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Stirling III BF476 crash-landed at Kragelund Fælled North
of Vejle on 21/4 1943.
The aircraft belonged to RAF 10 Sqn. Bomber Command and was coded LS-P.
T/O 22:30 Mildenhall OP: Rostock.
On the return flight from Rostock, BF476 was attacked by a German Bf 110 night
fighter from 10/NJG 3 controlled by the radar station Faun based on the Northern
part of Fyn.
It was piloted by Oberleutnant Hermann Müller with the crew of
Feldwebel Kostädt and Unteroffizier Witt.
The Stirling was hit seriously and Pilot F/Lt Charles S. Lyons had to do a
wheels up landing at 03:26 hours in a field belonging to Kristen Hansen on
Kragelund Fælled.
During the landing the rear turret with the rear gunner in it was thrown clear
of the aircraft.
All survived the landing including the tail gunner Sgt Maurice C. Hugget who had
been wounded by a splinter in his right thigh during the aerial combat.
W/Op Sgt Richard P. Howland had been hit by a shot in one foot and had a slight
burn in the face. The rest of the crew who were all unhurt were Navigator Sgt
Janus R. Marshall, Air Bomber P/O Roy Lockwood, Air Gunner Sgt John Shaw and Flt
Engr Sgt Hugh W. Hipwell.
The airmen knocked on the door by Kristen Hansen’s farm and were let in. Doctor
Bense, Løsning was called to treat the wounds of the airmen.
After this the
airmen left the house to go and set fire to the aircraft. They opened the fuel
drains and fired a pistol a couple of times before it ignited and a fire
started.
Six of the airmen left the farm and walked in a North Eastern
direction.
The wounded Sgt Howland stayed at the farm, and was later taken to
the hospital in Vejle by an ambulance.
After a short while Hugget had to give up
following his friends, and at 06:15 hours he was arrested by two Danish
policemen on the main road at Kragelund. They brought him to Doctor Bense in
Løsning where he was treated for his wounds and given a dose of Morphine. At
17:10 he was admitted into the Hospital for Vejle County and City.
The rest of
the crew sheltered in a barn when dawn came.
In the evening at 22:00 hours they
left and followed a course to the North until next morning, when they hid in a
barn belonging to a farmer in Vinten Kjær. At 13:30 they left their hiding and
approached the farmer and asked for food.
The farmer sent for the police, and
the airmen were arrested and brought to the police station in Horsens.
Hipwell, Marshall, Lyons, Shaw, Lockwood
At 17:00
hours a squad of Luftwaffe soldiers from Ry airfield arrived and the airmen were
handed over to the German officer in command.
(Via
Erik Andersen)
(Via Erik Andersen)
Sources: Report Vejle police, LBUK, RL 19/455+456+472, AS 35-139.
The night of 20/21 April 1943
Halifax II JB930 crash landed near Esbjerg
20/4-1943
Lancaster III ED620 crashed near Stadil 20/4-1943
Lancaster III ED614 crashed Vester Vedsted
21/4-1943
Unknown Lancaster crashed Strandgården farm, Halskov
21/4-1943
Stirling III BK714 crashed Tarp, Esbjerg 21/4-1943
Stirling III BF508 crashed in Fænøsund on 21/4 1943
Halifax II DT747 crashed Hjertingvej road in
Sædding, Esbjerg 21/4-1943
Lancaster III ED557 believed crashed Store Bælt
21/4-1943
Stirling I R9261 crashed by Kongsmark on 21/41943
Halifax II HR722 crashed Store Bælt off
Drøsselbjerg Klint 21/4-1943
Halifax II HR712 crashed Store Bælt near Slipshavn
21/4-1943
Stirling III BF463 crashed in Store Bælt off
Halskov on 21/4 1943
Lancaster III ED818 crashed Vresen Ø 21/4-1943
Stirling III BF506 shot down by Bøgballe on 21/4
1943
Lancaster I W4330 crashed Vestbirk 21/4-1943
Halifax II HR714 crashed in the tidal area off the
island of Mandø 21/4 1943.
Stirling III BK698 shot down over The North Sea on
21/4 1943
Stirling III BF476 crash-landed at Kragelund Fælled
North of Vejle on 21/4 1943
Lancaster ED709 crashed Ringkøbing Fjord 21/4 1943
Back to 1943
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