 Article by Flemming
Larsen fla@herningfolkeblad.dk
in Herning Folkeblad on Monday 27 May 2013.7
British and Canadian airmen commemorated at Kongenshus
Caption for the photo
in the edition in Danish:
7 names of young British and Canadian men between 19 and 34 years old. All of
them perished on 25 September 1942 when their Lancaster was shot down
and crashed near the edge of Kongenshus Heath. This weekend - 70 years later -
they had their memorial stone in Grønhøj. PRIVATE PHOTO.
MEMORIAL STONE They were between 19
and 34 years old, came from England, Wales, Scotland and Canada. They were on
their first mission together.
The minelaying in the Baltic Sea south of Falster (Sweetpeas) together with 26
other crews had been carried out successfully, but on the return flight something
went wrong for
R5679.
At 0122 hours on 25 September the plane crashed, burning, into the edge of
Kongenshus Heath (here) about 1.5 km west of Grønhøj.
This weekend, 71 years later, a Memorial
Stone to
the 7 perished airmen was unveiled. The memorial stone is placed next to the old
Grønhøj Kro, and several
hundred people attended the unveiling of the memorial stone. Some of them were
relatives of the 7 perished airmen.
The 7 young people in their Lancaster bomber had
dropped mines in the Baltic Sea south of Falster together with 26 other crews.
Now they were on their way
back to RAF Syerston in Nottinghamshire in the central part of England, when
R5679 was detected by a German radar station near Randers and night fighters
took off from the big German air base Fliegerhorst Grove, the present Air Base
Karup.
A night fighter hit the RAF plane over Havredal
south east of Frederiks. The plane burst in flames but flew on to the west for
some kilometres. It passed Grønhøj
at a very low height and crashed a little west of the village. 6 of the 7 crew
members were found in the wreck, while the Rear Gunner Thomas Ralph Bevan, 19,
was found killed the next morning a little north of Grønhøj. He did get out of
the burning plane, but at an altitude so low that his parachute did not have
time to unfold.
Sadness and admiration
The principal speaker at the unveiling of the
memorial stone was Squadron Leader Robert Hylands from the Royal Air Force and
the
British Embassy
in Denmark.
"When I stand here today it is with very mixed emotions. Sadness at the loss of
the many young men in the battle for freedom - but also admiration that some
fought against tyranny.
Since World War 2 there have been close bonds
between our two countries. We have now been brothers of arms in Bosnia, Iraq,
Afghanistan and more recently in
Libya and Mali. I am proud to be serving in Denmark," Robert Hylands stated.
Standards, bagpipe and trumpet
More than 25 standards from the Danish Home Guard
and a number of societies of old soldiers - and the old standard of liberation
from Aulum - formed a colour-
guard during the entire ceremony of unveiling. Relatives of Pilot
L. W. Morrison
had provided the means for music from a bagpipe at the unveiling.
Also trumpeter
Birgit Lyby Damgaard from Prinsens Musikkorps was there. After
the unveiling she played
The Last Post.
The initiative for the Memorial Stone
and
an RAF Memorial Room at
Grønhøj Kro was financed by a public subscription in the
area.
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