R. Mains                                                                                                   Updated: 15 JAN 2023

Airman: o888372.htm Surname: Mains Init: R Rank: F/O Service: RAF Sqdn: 153

P_link: p407.htm Plane: LAN RA526 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Kattegat W of Samsø

Crash_d: d120345 Buried_d: o888 C_link: o888.htm At_Next: POW

Den 12. marts 1945 blev LAN RA526 skudt ned ud for Samsø. Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver:
"12.-13. marts 1945 (kl. 21.16). Farvandet V for Ringebjerge på Samsø (omkring her). Lancaster B. I, RA526 (P4-.1). 153 BS, 1 BG, Scampton, Lincs.
(minering i Kattegat). 

16 Lancasters (se fotos) og tre Halifaxes fra 1 og 6 BG skulle denne nat kaste miner i den sydlige del af Kattegat, og tre Lancasters gik tabt. Den lille formation blev hurtigt opdaget af det tyske radarsystem, og da de nåede frem til nedkastningsområdet blev de angrebet af en tysk Ju88 fra I/NJG 3. Kl. 21.16 skød den tyske pilot,
Major Werner Husemann, den første Lancaster ned. RA526, ført af F/0 Kenneth Albert Ayres, DFC, styrtede brændende ned ud for Samsø's vestkyst ved
Ringebjerge. Næste morgen blev vragrester og en gummibåd fundet drevet ind på kysten. Der var tilsyneladende ingen overlevende, men i løbet af dagen blev bombekasteren, F/0 R.Mains, fundet i et hus, hvor han havde søgt tilflugt. Han blev taget til fange af tyskerne og ført til en krigsfangelejr i Tyskland, hvor han blev
befriet allerede en måned senere." (FT 91-9-47) Som krigsfange var han var på hospital til han blev befriet. (Kilde: Lost Bombers, se engelsk version)

(Se Minelægningsområder)

5 flyvere fra LAN RA526 drev ind på kysten af Samsø og blev begravet i Tranebjerg. 1 har ingen kendt grav og 1 blev krigsfange. 7 flyvere. 

On 12 March 1945 LAN RA526 was shot down off Samsø. (Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes:
"12.-13. March 1945 (21:16). The waters W of Ringebjerge on Samsø (about here). Lancaster B. I, RA526 (P4-.1). 153 BS, 1 BG, Scampton, Lincs.
(minelaying in the Kattegat). 

This night 16 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes from 1 BG and 6 BG were to drop mines into the southern part of the Kattegat and 3 Lancasters were lost. The small
formation was soon detected by the German radar system, and when they arrived at the target area they were attacked by a German Ju88 from I/NJG3. At 21:16
the German pilot Major Werner Husemann shot down the first Lancaster. RA526 piloted by F/O Kenneth Albert Ayres DFC crashed, burning, off the west coast
of Samsø at Ringebjerge. Next morning pieces of wreckage and a dinghy were found drifted ashore. Apparently there were no survivors, but later that day Bomb
Aimer F/O R. Mains was found in a house, where he had taken refuge. He was captured by the Germans and taken to a POW camp in Germany.
He was liberated a month later.” (FT 91-9-47)
(See Minelaying areas)

Lost Bombers has this about him: "F/O R.Mains was confined in Hospital due injuries until Liberation. No PoW No. Returned UK 18Apr45. "

5 airmen from LAN RA526 drifted ashore and were buried in Tranebjerg Churchyard, 1 has no known grave and 1 became a POW.
See Lancaster-WikipediaLancaster photos * RAF Scampton Station homepage and RAF Scampton at RAF-Lincolnshire.info.
Lancaster I RA526 P4-J
took off from RAF Scampton at 17:35 on 12 MAR 1945. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) 7 airmen.