William Chard Fairgrieve Photo: Eli V. Nielsen Updated: 09 MAR 2021
                                                                        
Airman: a083002.htm Surname: Fairgrieve Init: W C Rank: F/O Service: RCAF Sqdn: 428
P_link: p339.htm Plane: LAN KB751 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Sea SW of Sejerø
Crash_d: d170844 Buried_d: b020944 C_link: c083.htm At_Next: Sejerø

Flight Sergeant RAF Thomas Russell Dunlop
27.1 1923 in Dumbarton, Scotland   1.7 1944 at Sejerø
Flying Officer RCAF William Chard Fairgrieve
13.12 1919 in Vancouver, Canada  17.8 1944 at Sejerø
You fought also for us. Erected by residents of Sejerø

  "17. august 1944 kl. 02.10 blev en engelsk bombemaskine, som var på vej vestover sammen
med et stort antal andre bombere, der kom fra Stettin (Szczecin) og Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
iflg den engelske radio, nedskudt i kamp med en tysk jager. De fleste Sejerøbeboere var oppe
den nat, da den megen larm fra maskiner og maskingeværsalver havde skræmt folk fra sengen.
Den ramte maskine kom i brand højt oppe og ramte havet med knusende fart og kraft ca. 2 sømil
sydvest for Sejerø havn. Da det lysnede gik 2 fiskere i deres både ud for at se om nogen af besætningen var at finde. Man fandt hurtigt stedet, da olie kom op fra bunden og viste vej. Man
kunne se maskinen på bunden, den var helt knust, og en masse ting fra den lå og flød omkring
stedet. Skipper Johannes Pedersen fandt en mand af besætningen." ("Hændelser fra Sejerø under besættelsen" af Jens Frederik Petersen). 

Liget blev transporteret fra havnen til begravelsen på kirkegården. Der måtte ikke være gejstlig medvirken. Det forbød tyskerne. Transporten fra havn til kirke, ca. 1 km, skulle foregå på en lokal lastbil med Robert Sørensen som chauffør. Øens befolkning var mødt op for at følge med
"ligvognen" til stor irritation for tyskerne. Før ligtoget havde de lagt blomster hele vejen, fra havnen
til kirkegården. Chaufføren kørte i 1. gear, så folk kunne følge med i gå tempo, også dette var
tyskerne irriterede over. De råbte hele tiden til chaufføren - schneller - hurtigere, men han sagde
han havde "vrøvl med gearet" så han kunne ikke køre hurtigere! Sejerøboerne er meget stolte og stædige. Begravelsen blev foretaget af tysk militær, mens befolkningen var samlet rundt om kirkegårdsmuren. Senere rejste Sejerøboerne en stor mindesten for indsamlede midler. (Beretningen er givet og godkendt af graver Jan Enevoldsen, Sejerø, i maj 2008, refereret af Eli V. Nielsen)

Flying Officer (Pilot) William Chard Fairgrieve, 25 år, var søn af William T. og Claire C. Fairgrieve, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; gift med Marjorie K. Fairgrieve. (Kilde: CWGC)

LAN KB751 styrtede ned omkring her. 1 flyver begravet på Sejerø, 1 i Fårevejle, 3 har ingen kendt grav, 1 begravet i Sverige og 1 blev ført til Tyske krigsfangelejre.
Se Wartime Diary of Robert E. Toomey med Photo Album. 7 flyvere.

On 17 August, 1944 at 02.10 an English bomber heading west with a great number of other bombers (coming from Stettin (Szczecin) and Königsberg
(Kaliningrad) according to English radio) was shot down in a fight with a German fighter. Most residents of Sejerø had left their beds because of the noise from
planes and machine gun rounds. The plane which was hit caught fire high up in the air and hit the sea at a crushing speed about 2 nautical miles south west of Sejerø harbour. When the day broke 2 fishermen sailed out to see if they could find any of the airmen. They quickly found the crash site, as oil came up from the bottom and showed the way. They could see the plane at the bottom. It was totally crushed and a lot of debris floated around the site. Skipper Johannes Pedersen found one man
from the crew. (Source: "Events on Sejerø during the occupation" by Jens Frederik Petersen) Actually this bomber was of the RCAF.

The body was transported from the harbour to the graveyard for the burial, which had to be without ecclesiastical assistance. The Germans had prohibited that. "The transport from harbour to church, about 1 km, had to be on a local lorry with Robert Sørensen as driver. Residents of the island had shown up to accompany the
"hearse" - this annoyed the Germans greatly. The residents had laid flowers on all of the road from the harbour to the graveyard. The driver drove in 1. gear, so people
could keep up by walking. Also this irritated the Germans, who all of the time shouted "schneller" (faster) to the driver, who claimed that he could not drive faster due
to problems with the gear! Residents of Sejerø are very proud and stubborn.
The burial was carried out by German military, while the residents were gathered around wall of the churchyard. Later they erected a big memorial stone for collected money. (Account given and approved by gravedigger Jan Enevoldsen, Sejerø, in May 2008, retold by Eli V. Nielsen.)

Flying Officer (Pilot) William Chard Fairgrieve, 25, was the son of William T. and Claire C. Fairgrieve, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and the husband of Marjorie K. Fairgrieve. (Source: CWGC) His name is engraved on the Memorial Wall at the BC Museum of Canada. The Canadian Virtual War Memorial has this.
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 2, Panel 162.

LAN KB751 crashed about here. 1 airman buried on Sejerø, 1 in Fårevejle, 3 have no known grave, 1 buried in Sweden and 1 was taken to German POW-Camps.
No. 6 Group and the Canadian Squadrons * No. 428 (Ghost) Squadron RCAF * Bomber Command Museum of Canada * Lancaster BC * Lancaster Photos
Lancaster X KB751 NA-Q took off from RAF Middleton St. George on 16 AUG 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this + Archive Report.)  See p339MACR.
See Wartime Diary of Robert E. Toomey with Photo Album.  7 airmen.