Den 4. september 1943 styrtede
LAN W4988 ned ved Laröd som er
her 5
km NNV for Helsingborg i Sverige på tilbagevejen fra et bombetogt til
Berlin.
Den korte version:
Flyet faldt fra hinanden i 200 fods højde og vragstykker blev spredt over et stort område.
F/O Greenway sprang ud med faldskærm over Tyskland og blev taget til fange.
F/Sgt Ward, Sgt O’Brien og Sgt Johns landede alle i Danmark. To førstnævnte blev
taget til fange af tyskerne, men Sgt Johns klarede at flygte til Sverige.
F/Sgt
Conway druknede, mens F/O Randall og Sgt Bell blev samlet op af en svensk
trawler og blev interneret.
Den 29. september 1943 blev F/O Randall og Sgt Bell
repatrieret til England. (Sendt tilbage som led i udveksling af
syge fanger, nok arrangeret af Svensk Røde Kors.)
Kilde: p218MACR – rapport om savnet besætning.
Se også fra den lange version: "Rear gunner, F/Sgt
Harry Knight Ward, sprang dernæst og landede på
jernbanen mellem København og Hillerød i nærheden af Hammersholt. Ved
landingen pådrog han sig hjernerystelse, og var bevidstløs i kortere tid.
Allerede næste morgen blev han taget til fange af tyskerne og bragt til
Værløse. »Bud« Ward besøgte området i 1987, og hilste på flere personer, som
han havde mødt under sit korte ophold i Danmark."
1 flyver fra LAN W4988
har ingen kendt grav og 3 flyvere blev krigsfanger
og blev taget til Tyske krigsfangelejre. 3
flyvere blev ført til Sverige. Se Lancaster fotos.
7 flyvere.
On 4 September 1943
LAN W4988 crashed near Laröd which is
here 5 km
NNW of Helsingborg, Sweden on the return flight from a bombing raid on Berlin.
The short version: Aircraft disintegrated at 200 feet,
wreckage spread over wide area. F/O Greenway bailed out over Germany and was
captured.
F/Sgt Ward, Sgt O’Brien and
Sgt Johns all landed in Denmark. The first mentioned were taken prisoners by the
Germans, but Sgt Johns managed to escape to
Sweden. F/Sgt Conway drowned,
whereas F/O Randall and Sgt Bell were picked up by a Swedish trawler and became
interned.
On 29 September 1943 F/O
Randalland Sgt Bell were repatriated to England.
(A number of times severely injured POWs were exchanged via the Swedish Red
Cross)
Source: p218MACR.
See also from the long version: "Rear gunner F/Sgt.
Harry
Knight Ward was the next to bail out. He landed on the railway between
Copenhagen and Hillerød near Hammersholt. At the landing he got a concussion
of his brain and he was unconscious for a short period. Next morning he was
captured by the Germans and taken to Værløse. »Bud« Ward visited the area in
1987 and said hello to a number of persons that he had met during his short
stay in Denmark."
1 airman from
LAN W4988 has no
known grave. 3 airman became POWs and they were taken to
German POW-Camps.
3 airmen were taken to Sweden.
See No. 460
Squadron RAAF - Wikipedia *
460 Squadron RAAF * Lancaster
photos * p218MACR.
Lancaster III W4988 AR-Q took
off from RAF
Binbrook at 1957 hrs on 03 SEP 1943. (Source: Aircrew
Remembered has
this.) 7 airmen.
|