Alexander Wilson Cochrane                 Updated: 18 MAY 2021

Airman: a050031.htm Surname: Cochrane Init: A W Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 207

P_link: p177.htm Plane: LAN W4945 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: At Remmerstrand

Crash_d: d290443 Buried_d: b050543 C_link: c050.htm At_Next: Lemvig, Grave 697

Natten til den 29. april 1943 udførte RAF en større mineudlægningsoperation over Østersøen og de indre danske farvande, hvorunder mindst 10 bombefly blev skudt ned på dansk område. Dette Lancaster-fly blev således ramt af tysk flak og styrtede ned vest for Oddesund-broen, omkring her. Hele besætningen omkom. Flyverne blev begravet i Lemvig efterhånden som de blev fundet.
Hvordan blev flystyrtet oplevet af en dreng på 14 år? Se en beretning fra Orla Marcel Hansen og p177MACR.

I første omgang blev Sgt A.W. Cochrane (fundet 29. april 1943) og Sgt S.W. Cowham (fundet 29. maj 1943) begravet som ukendte, men gennem omhyggelige undersøgelser lykkedes det et hold flyvehistorisk
interesserede at identificere dem. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission blev overbevist og bestilte
nye gravsten i 1998. Se 207 Squadron RAF om identifikation af ukendte flyvere i Lemvig.
Oberst Helge William Gram, Niels Erik Stampe, Ole Rønnest og Anders Bjørnvad fik også identificeret
Sgt T. Carter og Sgt R.S. Sidwell fra Lancaster ED709.

Nye gravsten blev givet til A.W. Cochrane og andre ved en særlig gudstjeneste 17. september 1998.  
(Kilder:  AOD og Niels Erik Stampe)
Sergeant (Air Gunner) Alexander Wilson Cochrane, 20 år, var søn af  Alexander B. og Marian Cochrane, Whitburn, West Lothian, United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC)
Se også Minelægningsområder og Lancaster fotos. 7 flyvere.

 On the night before 29 April 1943 the RAF carried out a great minelaying operation over the Baltic Sea
and the inner Danish waters, during which at least 10 bombers were shot down on Danish territory. This Lancaster was hit by German flak and crashed west of the Oddesund-bridge, around here. All of the crew perished. The airmen were buried in Lemvig in the course of time when they were found.

At first Sgt A.W. Cochrane (found 29 April, 1943) and Sgt S.W. Cowham (found 29 May, 1943) were buried
as unknown, but through careful investigations a team of people interested in military aviation history
succeeded in identifying them. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was convinced and ordered new
headstones in 1998. See 207 Squadron RAF about identification of unknown airmen in Lemvig.
Colonel Helge William Gram, Niels Erik Stampe, Ole Rønnest and Anders Bjørnvad also identified Sgt. T. Carter
and Sgt R.S. Sidwell of Lancaster ED709.

New headstones were dedicated to A.W. Cochrane and others at a special ceremony on 17 September 1998. (Sources: AOD and Niels Erik Stampe)
Sergeant (Air Gunner) Alexander Wilson Cochrane, 20, was the son of Alexander B. and Marian Cochrane of Whitburn, West Lothian, United Kingdom. (CWGC)
Into "The peace which passeth all understanding"
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 21.

See No. 207 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia * 207 Squadron History * Lancaster * Lancaster Photos
Lancaster I W4945 EM-Z took off from RAF Langar at 20.55 hrs on 28 APR 1943.
(Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) See also p177MACR. 7 airmen.