Peter Alan Crosby Photo: Knud Riis
Updated:
12 JAN 2022 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. 7 Mindesten for
flyvere fra
LAN ME663.
Se 47 navne i London og Horsens og
Google Map HorsensEH47.
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." "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. Flight Lieutenant Peter Alan Crosby, 20 år, var søn af Wilfred Alan og Vera Maud Crosby, Seacliff, South Australia, Australien. Hæderstegn: DFC, Distinguished Flying Cross. (Kilde: CWGC) Den 1. februar 1946 fik fru Henriksen brev fra
Johanne Davidsen (f. Hornemann), Adelaide, Syd-Australien, trykt i FAF s. 193: FAF s. 194, citat fra Kristeligt Dagblad den 17.
juli 1953: 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." "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. Flight Lieutenant Peter Alan Crosby, 20, was the son of Wilfred Alan and Vera Maud Crosby, of Seacliff, South Australia.Awards: DFC, the Distinguished Flying Cross. Virtual War Memorial Australia has this. He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 25. On 1 February, 1946 Mrs Henriksen had a letter
from Johanne Davidsen (nee Hornemann), Adelaide, South Australia, printed in FAF
p. 193, translated here: FAF p. 194, a quotation from the newspaper
Kristeligt Dagblad 17 July, 1953: 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. |