Richard Samuel Pitts Updated: 18 FEB 2017
Airman: a046001.htm Surname: Pitts Init: R S Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 224
P_link: p001.htm Plane: HUD N7216 Operation: Other Crash_site: Off Heligoland.
Crash_d: d300939 Buried_d: b191139 C_link: c046.htm At_Next: Klitmøller
På en foto-mission blev HUD N7216 skudt ned
den 30. september 1939
nordøst for
Helgoland, måske omkring
her. Hele besætningen omkom.
Flyets pilot, R.S. Pitts, blev fundet den 17. november 1939 på stranden mellem
Klitmøller og Hanstholm i Vester
Vandet sogn, måske omkring
her. Han var den første faldne allierede flyver under 2. Verdenskrig, der
blev begravet i Danmark. Det var på Klitmøller Kirkegård den 19.
november 1939,
længe før Danmark blev besat af tyskerne den 9. april 1940.
(Kilder: AOD og FAF)
"Indsvøbt i Union Jack blev kisten med den omkomne flyver ført fra strandfoged
Morten
Odders hjem til kirken, netop som søndagens gudstjeneste var forbi. De
fleste kirke-
gængere blev og overværede begravelsen. I følget sås desuden
kommandørkaptajn
Juel-Brockdorf og politimester E. Brix, begge i galla, samt
konsul Kier fra Lemvig. Forsvarsbrødrene havde sendt foreningens fane til
højtideligheden. Blandt de mange
kranse sås bl.a. en fra det danske
marineministerium. Sognepræst H.E.N. Skytte
sluttede sin tale med at
bede for alle de, der nu måtte kæmpe for deres land." (FAF)
Se også Mindegudstjeneste den 3. oktober 2009
- se fotos -
med prædiken af pastor emer. Thomas Jensen.
Sergeant (Pilot) Richard Samuel Pitts, 26
år, var søn af Samuel Thomas Pitts og
Rose Pitts, Higham Ferrers,
Northamptonshire, United Kingdom.
(Kilde:
CWGC)
Fra
HUD N7216 er 1 flyver begravet i Klitmøller, 1 i Tyskland
og 2 har ingen kendt grav.
R. A. F. English airman Sergeant R.S.
Pitts buried on 19 November 1939.
You gave your life for
the praise of your nation
the price of victory and the peace of the world.
Therefore our thanks to the son of England
endure by means of this monument.
Prepare to meet your God. Amos 4.12
From residents of the Parish of Klitmøller.
(Translated by KK)
On
30 September 1939
HUD N7216 was shot down on a photo mission
northeast of Heligoland, maybe
around
here. All of the crew perished. Pilot R. S. Pitts was
found on the beach
between Klitmøller and Hanstholm in the parish of Vester Vandet, maybe about
here. He was the first fallen allied airman in World War II to be
buried in
Denmark.
On 19 November 1939 he was buried in Klitmøller Churchyard, long before Denmark
was occupied by the Germans on 9 April 1940.(AOD and FAF)
"Wrapped up in the Union Jack the coffin with the perished airman was taken from
wreck master Morten Olsen´s home to the church right after the ceremony on that
Sunday. Most of the churchgoers stayed to attend the funeral. Among the
mourners were Senior Grade Commander Juel-Brockdorf and Chief Constable E. Brix,
both
of them in full dress, and Consul Kier from Lemvig. The Defence Brothers
had sent their flag for the ceremony. Among the many wreaths was one from the
Danish
Naval Ministry. At the end of his
funeral speech Vicar H. E. N. Skytte prayed for all who now had to fight for
their country." (FAF)
Sergeant (Pilot) Richard Samuel Pitts, 26,
was the son of Samuel Thomas Pitts and Rose Pitts, of Higham Ferrers,
Northamptonshire, United Kingdom.
(Source: CWGC)
Memorial service with a wreathlaying
ceremony in Klitmøller Churchyard on Saturday, 3 October 2009 - see
photos.
1 airman from
HUD N7216 is buried in Klitmøller, 1 in Germany
and 2 have no known grave.
This
Hudson I took off from
the airfield RAF Leuchars
ordered by RAF Coastal
Command.
See
RAF Leuchars - Station History *
224 Squadron RAF
* No. 224
Squadron (RAF): Second World War. 4 airmen.