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Lancaster III ND675 crashed near Filskov 10/4 1944.
Dickie, Banks, White, Lambe, Massey, Rayment, Price
Flt. Engr. Sgt William (Bill) Banks was trying to undo and jettison the
front escape hatch. It was stuck but after a while he managed to do so. He then
sat down and rolled out. Next Bomb aimer F/Sgt Ray R. Lambe got out and third was
Navigator F/Sgt Arthur G. White. He was a tall man and had difficulties getting
out. It helped when he did a forward roll and W/Op Sgt Reg Massey kicked him at
the same time. Also Mid upper gunner Sgt W. “Lofty” Rayment and W/Op Sgt Reg
Massey managed to bail out before the bomber hit the ground approximately 2
kilometres north of Filskov after having blown up while still flying.
All pictures of the wreckage via Besættelsessamlingen, Grindsted
Pilot F/Lt Alexander G. Dickie RCAF
Banks and Lambe, who suffered from burns in the face and Massey and Rayment were captured by the Wehrmacht within a few hours. One flyer was captured in Stakroge at 10:40 while another was captured in Kirkeby School at 09:00. One flyer landed in a field belonging to Peter Thomsen of Filskov and buried his chute in the field. Banks landed next to what he saw as a wood and tried to hide, but was seen by a farmer. Soon after he was picked up by the Wehrmacht. The Wehrmacht took Rayment to a barn where the bodies of about 20 flyers were laying on the floor and was asked to identify his crewmembers. It is believed that the flyers were those of JB725 crashed at Jellinge, ND420 crashed at Brande and ME663 crashed at Aale. The four captured flyers were sent to Dulag Luft in Oberursel near Frankfurt am Main for interrogation. Massey stayed in Dulag Luft from 15. to 18/4 when he was sent to Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug where he stayed from 21/4 to 15/7 1944 and was given POW number 3502. Next he was sent to Stalag 357 Thorn where he stayed from 17/7 to 15/8 when he was sent to Stalag 357 Fallingbostel. He was liberated by British troops on 26/4 1945. Banks was sent from Dulag Luft to Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug where he arrived on 26/4 and was given POW number 3500. He stayed for about two month before he was sent to Stalag 357 Thorn where he stayed for a couple of month until he in august was sent to Stalag 357 Fallingbostel near Hannover. He too was liberated by British troops in april 1945. Rayment was also sent to Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug where he was given number 3501. On 16/7 he left the camp and arrived at Stalag 357 Thorn after a couple of dayes. On 9/8 the journey continued to Stalag 357 Fallingbostel where he arrived on 10. or 11/8. The camp was evacuated on 16/4 1945 and most of the prisoners was sent on a march towards north. Rayment was liberated late april / early may 1945. Lambe was sent from Dulag Luft to Stalag Luft III Sagan where he was given POW number 4192. He stayed at Sagan from 30/4 1944 to 28/1 1945 when he was sent to the POW camp at Tarmstedt near Bremen. He stayed at Tarmstadt from 4/2 to 10/4 1945 when he was liberated by British troops. It is believed that the reason for Lambe not to follow his crew was that he suffered from burns to his face and that he recieved treatment at Reservelazarett Kuranstalt Hohemark that was located about 1 kilometer west of Dulag Luft. This would explain why he only arrived at Sagan on 30/4 1944.
Navigator F/Sgt Arthur G. White.
White landed safely and decided to stay where he was until daylight. At 07:30
hours he was roused by men singing. It started raining and he felt sorry for
himself. He next moved to a nearby river bank where he hid under a fir tree and
stayed there until twilight. By help of a newspaper he found he was able to
figure out that he was somewhere in the Brande area. When approaching the
village of Blaahøj he circled it and found the church which he entered. After a
while he left again and continued his journey. In Vorslunde he slept in a barn
and next day meet the owner Jacob Jørgensen. White was invited in for breakfast
and was informed that a neighbour had gone off to call the police. After a quick
breakfast Jørgensen told him how to avoid the police. It actually turned out
that Police constable Quitzal Dreyer had received the phone call while still in
bed. He then went back to bed. Sleeping late he got up and dressed, had
breakfast and went to his garage to check his car and found that it needed quite
a bit of attention before he would be able to leave.
The wreckage being loaded in Grindsted
On 5/5 2008 Filskov local archive inaugurated a memorial for the airmen.
Sources: Police reports Give and Vejle police. LBUK, BE, Report by Arthur White.
On the night of 9/10 April 1944 Lancaster III JB725 crashed near Jellinge 9/4 1944 Lancaster III ND625 crashed Sejrø Bay 10/4 1944 Lancaster III JB600 crashed near Torrild 10/4 1944 Lancaster III ND420 crashed at Brande 10/4 1944 Lancaster III JB734 crashed near Gunderup 10/4-1944 Lancaster BI ME663 crashed Aale 10/4 1944 Lancaster III ND675 crashed near Filskov 10/4 1944 Lancaster III JB709 crashed into the North Sea 10/4-1944 Lancaster I ME688 crashed into the North Sea 10/4-1944
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