Geoffrey Wilkinson Battersby                Updated: 15 OCT 2021

Airman: a077001.htm Surname: Battersby Init: G W Rank: F/Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 550

P_link: p367.htm Plane: LAN EE193 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Kattegat

Crash_d: d300844 Buried_d: b060944 C_link: c077.htm At_Next: Reersø

Den 30. august 1944 styrtede LAN EE193 i
Kattegat, måske 5 km nordvest for Sejerø. Se p367MACR. Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver: "403 RAF bombefly fløj til Stettin (Szczecin), medens 189 Lancasters bombede Königsberg (Kaliningrad).
38 Lancasters gik tabt. 

Over den nordlige del af Storebælt rapporteredes et bombefly nedskudt af en tysk natjager ca. kl. 01.00.
Liget af flight engineer F/Sgt Geoffrey Wilkinson Battersby blev fundet ilanddrevet ved Reersø den 4. september (måske omkring her), og to dage senere blev han begravet på Reersø Kirkegård. Resten af besætningen har ingen kendt grav." (FT 88-41-33) Se også Arthur Vincent Plante.

Flight Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Geoffrey Wilkinson Battersby, 24 år, var søn af Henry og
Lydia Battersby, Clitheroe, Lancashire, United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC) Se gravsten rejst af danske.

"Reersø Fiskeriforening samlede penge ind til en kiste, så flyveren kunne blive begravet på en anstændig måde. Begravelsen fandt sted den 6. september kl. 6 om morgenen. Kun pastor Glenthøj og graveren fik
af tyskerne tilladelse til at være til stede ved begravelsen, men uden for kirkemuren stod, trods det tidlige tidspunkt, en flok mennesker fra byen, der også ville vise deres deltagelse." (FAF)
TV-Kalundborg havde et indslag om mindehøjtidelighed 4. maj 2013 for Danmarks befrielse.
Det er nu en tradition i Reersø.
Se Lancaster fotos og Operation 30 AUGUST 1944 - ruter og tab. 7 flyvere.

On 30 August 1944 LAN EE193 crashed into the  Kattegat, maybe 3 miles north west of Sejerø.
See p367MACR. (Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes:"403 bombers from the RAF flew to Stettin (Szczecin) while 189 Lancasters bombed Königsberg (Kaliningrad). 38 Lancasters were lost.

At about 01.00 hours a bomber was reported shot down by a German night fighter over the northern part
of the Storebælt. On 4 September 1944 the body of F/Sgt (Flight Engineer) Geoffrey Wilkinson Battersby
was found washed ashore at Reersø (maybe about here). He was buried in Reersø Churchyard two days
later. The rest of the crew have no known grave." (FT 88-41-33) See also Arthur Vincent Plante.

Flight Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Geoffrey Wilkinson Battersby, 24, was the son of Henry and Lydia Battersby, of Clitheroe, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
(Source: CWGC)  Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends  See grave stone from Danes.
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 7. 

"Reersø Fishermen's Association collected money for a coffin, so the airman could be buried in a decent way. The burial took place on 6 September at 6 a.m.
The Germans only permitted Vicar Glenthøj and the gravedigger to be present at the burial, but on the other side of the churchyard wall there were a number
of residents of the area who had come to show offer their sympathy for the airman in spite of the early hour." (FAF)
TV-Kalundborg had a TV-item about memorial ceremony on 4 May 2013 for the liberation of Denmark. Now it is a tradition in Reersø.

See  Operation 30 AUGUST 1944 - routes and losses * Lancaster * Lancaster Photos.
RAF North Killingholme at RAF-Lincolnshire.info * RAF 550 Squadron and RAF North Killingholme Association
Lancaster III EE193 BQ-C took off from RAF North Killingholme at 21:13 on 29 AUG 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) See 7 airmen.