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Mustang III FZ110 belly landed near Hjallerup 17/5 1944.
The aircraft belonged to RAF 65 Sqn Fighter Command and was coded YT-S.
T/O 09:00 Coltishall. OP: Day Ranger to Denmark.
Early in the morning 65 Sqn flew from Funtington to Coltishall to refuel before
the Day Ranger to Denmark. At 09:00 eight Mustangs left Coltishall and headed
for Aalborg. The Danish coastline was crossed by Lild Strand and the eight
Mustangs divided into two groups and attacked the Aalborg West and Ost
airfields.
(Via Ole Rønnest)
F/Sgt Rowland T. Williams
F/Sgt Rowland T. Williams approched Aalborg from southwest and spotted a Ju W34
south of the Limfjord. He attacket it and hit it several times and saw black
smoke belching from the now stopped engine.
Williams now headed north over the westerly end of Aalborg West and attacked
three He 177 flying in formation. He scored hits on one of them but had to break
off as a Mustang piloted by F/Lt Richard Barrett got in his way. Barrett
followed the He 177 and was shot down by a Bf 109.
Williams flew east and fired at two Ju W34`s that were approching Aalborg West.
He then saw a Ju 88A-4 flying towards Aalborg West at low level and opened fire
at 350 metres range. The Ju 88 returned fire and suddently pulled up sharply to
gain hight. The crew bailed out and the Ju 88 crashed to the ground near the
school in Try Rosenby.
Williams Mustang started overheating and he was forced to land it. At
approxemately 11:30 he belly landed in a field just east of the farm “Diget”
southeast of Hjallerup.
(Bernhard Lignell)
Mustang III FZ110
He got out of the Mustang and hid in a nearby ditch from where he could watch
the Wehrmacht search the “Store Kærsgaard” farm for him. He decided that it
would be the best place to hide after the germans had left. He hid in the barn
for a couple of hours before he was found Sigrid Aaen who was married to the
owner of the farm Thorvald Aaen. Williams was moved from the barn to the loft
over the cowhouse.
This proved to be a wise decision as the Germans returned to search the barn once
again and this time fired their guns into the hay.
When darkness had fallen on the next evening Wlliams was given a packet of
sandwich and walked away in a easterly direction.
Probably during the morning he entered the barn of the farm “Lille Nedergaard”
just east of Stagsted. In the afternoon he contacted the owners Anna and Peter
Johan Pedersen who treated him well.
William left early in the evening and walked to Ørsø where he hid in a barn
belonging to the farm “Store Løgtved” owned by Anna Sofie and Knud Nyholm
Callisen. Saturday morning the familys dog found him and Williams was given
breakfast. He was given a map of Denmark and warned against going further east
because there was quite a few nazi`s living around Agersted.
He decided thet the best way to get to Sweden was to travel to København and
left for Aalborg. When he reached the bridge across the Limfjord which was
heavely guarded by the Germans he caught a ride on a truck carrying workers who
covered for him. In Aalborg he left the truck and started walking south.
After a couple of days he arrived at “Den gamle sognefoged gård” in Bigum west
of Hobro owned by Irma and Anthon Munk.
They treated him well and called for Doctor Knud Repholtz to attend to Williams
feets which was not at all well.
Repholtz`s stepson Walter Lonsdale was a active member of the resistance and
after having made certain that Williams was infact a British flyer and not
a German agent he was taken to the Doctors home and taken care of. The next day
Williams and Lonsdale left for Hobro by bicycle.
(Via Ole Rønnest)
Picture from Rowland T. Williams fake Id-card
In Hobro they got on the train for Randers where Lonsdale would install Williams
in a safe house. It turned out that the Gestapo had made a razzia during the
night and Lonsdale and Williams left for Aarhus where he was handed over to
Halding and Ditte Thun who worked at the City Hall.
Later he was moved to the house of Lasse Egebjerg where he stayed for about a
week. He was then taken by train to Aalborg and handed over to a member of the
resistance called “Jens Lyn”.
(Via Ole Rønnest)
F/Sgt Rowland T. Williams in Kildeparken in
Aalborg May 1944
After a couple of days he was moved to the vicarage of Aalbæk where the Rural
dean Arne Madsen Hindsholm housed him.
On 5/6 Williams was taken to Sæby and in the evening taken onboard the fishing
vessel FN 366 “Laura” of Sæby and together with other refugees sailed to Sweden
by Skipper “Aså Jens” Jensen and his assistant Henry Christensen.
“Laura” arrived in Göteborg in Sweden on the morning of 6/6 1944.
On 1/7 Williams was flown to Scotland in a Mosquito and landed at Leuchars
airbase.
Note: After the British attack on Aalborg Oberleutnant Wilhelm Stahl of 11./ KG
30 arrived at the place where Williams Mustang had landed and inspected it. He
found a lower entrance hatch from the Ju 88 blocking the radiator of the
Mustang. This must have been the reason for the overheating.
Sources: ”Rowland Williams Danmarksbesøg i foråret 1944” by Ole Rønnest, Verner
Jensen and Jørgen Peder Clausager, LBUK, AIR 28/169, Letter from Stahl dated
5/3-1975.
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