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 Den 8. november 1942 styrtede
WEL Z1343 i Vejle Fjord omkring
her.
Se informationstavle rejst i oktober 2012. Denne artikel er fra
Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift:
"70 bombefly minerede ved
Brest, de
Frisiske Øer og de danske farvande. To Halifaxes og to Wellingtons gik
tabt. Seks Wellingtons fra 300 BS deltog i operationen. Tre skulle minere i den
sydlige del af Lille Bælt ved Brandsø (her), mens resten skulle minere ved udmundingen
af Vejle fjord. Kl. 18.54 lettede
Wellington Z1343, som den første af de seks
fly. Ca. kl. 22.00 blev flyet observeret over Vejle fjord. I lav højde fløj det
ud over fjorden i østlig retning.
Ud for Trelde Næs (her)
svingede flyet og kom
tilbage i lav højde over Østerskov (her). Det drejede igen ned over fjorden et godt
stykke vest for fyrtårnet
(Træskohage,
her). Ude over fjorden
tog
flyet
pludselig vandet flere
gange for sluttelig at gå helt ned med et stort brag.
Flere danskere hørte braget, og
fra nordkysten sejlede Hilmar Andreasen og Niels Nielsen ud i en pram. Der var
nogen vind, men i mørket kunne de to redningsfolk
høre nødråb. Efter 20
minutters kraftig roning nåede de ud midtfjords og sejlede ind i en samling
»pindebrænde«, som flød rundt. Det var rester af flyet. Her fik de
pludselig øje
på en flyver, som iført flydevest holdt en såret kammerat oppe. Det var piloten,
Sgt. Stefan Chmielewski, og bombekasteren, Sgt. M. Dadej, begge fra
det frie
polske flyvevåben (se links sidst i engelsk version). Andreasen og Nielsen fik hurtigt de to flyvere op i prammen.
Piloten havde krampagtigt holdt en
blikbeholder med en brevdue, men duen var
død, så beholderen gik over bord sammen med diverse papirer. Sgt. Dadej havde
ret svære læsioner på den ene side
af hovedet og måtte holdes fast, da
han på
grund af smerte og uklarhed var ret ustyrlig.
Da de nåede i land, blev
piloten ført til fyrpasserens hus, hvor han blev forsynet med varmt tøj, et par
store snapse og adskillige kopper skoldhed te. Senere på
aftenen
blev han ført
til Sanatoriet (her
- Sanatorievej 26, 7140 Stouby), hvor en tilkaldt ambulance allerede havde bragt hans sårede
kammerat. Tyskerne kørte rundt
i området
den pågældende aften men fandt intet
spor af de to polakker. Først næste dag fandt tyskerne ved hjælp af en anonym
telefonopringning frem til Sanatoriet
(se
Vejlefjords
historie og Vejlefjord Rehabilitering). Overlægen nægtede at udlevere Dadej, og
tyskerne posterede et par vagter på gangen udenfor flyverens sygestue.
Kurgæsterne
tog en hjertelig afsted med Chmielewski, og da tyskerne kørte bort
med ham, fik han et rungende hurra. Denne sympatitilkendegivelse blev taget
meget unådigt
op af de tyske vagter,
og da en tysk officer senere overfor
overlægen udtrykte sin misbilligelse af hurraråbene fik han det salomoniske
svar: »Her får patienterne altid
et hurra, når de rejser«.
Efter en halv snes
dages forløb tog de tyske vagter af sted med Dadej, der ret hurtigt var kommet
til hægterne. Et par uger
senere modtog personalet på Sanatoriet
et takkekort
fra Stalag Luft I. Fangenummer 879 Dadej var nået frem til sit midlertidige
logi.
Allerede om aftenen den 8.
november begyndte rygterne at løbe, og de tog til i årene efter krigen. Resten
af besætningen var flygtet til England via Sverige.
Sandheden
er dog helt
anderledes og trist. Under redningsarbejdet fandt toldopsynsmand Grau en
omkommet flyver, der blev bragt op på Sanatoriet.
Liget af navigatøren, F/O Ludomir Borowicz, blev afhentet af tyskerne og senere begravet på Fourfeldt
kirkegård ved Esbjerg.
Telegrafisten, Sgt. Zygmunt Ludwik Rausinski, og
haleskytten, Sgt. Jan Leszek Cieszynski-Nalecz, blev aldrig fundet og er fortsat meldt savnet.
De to øvrige
Wellingtons kom senere ind over Vejle fjord. Kl. 22.35 kastede Sgt. B. Wojno i
Z1415 sine miner, og flere steder blinkede danskere V-tegnet til flyet.
Ni minutter senere kastede piloten i Z1288
sine miner." (FT 90-46-7)
p123MACR
Se Minelægningsområder.
1 flyver fra WEL
Z1343 blev begravet i Esbjerg. 2 har ingen kendt grav og 2 blev
ført til
Tyske krigsfangelejre. Se
også Tak til Niels Nielsen
Rasmussen.
