John Winning Moffat                              Updated: 08 MAR 2021

Airman: a098002.htm Surname: Moffat Init: J W Rank: F/Sgt Service: RCAF Sqdn: 433

P_link: p338.htm Plane: HAL MZ808 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Near Langøre, Fyn

Crash_d: d160844 Buried_d: b170844 C_link: c098.htm At_Next: Sønderby

  Se mindesmærke for besætningen på HAL MZ808 rejst her i 1950 på landtangen Langøre mellem
Fyn og Helnæs. Flyet styrtede ned nær dette sted.
Se Halifax Print og folk bag en Halifax klar til en mission.

"Under en mission til Kiel natten til den 17. august 1944 blev en Halifax bomber ramt over dansk område. Besætningen sprang ud med faldskærm over den sydlige del af Lillebælt, på strækningen mellem Torø (her) og Helnæs. Flyet styrtede ned ved Langøre, der fra fastlandet fører over til Helnæs.

Det blev en bevæget nat for en del yngre mennesker i Sønderby Bjerge, idet de forsøgte at komme de nedstyrtede flyvere til hjælp i en robåd. Oppe fra land kunne de høre dem råbe om hjælp, og sammen
med ”Falcks redningskorps” fik de etableret nødbelysning ud over vandet, men da de kom ud på vandet, kunne de ingenting se og ingenting høre. Det blæste kraftigt den nat, og der var ret høj søgang. Efter
nogen tids forløb blev eftersøgningen derfor opgivet.

J. O. Clerc, R. F. Young og J. W. Moffat blev den 17. august fundet druknet på stranden udfor
Sønderby klint (her). Samme dag fandt man piloten J. A. Morgan druknet på stranden ved Aa (her).

Da flyvraget blev hævet op af vandet ved Langøre fandt man i vraget radiotelegrafisten C. R. Stewart.
De 4 førstnævnte flyvere blev alle begravet den 17. august (på Sønderby Kirkegård) af den tyske
værnemagt uden nogen gejstlig medvirken. Sognepræst A. C. Kien holdt dog samme aften sammen
med folk fra sognet en mindehøjtidelighed ved graven. Dette skete også den 25. august, da tyskerne begravede den sidste flyver.

Efter en mindegudstjeneste onsdag aften den 9. juli 1947 afslørede en af de dræbte flyveres far,
professor Charly Clerc, Zürich, den af sognet rejste mindemur." (FAF) Se de bemærkelsesværdige
Breve fra en flyver, Jacques-Olivier Clerc.

Flight Sergeant (Air Gunner) John Winning Moffat var fra Canada. (Kilde: CWGC)
His name is engraved on the Memorial Wall at the BC Museum of Canada.
The Canadian Virtual War Memorial has this.

5 flyvere fra HAL MZ808 begravet i Sønderby og 4 navne er indgraveret på Mindemur på BC Museum, 2 krigsfanger blev ført til Tyske krigsfangelejre. 7 flyvere.

See memorial stone to the crew of HAL MZ808 erected here in 1950 on the isthmus of Langøre between Fyn and Helnæs. The plane crashed near this spot.

"On a mission to Kiel on the night before 17 August 1944 a Halifax was hit over Danish territory. The crew bailed out with parachutes over the southern part of Lillebælt, between Torø (here) and Helnæs. The plane crashed near Langøre, which connects Fyn and Helnæs.

It became a dramatic night to a number of young people in Sønderby Bjerge, as they tried to come to the rescue of the crashed airmen in a rowing boat. From the hills
they heard the airmen cry for help, and together with "Falck" (a private company dealing with all kinds of accidents and fires) they established emergency lighting over
the water, but when they came out there, they could neither see nor hear anything. There were strong winds and a heavy sea that night. After some time they gave up
the search.

On 17 August J. O. Clerc, R. F. Young og J. W. Moffat were found drowned on the beach off Sønderby klint (here). On the same day the pilot J. A. Morgan was found drowned on the beach at Aa (here).

When the wreck of the plane was raised out of the water at Langøre Wireless Operator C. R. Stewart was found in the wreck. The first mentioned 4 airmen were all
buried on 17 August (in Sønderby Churchyard) by the German Wehrmacht without any ecclesiastical assistance. However, together with parishioners vicar A.C. Kien 
held a memorial ceremony at the grave at the end of the day. This also happened on 25 August, when the Germans buried the last airman.

After a memorial service on Wednesday 9 July 1947 in the evening a father of one of the killed airmen, Professor Charly Clerc, Zurich, unveiled the memorial wall erected
by the parish." (FAF) Notice the remarkable Letters from an Airman, Jacques-Olivier Clerc.

Flight Sergeant (Air Gunner) John Winning Moffat was from Canada. (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 213.

5 airmen from HAL MZ808 were buried in Sønderby and 4 of the names are engraved on the Memorial Wall at the BC Museum of Canada,
2 POWs were taken to German POW-Camps.

No. 433 (Porcupine) Squadron was formed within No. 6 Group, see No. 6 Group and the Canadian Squadrons
Halifax *  Halifax-BC Museum.Canada * Halifax-RAF Museum * Halifax-The Yorkshire Air Museum * Halifax Print and Halifax - Bless 'Em All.
Halifax III MZ808 BM-P took off from RAF Skipton-on-Swale at 21.27 hrs on 16 AUG 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this + Archive Report.) 
While an attack was made on Kiel  15 aircraft of No. 433 Sqdn. were detailed to drop mines in the Kiel Harbour area. (Forget-me-not, see Minelaying areas)
HAL MZ863 and HAL MZ899 also lost from squadron. (Source: p338MACR)                                                                                                               7 airmen.