Charles Edward Suffren

Charles Edward Suffren Updated: 24 JAN 2022

Airman: o888120.htm Surname: Suffren Init: C E Rank: F/O Service: RAAF Sqdn: 460

P_link: p289.htm Plane: LAN ME663 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Aale

Crash_d: d100444 Buried_d: o888 C_link: o888.htm At_Next: POW

Mindesten for flyvere fra LAN ME663. Se 47 navne i London og Horsens * Google Map HorsensEH47 * Google Map Mine 10 APR 1944 * Minelægningsområder.
Memorial stone to airmen of LAN ME663. 47 names in London and Horsens * Google Map HorsensEH47 * Google Map Mine 10 APR 1944 * Minelaying areas.

LAN ME663 blev skudt i brand omkring kl. 03.30 over Østjylland af en tysk natjager i 23.000 fods højde. "Efter en undvigelsesmanøvre ned til 18.000 fod gav piloten Peter Crosby ordre til at forlade maskinen. Alle bekræftede ordren, da flyet i det samme krængede over og først fladede ud i 6.000 fods højde. Piloten gentog ordren og nu hastede det, idet flyet igen dykkede. Det brændte fra begge vinger, og flammer slikkede hen langs kroppen, da det lykkedes agterskytten Stanley Hodge at slippe ud af tårnet. Han landede på en ejendom umiddelbart nord for Bjerregaard, mens flyet fortsatte og eksploderede 1 km nord for Aale by." (Fra Jens Thomsen, Tørring)
Gå til Stanley F. Hodge og læs mere.

"Vragdele blev spredt ud over et par kilometer. En vinge faldt ved Aale-Mattrupvejen, og to motorer faldt på en nærliggende mark, hvor også et par flyvere lå dræbt. Flykroppen havde pløjet sig ind i den sydlige ende af Mattrup plantage, hvor man fandt endnu et par besætningsmedlemmer. Ved otte-tiden stødte man langt inde i plantagen på den sjette flyver i nærmest livløs tilstand. Det var navigatøren F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. På sin vandpose havde han skrevet: "Kl. 3.40 angrebet af jager, slynget ud af flyet. Brækket ryggen. Hils min familie, Ted - kl. 5.10 smerter ulidelige."

Læge og ambulance blev tilkaldt. Suffren blev ført til sygehuset i Horsens, hvor man straks gjorde klar til en operation. Tyskerne ankom dog kort efter og forlangte Suffren udleveret omgående. Det medførte højlydte protester fra de implicerede læger og sygeplejersker. Men den stærkt lidende flyver blev ubarmhjertigt anbragt på ladet af en lastvogn og transporteret til et tysk lazaret i Århus. En af Horsens-lægerne måtte kort efter stille på den tyske kommandantur i Horsens, hvor han modtog en særdeles kraftig reprimande for protesterne og det saftige sprogbrug over for afhentningsholdet. Straks forlød det rygtevis i Horsens, at Suffren var død efter den umenneskelige behandling. Rygtet fandt vej til BBC, der den 19. april nævnte det i den danske udsendelse. Dette afstedkom, at tyskerne som dementi så sig nødsaget til i dagspressen at indrykke et billede af Suffren, fotograferet i live på det tyske lazaret. Nogle uger senere blev Suffren overført til Tyskland. Han døde den 16. februar 1945 på et Luftwaffe hospital i Bad Tölz, og idag ligger han begravet på Durnbach kirkegård syd for München." (FT 90-104-24)

PILOT FRA BALLARAT DØD
Pilot-Officer Charles Edward Suffren, DFC, 23, fra Ballarat, døde som resultat af kvæstelser han fik, da hans fly blev skudt ned under operationer over Europa sidste år. Pilot-Officer Suffren blev taget til fange af tyskerne, mens han blev behandlet på et sygehus i Danmark. Efter Ballarat Grammar School kom han senere til National Bank. (Fra en australsk avis 1945, fundet af Molly. From an Australian Newspaper 1945, found by Molly. NB: Han var Navigator på LAN ME663, se p289MACR.)

