"Natten
til den 7. maj 1944 nedkastede "Liberator" B-24DSA (B24 42-40530) en sending
våben til
den danske modstandsbevægelse på en plads ved Rugård
(Rugaard Gods
her, Paddesøvej 7, 5474 Veflinge) på Fyn.
Under returflyvningen over Jylland blev flyet ramt af tysk flak, brød i brand og
nedstyrtede nordvest for Skjern." (FAF)
Flystyrtet var
her,
overblik her
og her omkring
400 m nord for Kvembjergevej 15, 6900 Skjern.
(Kilde: Keld Vinther).
Flyets navigatør, 2nd Lt Clair Vander Schaaf må
være omkommet under faldskærmsudspring. (Skærmen foldede sig ikke ud i tide.)
Han blev begravet i Lemvig
den
12. maj 1944 af den tyske værnemagt.
Fra en amerikansk rapport gengivet i FAF s. 18:
"Lt Holmes så fra sit udsigtspunkt i næsen tydeligt, at kun en enkelt kanon
afgav skud, og at der kun blev afgivet i alt 5 skud."
Som andre
amerikanske flyvere begravet i Lemvig blev han den
4. maj 1948 gravet op og overført til
Ardennes American
Cemetery i Belgien.
(Kilde: AOD)
Der er intet synligt minde for dem i Lemvig.
Hans navn er ikke i registret hos ABMC,
så mest sandsynligt blev han begravet på en privat kirkegård i USA.
69 omkomne flyvere fra dette og 14 andre fly mindes på
Mindetavlen i Rebild. De mistede livet under
nedkastningsoperationer til modstandsbevægelsen.
Af samme grund mindes de i London. Se 69 flyvere - St.
Clement Danes. Se
Google Map Rebild med 15 fly mistet med tab af 69 liv + 3 fly mistet
uden tab af liv.
8 flyvere.
On the night before 7 May 1944
"Liberator" B-24DSA (B24 42-40530)
dropped a load of weapons for the
Danish
resistance movement at a site at the
Rugaard estate
(Rugaard Gods
here, Paddesøvej 7, DK-5474 Veflinge) on Fyn.
The plane was hit by German flak, burst into
flames and crashed northwest of Skjern on the return flight over Jutland. (FAF)
The air crash was
here,
overview here
and here
about 400 m north of Kvembjergevej 15, 6900 Skjern.
(Source:
Keld Vinther)
Navigator, 2nd Lt Clair Vander Schaaf must have
perished when he hit the ground. (His parachute did not open up in time.) He was
buried in Lemvig by the German
Wehrmacht on 12 May 1944. (Source: FAF)
From an American report quoted in FAF p. 18:
"Lt Holmes, from his vantage point in the nose, saw clearly that only one gun was
firing and that a total of five bursts were fired."
Like other
American airmen buried in Lemvig he was disinterred
and
taken to
Ardennes American
Cemetery in BELGIUM
on 4 May 1948.
(Source: AOD)
There is no memorial to them in Lemvig. His name
is not in the
ABMC
records, so most likely he was buried in a private cemetery in the U.S.A.
69 perished airmen from this and 14 other planes
are commemorated on the Memorial Plaque in Rebild.
They lost their lives in supply operations to the Danish resistance. For the
same reason they are commemorated in London. See 69
airmen - St. Clement Danes. See
Google Map Rebild with 15 + 3 planes lost.
This B-24 from
406 BS, 801
BG, 8 AF took off from
RAF Harrington.
Harrington Aviation Museum has more about
the 801st
/ 492nd Bomb Group.
8 airmen.
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