
Airman: a014195.htm Surname: Bender Init: M H Rank: P/O Service: RAF Sqdn: 460

P_link: p289.htm Plane: LAN ME663 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Aale

Crash_d: d100444 Buried_d: b150444 C_link: c014.htm At_Next: Esbjerg, A. 7. 11

 Mindesten for flyvere fra LAN ME663. Se 47 navne i London og Horsens og Google Map HorsensEH47.
      Google Map Mine 10 APR 1944 * Minelægningsområder.
Memorial stone to airmen of LAN ME663. 47 names in London and Horsens and
      Google Map HorsensEH47 * Google Map Mine 10 APR 1944 * Minelaying areas.

LAN ME663 blev skudt i brand omkring kl. 03.30 over Østjylland af en tysk natjager i 23.000 fods højde. "Efter en undvigelsesmanøvre ned til 18.000 fod gav piloten Peter Crosby ordre til at forlade maskinen. Alle bekræftede ordren, da flyet i det samme krængede over og først fladede ud i 6.000 fods højde. Piloten gentog ordren og nu hastede det, idet flyet igen dykkede. Det brændte fra begge vinger, og flammer slikkede hen langs kroppen, da det lykkedes agterskytten Stanley Hodge at slippe ud af tårnet. Han landede på en ejendom umiddelbart nord for Bjerregaard, mens flyet fortsatte og eksploderede 1 km nord for Aale by."
(Fra Jens Thomsen, Tørring) Gå til Stanley F. Hodge og læs mere.

"Vragdele blev spredt ud over et par kilometer. En vinge faldt ved Aale-Mattrupvejen, og to motorer faldt på en nærliggende mark, hvor også et par flyvere lå dræbt. Flykroppen havde pløjet sig ind i den sydlige ende af Mattrup plantage, hvor man fandt endnu et par besætningsmedlemmer. Ved otte-tiden stødte man langt inde i plantagen på den sjette flyver i nærmest livløs tilstand. Det var navigatøren F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. På sin vandpose havde han skrevet: "Kl. 3.40 angrebet af jager, slynget ud af flyet. Brækket ryggen. Hils min familie, Ted - kl. 5.10 smerter ulidelige." (FT 90-104-24) Gå til Charles E. Suffren og læs mere.
Hæderstegn: Distinguished Flying Cross.  (Kilde: CWGC)

Pilot Officer (Flight Engineer) Milton Harold Bender, 20 år, var søn af Samuel og Rose Bender, Golders Green, Middlesex, United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC) Han havde fået tildelt DFC,  Distinguished Flying Cross.
Dearly loved and sadly missed by his heartbroken Mum, sister and brother
Tekst i Davidsstjernen: T  N  Ts  B  H, forbogstaver for de fem ord: tehi nafsho tserurah betseror hachajjim 
må hans sjæl være bundet i livets knippe/bylt/pose. (Kilde: Eduard Hartogsohn)

Brev til fru Henriksen fra Mrs. Rose Bender af 11. juni 1946,  FAF s. 193, se i engelsk tekst.
Se avisartikel fra 1994 Omsorg for de faldne og Krigsminder sendt hjem til Australien.
Se Om mindeceremonier 4. maj 2011 og tale af Anders Straarup.
5 flyvere fra LAN ME663 begravet i Esbjerg 15. april 1944. 2 blev krigsfanger. Den ene af dem var hårdt såret og døde i Tyskland 16. februar 1945.  Se p289MACR.

LAN ME663 caught fire about 03.30 over East Jutland, hit by a German night fighter at an altitude of 23,000 feet. "After an evasive manoeuvre down to 18,000 feet Pilot Peter Crosby gave the order to abandon the plane. They all confirmed the order, but the plane turned over and went down to 6,000 feet before he regained control. The pilot repeated the order and now it was urgent, as the plane dived again. Both wings were burning and flames were licking along the fuselage, when Rear Gunner Stanley Hodge managed to get out of the tower. He landed at a farm just north of Bjerregaard, while the plane went on and exploded 1 km north of the village of Aale."
(From Jens Thomsen, Tørring) Go to Stanley F. Hodge to read more.

"Debris was scattered over a couple of kilometres. A wing fell at the Aale-Mattrup road, and two engines fell on a field nearby, where also a couple of deceased airmen were found. The fuselage had ploughed itself into the southern part of Mattrup plantation, where another couple of crew members were found. Way into the plantation about 8 a.m. the search party found the sixth airman nearly lifeless. It was Navigator F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. He had written on his water bag, "At 03.40 attacked by fighter, thrown out of the aircraft. Back broken. Love to my family, Ted - 05.10 pain unbearable." (FT 90-104-24) Gå til Charles E. Suffren og læs mere.

Pilot Officer (Flight Engineer) Milton Harold Bender, 20, was the son of Samuel and Rose Bender, of Golders Green, Middlesex, United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC)
Dearly loved and sadly missed by his heartbroken Mum, sister and brother
Text in the Star of David: T N Ts B H, from the words tehi nafsho tserurah betseror hachajjim meaning May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.
(Source: Eduard Hartogsohn) Awards: DFC, the Distinguished Flying Cross. He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 8. 

Letter to Mrs Henriksen from Mrs. Rose Bender, 11 June 1946, printed in English in FAF p. 193:
"Dear Mrs. Henriksen.
First I must introduce myself as the mother of Pilot Officer Milton Bender, who was the flight engineer of the plane that came down over Horsens on April 10th, 1944, where unfortunately all the darling boys got killed, except Stanley Hodge of Australia with whom you have been in touch.

My son was the only English boy of the crew, all the others being Australians. I have therefore been in touch with all the mothers out there since the tragedy, and we write to each other quite a lot.

Before I proceed any further with my letter, I want to tell you how wonderful you were to have located Stanley. When I heard all about it, it absolutely thrilled me to the bone. Stanley came up to see me after he came back from Germany, and when I opened the door to him it was like seeing somebody coming back from the dead.

In Mrs. Crosby´s last letter to me she told me that a Danish friend of hers wrote to you for her, and that she had received two very nice letters from you. I immediately wrote back to Mrs. Crosby and asked her to let me have your address, as I wanted to write to you. Her letter came yesterday, and in it she mentioned that you sent her a map of Denmark showing where the plane came down. That´s why I know it was Horsens. I myself had a letter from the Air Ministry here telling me where the darlings were buried. It is in a cemetery called Gravelund Cemetery, Esbjerg. They gave me the plot number etc.

I myself would very much like to go over to Denmark to visit the graves of our darling boys. I got in touch with the Danish Consul, but they advised me not to make any attempt at going over unless I can get somebody out in Denmark to try and fix me up wih accomodation. When I definitely make up my mind to go, and let you know the date, I wonder if you would be good enough to try and get me fixed up in a hotel or even some private accommodation out there. I understand it will take me about a day and a half each way, and I should therefore probably want to stay for a couple of nights or so ....."

5 airmen from LAN ME663 were buried in Esbjerg on 15 April, 1944. 2 became POWs. One of them badly injured, so he died in Germany on 16 February, 1945.
See p289MACR * 460 Squadron RAAF * No. 460 Squadron RAAF * RAF-Lincolnshire.info has this. Lancaster Photos. 7 airmen.
Lancaster I ME663 AR-M took off from RAF Binbrook at 21.20 hrs on 09 APR 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this including an extensive Archive Report.)