Horsens Folkeblad
Wednesday 20 April 1988 from J. Nøhr about the planes
STI BF506
- Bøgballe *
LAN W4330
- Vestbirk *
STI BF476
- Kragelund Fælled
Expensive present on Hitler’s birthday
45 years since three planes were shot down -
Text: Paul Nielsen.
On
20 April 1943 – 45 years ago – the Royal Air Force decided to send a special
“birthday greeting” to Adolf Hitler, the rabid leader of Nazi Germany. In the
evening
339 four-engined bombers took off from bases in England to attack
Stettin which was a base of supply for German armies operating in the northern
part of the Russian front.
In the same night a smaller force was dispatched to attack the
Heinkel aeroplane factories in Rostock. To divert attention from the main
attack light bombers
were dispatched against Berlin.
(See also
Stettin+Rostock April 1943
with
overview and many details. Mosquito bombers targeted Berlin and
Mosquito DZ386 was lost according to
Lost Bombers.AS)
It
became an expensive ”birthday present” to ”Der Führer”, as it cost the lives of
many aircrews. Grocer Ole Kraul, Horsens, has carefully examined the complete
operational plan. He has studied some of the archives of the RAF in England, and he has
talked to former members of the RAF in order to look at all sides of the operation. The
following is based on this information.
Waved to the planes
The main force of the heavy bombers were directed across South Jutland near the
Danish-German border and on across the Baltic Sea. The order was to fly at a low
altitude across the North Sea and Denmark to avoid being detected on German
radar screens as long as possible, but anyway a number of them met their fate.
The low flight over Denmark left a lasting impression on both aircrews and
inhabitants. The pilots caught glimpses of Danes coming out of their houses to
wave encouragingly
to the planes at a low altitude. (See also
account in a letter
from the pilot of
STI BK714
– shot down near Esbjerg. AS)
The
air raids were carried out very well, and Flight Sergeant K. W. Giles of
460 Squadron RAAF, an experienced pilot, clearly remembers the orders in the
afternoon
to the crews: “Quite bluntly we had the order that after having
released our bombs we were to continue on our southern course for a short while
before we were to
make
a sharp starboard turn and then we were to fly across the
target area on a north westerly course towards the Baltic Sea and at the same
time avoid
flying over Rostock.
In my opinion this turn just south of Stettin was a
weakness in the planning of the attack.”
Lost many planes
He adds that the events became a nightmare to many aircrews. “I think that a
number of planes collided with each other during the change of course, when many
planes with different distances to the target flew on courses to the south, west
and north west,” Giles says. (No reports of crashes after collisions during this
operation
are available. AS) On the return flight over Denmark they still flew
at a low altitude. The next day when the Danish Civil Air Defence had reports of
the events of that
night
it appeared that 17 of the big bombers had been shot
down in and around Denmark. It turned out to be the greatest number of planes
lost during a single night in
the war. The reports say that three of the planes
came down near Horsens in less than half an hour in the middle of the night. At
3 o’clock a.m. a plane with a crew
mainly from New Zealand sent a distress
signal, “Starboard inner engine on fire.” A few minutes later the plane (STI
BF506)
crashed at Bøgballe, 15 km south west
of Horsens.
It hit
the ground between three smallholdings and only a little more than 100 m from
the nearest of them. No survivors.
Became an easy prey
The glow of the
fire was so strong that Flight Lieutenant C. Lyons of 15 Squadron managed to
make a lucky forced landing with his damaged plane (STI
BF476 - Kragelund Fælled). Later the survivors
were fetched by the police. (A very short version! AS) 460 RAAF Squadron had
dispatched 17 Lancasters to Stettin that night.
Back again the pilots could
report that the attack had been successful, but the operation became the most
expensive to the squadron with three planes lost and six returned with heavy
damages.
One
of the planes that had failed to return was a Lancaster (LAN
W4330)
piloted by the Australian Ken James, the rest of the crew being four compatriots and two
Britons. From his farm in Vestbirk farmer Tage Nicolajsen observed that a
big plane appeared right over the tree tops behind the farm. Behind the plane he
saw a
smaller plane firing at it, and as the RAF-plane due to the low altitude
was unable to take evasive action it became an easy prey for the German night
fighter.
The
plane crashed into a field belonging to Anna Skovbølling 200 m west of the level
crossing at Vestbirk railway station on the road towards the Birkenæs farms. An
ambulance from Horsens was called, but there were no survivors. This was the
first plane from an Australian bomber squadron to meet its fate in Denmark. On
30 April 1943 37 victims from the air war over Denmark on 20 and 21 April were
buried in Fourfelt Memorial Grove near
Esbjerg.
Shortly afterwards the crash site at Birknæsvej was marked with a wooden cross. After
the war money was collected among the residents to erect a
memorial stone
with the names of the perished airmen. On 21 April 1951 the
unveiling ceremony was attended also by relatives of some of the airmen. Over
the years the residents
have cherished this spot and it has been visited by a
number of relatives from Australia. Today the Australian Ambassador to Denmark
J. A. Benson, 43, visits the memorials at Vestbirk and Aale. Then four
Australian Ambassadors have been on the spot. |