Lancaster III ND675 crashed near Filskov 10/4 1944

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Lancaster III ND675 crashed near Filskov 10/4 1944.

The aircraft belonged to RAF 100 Sqn Bomber Command and was coded HW-S.
T/o 21:23 Grimsby. OP: Gardening Privet, Spinach and Tangerine (Gdynia, Danzig Bay and Pillau Channal).

After having dropped the mines in the allocated areas ND675 was very nearly hit by another Lancaster but Pilot F/Lt Alexander G. Dickie RCAF managed to take avoiding action. The course was then set for England.
When over the Jylland peninsula the Lancaster was attacked by a German night fighter believed to be piloted by Oberleutnant Berger of 2./ NJG 3. There was a explosion in the bomb bay and the whole Lancaster shuddered. Dickie took immediate evasion action and all loose equipment was flying around inside the fuselage. The bomb bay was on fire and Dickie ordered the crew to put on their chutes. He was having difficulties with controlling the aircraft. After the evasive action he was trying to level off, but the plane kept going up and down and it was obvious that it would not keep flying. He then ordered the crew to bale out.

(Via Ole Kraul)

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

It crashed at 04:00 hours in a field west of the railroad, crashed through it and ended up in a field east of the line belonging to “Nørgaard” farm owned by Widow Kathrine Mikkelsen.

Pilot F/Lt Alexander G. Dickie RCAF and Rear gunner Sgt Arthur W. Price were both found dead in the wreck by personnel from the Wehrmacht in Filskov. The bodies was placed on the ground beside the wreckage and covered with blankets. Only in the evening were they removed from the site and taken to Grindsted and placed in a barn. They were later moved to Esbjerg and were laid to rest in Fourfelt cemetery on 15/4 1944.

("Libary and Archives Canada" via Bob Whitehouse)

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.

(Frank Hansen)

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.
After about five hours he and Ivan Sahlertz, a member of the underground movement in Give, set out looking for the flyer. When they arrived at the farm they were informed in which direction the flyer had gone, and started searching in the opposite direction. In the evening Dreyer had to report to the Wehrmacht and told them that he believed that White was travelling in a certain direction while he in fact was moving in the opposite direction.
On the road he met Søren Petersen who gave him food and promised to help him and took him home to the farm where he lived. Early in the morning they arrived at the farm in Farre where White went to sleep in the barn. In the evening he was questioned by a member of the resistance movement. After eight days White was picked up by Doctor Gullestrup of Give and stayed in his house for the night.
On the next day White was followed to the train station where he was to follow Mr. Ivan Sahlertz on the train to Vejle and Fredericia. Here Sahlertz left and White was handed over to Gullestrup Nielsen who was the Doctors brother. When arriving at Odense White was handed over to Thygge Hansen with whom he stayed until the next day when he was taken to Nyborg and the next day across the Belt to Korsør. Then by car together with Peter Carlsen to København (Copenhagen). Here he was taken to an apartment belonging to Peter Carlsens brother. After having had lunch at a restaurant White was handed over to a Doctor for the night. Later he was passed on to Duelund and wife Alma Duelund. Eventually the plans for his further journey were set and he was taken to a flat where he met the American flyers Gill and Markowitz with whom he would cross the Sound to Sweden. On 26/4 they arrived in Sweden and on 7/5 1944 White was back in England.

(Besættelsessamlingen, Grindsted)