Samuel C. Woodham Updated: 15 JAN 2022
Airman: v999008.htm Surname: Woodham Init: S C Rank: F/O Service: RAF Sqdn: 161
P_link: p379r.htm Plane: STI LK 238 Operation: Drop in DK Crash_site: Near Vemb
Crash_d: d071044 Buried_d: v999 C_link: v999.htm At_Next: EVD
"På vej til to jyske modtagepladser med
våben til den danske modstandsbevægelse nedstyrtede et Stirling fly natten til
den 7. oktober 1944 på gården Stamphøjs
jorder i Gørding sogn.
Ved flyvraget blev fundet et dræbt besætningsmedlem, R.F. Philp fra Queensland i
Australien." (FAF)
Se mindesten netop
her ved hegnet, hvor Philp blev gravet ned af den tyske værnemagt.
Det er ca. 300 m nord for Skalstrupvej 14, 7570 Vemb, ca. 700 m nord for
gården
Stamphøj og ca. 3 km nord for
Gørding Kirke, hvor Philp blev begravet den
15. juni 1945.
Arne Mosgaard sendte
Flyvergraven i Gørding * Om LK238 *
Flugten gennem et besat land *
Nogen hjalp - Gee.
Efter nødlandingen klarede et hold med Pilot
Officer (Flight Engineer) L.N. Flower, Flight Lieutenant (Navigator) Richard R.
Gee, Pilot Officer (Air Gunner) P. J. Moloney
and Flying Officer (Air Gunner)
S.C. Woodham at komme tværs over Jylland fra nedstyrtningsstedet
her til Grenå
her og derfra til Sverige.
Se også
Om 3 engelske flyvere - beretning fra Mogens
Pedersen. Mere i engelsk version.
Flower fortalte i 1986, at de 4 flyvere løb fra
det brændende fly gennem mørke og ukendt terræn til en skovbevokset høj (mest
sandsynligt
her omkring 7 km mod NØ i fugleflugtslinje), hvor de tilbragte natten. Næste
morgen tog de chancen og sendte den hårdt sårede Flower til den nærmeste gård,
Overgaard (her
- nu Nordenbjergvej
11, 7660 Bækmarksbro) tilhørende Maren og Martin Madsen. Flower blev hjulpet af en række danskere, inden han kom til Sverige. De 3 andre
flyvere fortsatte gennem
Jylland. (Kilde:
Lemvig Folkeblad
19. juli 1986, "Engelsk flyver fra 2. verdenskrig besøger Møborg" af Martin
Hansen - avisudklip fra fru Gertrud Pedersen, januar 2010.)
Et ugeblad brugte mange sider på at fortælle
historien, desværre med mange frit opfundne detaljer for at gøre den mere
spændende. Det står fast, at Gee, Woodham
og Moloney (i uniform
for at være sikre på krigsfangestatus) blev set ved Hornslet af landinspektør
Schrøder, som kendte de rigtige mennesker. Flyverne blev holdt skjult,
fik lægehjælp og blev transporteret ud af Danmark. (Kilde: Thomas Schrøder)
Fra STI LK 238 er 1
flyver begravet i Gørding, 2 blev taget til fange og 4 nåede Sverige med hjælp
fra modstandsbevægelsen. 7 flyvere.
On its way to two drop zones in Jutland
with weapons for the Danish resistance movement STI LK 238
crashed on the night before 7 October, 1944 into a field of
the farm Stamphøj in
the parish of Gørding. A perished member of the crew, R.F. Philp from
Queensland, Australia was found at the wreck. (Source: FAF)
See the memorial
stone just
here at the hedgerow, where Philp was dug down by the German
Wehrmacht. It is about 300 m north of Skalstrupvej 14, DK-7570 Vemb,
about 700 m
north of the farm
Stamphøj and about 3 km north of
Gørding Church, where Philp
was buried on 15 June, 1945.
After the emergency landing a team with Pilot
Officer (Flight Engineer) L.N. Flower, Flight Lieutenant (Navigator) Richard R.
Gee, Pilot Officer (Air Gunner) P. J. Moloney and Flying Officer (Air
Gunner) S.C. Woodham managed to get across Jutland from the crash site
here to Grenå
here and then to Sweden.
See also
About 3 British airmen - an account from Mogens Pedersen and
Statement by GEE, WOODHAM and MOLONEY from Mogens Pedersen. His
father
Herluf Pedersen had a citation from General Eisenhower like
this and from
Air Chief Marshall sir
Arthur
Tedder just like the ones awarded to a few other citizens.
See files about Jens Ingemann Jørgensen and
his assistance (certificates page 7 and 9) to Rowland
T. Williams.
In 1986 Flower told Martin Hansen that the 4
airmen ran from the burning plane through the darkness and the unknown terrain
to a wooded hill (most likely
here about
7 km north east of the crash site, as the crow flies) where they spent the night.
Next morning they took a chance and sent the badly injured Flower to the nearest
farm, Overgaard (here
- now Nordenbjergvej 11, 7660 Bækmarksbro) owned by Maren and Martin Madsen.
Flower was helped by a number of Danes until he got to Sweden.
The 3 other airmen went on through Jutland.
(Source:
Lemvig Folkeblad
19 July 1986 "English airman from World War 2 visits Møborg" by Martin Hansen, press cutting from Mrs. Gertrud Pedersen, January 2010.)
A magazine used many pages to tell the story,
unfortunately with many details of their own invention to make it more exciting.
It is a fact that Gee, Woodham and Moloney (in uniforms to ensure a
POW-status) were seen at Hornslet by chartered surveyor Schrøder, who knew the
right people. The airmen were hidden, had
medical assistance and were
transported out of Denmark. (Source: Thomas Schrøder)
1 airman from STI LK 238 is buried in Gørding, 2 became POWs and 4 evaded to Sweden with help from the resistance movement.
69 perished airmen from this and 14 other planes
are commemorated on the Memorial Plaque in Rebild.
They lost their lives on flights with weapons
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.
No. 161 Squadron
RAF-Wikipedia*
Roll of Honour, Tempsford* Tempsford Special
Duties Squadrons*
A History of
Tempsford Airfield
Stirling IV LK238 MA-X took off from
RAF Tempsford at 22.29
hrs on 06 OCT 1944. (Source:
Aircrew Remembered has
this.)
Short Stirling. 7 airmen.