Se 21 polske flyvere begravet i Danmark ud af
36 polske flyvere skudt ned over Danmark. 5
flyvere.
 On 8 November 1942 WEL
Z1343 crashed into Vejle inlet about
here.
See information board 2012. This article from
Aviation Historical Review is translated by KK.
"70 bombing planes laid mines near
Brest, the
Frisian Islands, and the Danish waters. Two
Halifaxes and two
Wellingtons were
lost. Three were to mine
in
the southern part of the Little Belt near Brandsø (here)
while the rest were to mine at the mouth of the Vejle inlet. At 6.54 pm
Wellington Z1343 took off as the first
of
the
six planes.
About 10 pm the plane was observed over the Vejle
inlet. At a low altitude it flew out over the inlet in an easterly direction.
Off the Trelde foreland (here) the plane
turned
and flew back at a low altitude over Østerskov (here). A fair distance west of the lighthouse
(Træskohage,
here) it turned down over the inlet
again. Over the
inlet
the
plane suddenly skimmed the water several times and
finally went down with a big bang.
Several Danes heard the bang, and from the
northern shore Hilmar Andreasen and Niels Nielsen rowed out in a barge. It was
windy, but the two rescuers could hear
cries for help in the dark. After twenty
minutes' heavy rowing they reached the middle of the inlet and sailed into a
heap of "kindling wood", the remains of the plane.
Here they suddenly caught
sight of an airman in a safety jacket who was keeping a wounded comrade afloat.
They were the pilot, Sgt. Stefan Chmielewski, and the
bomb aimer,
Sgt M. Dadej,
both from the free Polish airforce (see links at the bottom). Andreasen and
Nielsen quickly got the two airmen into the barge. The pilot
had been clasping
a
tin containing a carrier pigeon, but the pigeon was dead so the tin went
overboard together with various papers. Sgt Dadej had severe injuries
on one side of his head
and had to be
held tightly since he was rather unmanageable because of pain and grogginess.
When they reached land, the pilot was taken to
the house of the lighthouse keeper where he received warm clothes, a few drinks
and several cups of scalding hot tea.
Later in the evening he was taken to the
sanatorium (here
- Sanatorievej 26, 7140 Stouby) where a summoned ambulance had already taken his wounded comrade.
The
Germans drove around in the area on the evening in question, but they found no
sign of the two Poles. Not until the next day did the Germans find the trace to
the sanatorium - by means of an anonymous call (Tuberculosis was the main focus
in the buildings. See
Vejlefjord Rehabilitering. Now health
care and hotel
guests are in focus). The chief surgeon refused to
deliver Dadej up, and the Germans placed some guards in the corridor outside the
airman's ward. The patients took
a warm
leave of Chmielewski, and when the
Germans drove away with him, he got a resounding cheer. The German guards
strongly disapproved of this
demonstration of
sympathy, and when a German officer
later expressed his displeasure at the cheers to the chief surgeon, he got the Solomonic answer, "Here
patients are always
cheered when they leave." After about ten days the German guards left with Dadej, who had recovered fairly quickly. A few weeks later the staff
of the
sanatorium
received
a postcard of thanks from Stalag Luft I. Prisoner number 879 Dadej had arrived at his temporary lodgings.
As early as the evening of 8 November there were
rumours, and they grew in the years after the war. The rest of the crew had fled
to England by way of Sweden.
The
truth, however, is quite different and sad.
During the rescue operation landwaiter Grau found a deceased airman who was
taken to the sanatorium.
The dead body of the navigator, F/O Ludomir Borowicz,
was fetched by the Germans and later interred at Fourfeldt
churchyard near Esbjerg.
Wireless operator Sgt Zygmunt Ludwik Rausinski, and tail gunner Sgt
Jan Leszek Cieszynski-Nalecz were never found and are still reported missing.
The other
two Wellingtons later flew in over the Vejle inlet. At 10,35 pm Sgt B. Wojno in
Z1415 dropped his mines, and in several places Danes flashed the V-sign to
the
plane. Nine minutes later the pilot of
Z1288 threw his mines."
(FT 90-46-7)
1 airman from
WEL Z1343 was buried in Esbjerg. 2 have no known grave and 2 were taken to
German POW-Camps.
See also Thanks to
Niels Nielsen Rasmussen.
See No.
300 Polish Bomber Squadron *
Polish War Memorial
* See
21 Polish airmen buried in Denmark out of
36 Polish airmen shot down over Denmark.
Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain. This
Wellington took
off from
the airfield at
Ingham. See
RAF-Lincolnshire about RAF Ingham. See
Minelaying areas.
Wellington IV Z1343 BH-L took off from
RAF Ingham at 18:54 on a
Gardening operation.
(Source:
Aircrew Remembered has
this.)
p123MACR 5 airmen.
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