Flying Officer Charles Edward Suffren, 23 år, var søn af Charles Edward og Euphemia Mabel Suffren, Ballarat, Victoria, Australien. Hæderstegn: Distinguished Flying Cross. (Kilde: CWGC). Han er begravet på Durnbach War Cemetery 2. H. 22 i Tyskland. (Kilde: CWGC)

5 flyvere fra LAN ME663 begravet i Esbjerg 15. april 1944. 2 blev krigsfanger. Den ene af dem var hårdt såret og døde i Tyskland 16. februar 1945. Se p289MACR.
Se avisartikel fra 1994 Omsorg for de faldne og Krigsminder sendt hjem til Australien.
Se Om mindeceremonier 4. maj 2011 og tale af Anders Straarup. 7 flyvere.

LAN ME663 caught fire about 03.30 over East Jutland, hit by a German night fighter at an altitude of 23,000 feet. "After an evasive manoeuvre down to 18,000 feet Pilot Peter Crosby gave the order to abandon the plane. They all confirmed the order, but the plane turned over and went down to 6,000 feet before he regained control. The pilot repeated the order and now it was urgent, as the plane dived again. Both wings were burning and flames were licking along the fuselage, when Rear Gunner Stanley Hodge managed to get out of the tower. He landed at a farm just north of Bjerregaard, while the plane went on and exploded 1 km north of the village of Aale."
(From Jens Thomsen, Tørring) Go to Stanley F. Hodge to read more.

"Debris was scattered over a couple of kilometres. A wing fell at the Aale-Mattrup road, and two engines fell on a field nearby, where also a couple of deceased airmen were found. The fuselage had ploughed itself into the southern part of Mattrup plantation, where another couple of crew members were found. Way into the plantation about 8 a.m. the search party found the sixth airman nearly lifeless. It was Navigator F/O Charles Edward "Ted" Suffren. He had written on his water bag, "Attacked at 03.40 10/4/44. Thrown out of a/c. Have broken back. Give my love to my family. Jod. 05.10 pain unbearable." (FT 90-104-24)

A doctor and an ambulance were called. Suffren was taken to the hospital in Horsens, where an immediate operation was prepared. However, the Germans arrived shortly after and demanded that Suffren be handed over at once. That caused loud protests from the doctors and nurses involved. But the severely suffering airman was ruthlessly placed on a truck body and transported to a German field hospital in Århus. Shortly after one of the doctors in Horsens was called to the German HQ in Horsens, where he received a highly powerful rebuke for the protests and the abusive language to the team that fetched the airman. Soon rumours went around in Horsens that Suffren had died due to the inhumant treatment. The rumour found its way to the BBC, which on 19 April mentioned it in the broadcast to Denmark. That caused the Germans to publish a photo of Suffren alive in the German field hospital in the newspapers as a retraction. Suffren was transferred to Germany some weeks later. He died on 16 February, 1945 at a Luftwaffe hospital in Bad Tölz, and today he rests at Durnbach Cemetery south of Munich." (FT 90-104-24)

BALLARAT PILOT'S DEATH
Pilot-Officer Charles Edward Suffren, DFC, aged 23, of Ballarat, died as a result of wounds suffered when his aircraft was brought down during operations over Europe early last year. Pilot-Officer Suffren was captured by the Germans while receiving treatment in a hospital in Denmark. Educated at Ballarat Grammar School, he later joined the staff of the National Bank. (From an Australian Newspaper 1945, found by Molly. NB: He was the Navigator of LAN ME663, see p289MACR.)

Flying Officer Charles Edward Suffren, 23, was the son of Charles Edward and Euphemia Mabel Suffren, of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Awards: DFC, the Distinguished Flying Cross. (Kilde: CWGC) He rests in Durnbach War Cemetery 2. H. 22. in Germany, see details and inscription. (Source: CWGC)
Virtual War Memorial Australia has this. He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 103.

5 airmen from LAN ME663 were buried in Esbjerg on 15 April, 1944. 2 became POWs. One of them badly injured, so he died in Germany on 16 February, 1945.
See p289MACR * 460 Squadron RAAF * No. 460 Squadron RAAF * RAF-Lincolnshire.info has this. Lancaster Photos. 7 airmen.
Lancaster I ME663 AR-M took off from RAF Binbrook at 21.20 hrs on 09 APR 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this including an extensive Archive Report.)