Stirling IV PK229 - The North Sea                                                                       Updated: 13 JAN 2023

Airman Surname Init Rank Service Sqdn P_link Plane Operation Crash_site Crash_d Buried_d C_link At_Next
a027001.htm Cairns F F/Sgt RAF 299 p422r.htm STI PK229 Drop in DK The North Sea d120445 b120645 c027.htm Helligsø
a102001.htm Curry WRF F/Lt RAF 299 p422r.htm STI PK229 Drop in DK The North Sea d120445 b090645 c102.htm Tornby
e777771.htm Hunsdon S N F/Sgt RAF 299 p422r.htm STI PK229 Drop in DK The North Sea d120445 e777 e777.htm NO KNOWN
e777773.htm Jones S E F/Sgt RAF 299 p422r.htm STI PK229 Drop in DK The North Sea d120445 e777 e777.htm NO KNOWN
e777770.htm Rigby KWT F/O RAF 299 p422r.htm STI PK229 Drop in DK The North Sea d120445 e777 e777.htm NO KNOWN
e777772.htm Sheen R F Sgt RAF 299 p422r.htm STI PK229 Drop in DK The North Sea d120445 e777 e777.htm NO KNOWN


”Natten til den 12. april 1945 skulle et Stirling fly nedkaste våben på en plads ved Holmene vest for Fjerritslev (her). Flyet må være styrtet i havet. Alle ombord omkom.

Flyets pilot, W.R.F. Curry, blev fundet som lig på stranden lige syd for Liver Ås munding i Tornby sogn den 7. juni 1945. (Omkring her)
Ved begravelsen i Tornby den 9. juni 1945 holdt sognepræst Aksel Jacobsen mindetale på engelsk for den da ukendte flyver.
Han mindede om, at for Gud var flyveren ikke ukendt. En engelsk officer og en æresdeling var til stede ved højtideligheden.” (FAF)

Flyets navigator F.Cairns blev den 9. juni 1945 fundet ilanddrevet på Røjensø Odde, Helligsø Strand, omkring her. Begravelsen fandt sted den 12. juni 1945,
hvor sognets folk var mødt så talstærkt op, at Helligsø Kirke slet ikke kunne rumme følget. Pastor K.N. Refshauge talte over den ukendte soldat, ved hvis
kiste folk fra modstandsbevægelsen i Sydthy stod æresvagt.

De resterende 4 medlemmer af besætningen har ingen kendt grav.

Dette var et af 15 fly mistet med tab af 69 liv + 3 fly mistet uden tab af liv, 5 af dem i RKSK, se Google Map Rebild,  Mindetavlen i Rebild og Rebild 2012.
Omkring 6500 containere med omkring 700 tons våben, sprængstoffer og mere fra SOE blev nedkastet til dansk modstandsbevægelse.
RAF udførte 284 og USAAF 168 vellykkede nedkastninger over Danmark. Modstandsbevægelsen blev bevæbnet og mindst 4.481 sabotageaktioner blev udført.
6 flyvere.

  On the night before 12 April, 1945 a Stirling was to drop weapons on a drop zone at Holmene west of Fjerrritslev (which is here).
The plane must have crashed in the sea. All on board perished.

The body of pilot W.R.F. Curry was found on the beach just south of the mouth of Liver Stream in the parish of Tornby on 7 June, 1945. (About here)
At the funeral in Tornby on 9 June, 1945, vicar Aksel Jacobsen made a memorial speech in English to the then unknown airman.
He reminded the congregation that the airman was not unknown to God.

On 9 June, 1945 Navigator  F. Cairns was found washed up on Røjensø Odde, Helligsø Strand, about here. The funeral took place on 12 June, 1945, where
residents of the parish had turned up in such great numbers that Helligsø Church had not at all room for all of the mourners. Vicar K.N. Refshauge delivered a
memorial speech to the at that time unknown airman. Members of the resistance movement in the southern part of Thy were guards of honour at the coffin.

The remaining 4 members of the crew have no known graves. (Source: FAF)

This was one of 15 planes crashed with the loss of 69 lives + 3 planes lost without loss of lives, 5 of them on RKSK, see Google Map Rebild, Rebild 2012 and
the Memorial Plaque in Rebild. About 6,500 containers with about 700 tons of weapons, explosives, and more were dropped to the Danish resistance movement.
The RAF had 284 and the USAAF had 168 successful airdrops over Denmark. The resistance movement was armed and there were at least 4,481 sabotage actions.

See No. 299 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia and 299 Squadron at Unit Histories. This Stirling took off from RAF Shepherds Grove.    6 airmen.