Harry Thorne                                                                                           Updated: 08 OCT 2021

Airman: o888370.htm Surname: Thorne Init: H Rank: F/Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 420

P_link: p061.htm Plane: HAM AE246 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Off Anholt

Crash_d: d290342 Buried_d: o888 C_link: o888.htm At_Next: POW

Den 29. marts 1942 kl. 02.45 nødlandede HAM AE246 i Kattegat nordøst for Grenaa efter bombeangreb på Lübeck. Se p061MACR om redningen.
De 4 flyvere overlevede og blev krigsfanger.
Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver:
"234 bombefly fra RAF foretog natten til Palmesøndag det hidtil mest succesfulde angreb på et tysk mål.

Lübeck blev angrebet under skyfrie forhold og ved fuldmåne, og det lykkedes 191 af flyene at kaste deres bombelast på næsten 400 tons, hvoraf 2/3 var brand-
bomber. 1425 bygninger blev totalt ødelagt, og næsten 10.000 blev beskadiget. 320 personer blev dræbt, og næsten 800 blev såret, hvilket var de hidtil største
ty
ske mennesketab ved et enkelt bombeangreb. 12 bombefly gik tabt, og blandt disse var Hampden AE246, der blev ramt af flak over målet. Piloten, S/L George
Roger Tench, forsøgte at nå til Sverige, men NØ for Grenå måtte han opgive. Kl. 02.45 foretog han en perfekt nødlanding på vandet, og hele besætningen nåede
at komme i gummibåden, før flyet sank. Denne morgen målte man -6°C ved Anholt, så det var fire stærkt forkomne flyvere, som den danske fiskekutter L31
»Maagen« fra Thyborøn fandt kl. 10.00. Fiskerne sejlede til Grenå, hvor tyskerne overtog de fire flyvere." (FT 90-45-3)

Efter forhør i Dulag Luft Oberursel ved Frankfurt blev de sendt til andre lejre, se Tyske krigsfangelejre.
Sgt F. A. Durnan var fange i lejrene 8B/344 med Sgt K. T. Hyde. S/L G. R. Tench var i L3/21B/L3 og F/S H. Thorne i 8B/344/L3. (Kilde: Lost Bombers)  4 flyvere.

On 29 March 1942 at 02.45 hours HAM AE246 ditched in the Kattegat north east of Grenaa after a bombing raid on Lübeck.
The 4 airmen survived and became POWs.
(Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes:
"On the night before Palm Sunday 234 bombers from the RAF carried out the most successful attack so far on a German target.

Lübeck was attacked from a cloudless sky and at full moon, and 191 of the planes managed to drop their bomb load of nearly 400 tons of which 2/3 were incendiaries. 1,425 buildings were completely destroyed and nearly 10,000 were damaged. 320 persons were killed and nearly 800 were wounded. This was the greatest loss of German lives till then in a single bombing raid. 12 bombers were lost. One of them was Hampden AE246 which was hit by flak over the target. S/Ldr (Pilot) George
Roger Tench tried to reach Sweden, but he had to give up north east of Grenå. At 02.45 hours he made a perfect forced landing on the water, and all of the crew
managed to get into the dinghy before the plane sank. This morning it was only -6°C at Anholt, so at 10.00 hours the Danish fishing cutter L31 »Maagen« of Thyborøn found the 4 airmen perishing with cold. The fishermen sailed to Grenå, where the 4 airmen were handed over to the Germans." (FT 90-45-3)

After interrogation in Dulag Luft Oberursel near Frankfurt they were taken to other camps, see German POW-Camps.
See Bombing of Lübeck in World War II and the Baedeker Raids.

Sgt F.A. Durnan was interned in Camps 8B/344 with Sgt K.T. Hyde. S/L G.R. Tench in Camps L3/21B/L3 and F/S H. Thorne in Camps 8B/344/L3. (Lost Bombers)
See No. 420 Squadron RCAF - Wikipedia * RCAF 420 Snowy Owl Squadron * This Hampden took off from RAF Waddington
Hampden I AE246 PT-V took off from RAF Waddington on 28 MAR 1942. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) See p061MACR about the rescue. 4 airmen.