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Halifax III MZ826 crashed Nørre Halne 15/10 1944.
The aircraft belonged to RAF 10 Sqn. Bomber Command and was coded ZA-M.
T/o Melbourne 18:42. OP: Gardening “Yewtree”.
The Halifax was on its way to the target area in the sea of Kattegat east of
Frederikshavn, carrying four 1850 Lbs. mines, when it came under attack. It was flying at 4200 metes
when attacked by a German night fighter piloted by Oberleutnant Fritz
Brandt of Stab II./ NJG 3.
The Halifax caught fire, exploded in the air and fell to the ground just
southwest of the village of Nørre Halne a few kilometres north of Fliegerhorst
Aalborg West at 21:06 hours.
Navigator F/Lt William R. Parks.
Picture taken in Aalborg for false ID-card
Only Navigator F/Lt William R. Parks managed to bail out and landed near the
village spraining an ankle in the process. After the crash several first-aid men
from the village gathered and rushed to the crash site to help. In a field not
far from a large part of the fuselage they found a young flyer standing holding
his parachute.
Near the fuselage was also found a dead flyer lying on the ground while five
flyers were found inside the fuselage.
No one of the men spoke English and therefore they took Parks along to the
school teacher Worm. Worm however was afraid to house Parks and tried to call
the Fliegerhorst to inform about what had happened. The lady at the switchboard,
Karen Mentz, who was in connection with the local underground, was “not able to
get connection due to a break down of the telephone system”.
Instead she called Erhard Jacobsen who picked Parks up and took him to his
house.
Early next morning farmhand Jens Tjell, who was driving a horse drawn carriage,
was passing Jacobsen`s house on his way to the moor to collect peat for heating.
Jacobsen approached him and asked him bring something to the moor. He then went
back in the house, to return with Parks who was carrying a bandage on one foot.
Parks was placed on the carriage body and covered with some empty sacks. Tjell
drove him north on the moor to Luneborg where he was met by a civilian car
driven by Mr. Rasmussen who took Parks to Aalborg. After a short while Parks was
passed on to forest owner Kaj Sørensen who lived with his family in Dorf. Here
Parks stayed for about a week before he was picked up by two members of the
resistance and taken to Doctor Nørgaards home in Aalborg.
He was given a false ID card in the name of Brush-maker Larsen and wearing a
yellow armlet with three black dots he was supposed to pretend that he was deaf
and blind.
From Aalborg he was taken to Grenaa and on 26/10 he was sailed to Sweden.
Via the English embassy in Stockholm he was flown back to England in the bomb
bay of a Mosquito.
(Via Jens Tjell)
The German Lager Vadum
(Edith Nielsen via Claus Madsen, Aalborg)
The place where the crew were initialy buried
The perished crew of MZ826 was loaded on a truck and taken to the German Lager
Vadum where they were dumped in a hole that had been dug in the ground close to
the barracks.
The crew were Pilot Sq.Ldr. Stanley W. Hart, Flt. Engr. Sgt Francis
B. Sheard, Air bomber P/O Sidney A. F. McHardy, W/Op P/O Albert L. Slatter, Air
Gnr. P/O William Jardine and Air Gnr. P/O Reginald H. Porter.
(Ian Slatter)
W/Op P/O Albert L. Slatter
(Ian Slatter)
Air bomber P/O Sidney A. F. McHardy
(Jean Thiim nee Porter)
Air Gnr. P/O Reginald H. Porter
(Jean Thiim nee Porter)
Air Gnr. P/O William Jardine
(Martyn Wake via Ian Slatter)
Flt. Engr. Sgt Francis B. Sheard
After the liberation of Denmark on 4/5 1945 it became known where the Germans
had buried the flyers and during the night of 2/6 Jens and Svend Tjell with the
grave digger of Vadum cemetery and his sister disinterred the remains of the
flyers and placed them in coffins. Late in the afternoon the coffins were taken
to the chapel of Vadum church.
(Via Jens Tjell)
The coffins on the way to the cemetery
( Via Jens Tjell)
(Via Jens Tjell)
Sunday 3/6 approximately 2000 Danes came to the church to honour the flyers.
Vicar N. Møller officiated at the graveside ceremony and a detachment of English
soldiers as well as a number of Danish dignitarys attended.
The funeral
Below 2 letters describing the funeral:
Click on image to enlarge ( PDF file will open in a new window)
Click on image to enlarge ( PDF file will open in a new window)
Letters from Ian Slatter via Ole Rønnest
(Ole Rønnest)
(Ole Rønnest)
(Ole Rønnest)
(Ole Rønnest)
(Ole Rønnest)
(Ole Rønnest)
(Ole Rønnest)
(Ole Rønnest)
Sources: Ole Rønnest, Aabybro, AIR 27/145, LBUK, TW, Jens Tjell, GWGC.
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