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B 24 GR8 KK299 crashed in the Kattegat 5/5 1945.
The aircraft belonged to RAF 547 Sqn. Coastal Command and was coded 2V-E.
T/O 08:55 Leuchars. OP: Anti shipping in Kattegat.
On 5/5 at 08:00 the German forces in Holland, Denmark and Northwest German
capitulated.
While four B 24`s were circling three German submarines in the Kattegat one of
the submarines opened fire at 19:30 hours. F/Lt George William Hill piloting
KK299 immediately attacked and dropped a bomb a few metres from U-534. During
the second attack KK299 was hit by flak from U-534 and crashed into the sea
about three miles from the submarine on position 56.45`N 11.52`E.
B 24`s of 86 Sqn. piloted by W/O Nichol and Captain Fowler as well as Lt.
Thompson of 206 Sqn attacked and Nichol managed to sink U-534.
The survivors and some bodies were picked up by two small naval vessels. One of
the vessels sailed to Aarhus while the other sailed to Aalborg.
The body of W/Op W/O Arthur J. Dale was brought to Aalborg onboard the other
vessel, and was laid to rest in Aalborg Søndre cemetery on 14/5 1945.
Reverend Edvard Pedersen officiated at the graveside ceremony and present were
Bishop D.P.v Huth Smith and Consul Sigurd Müller as well as RAF personnel and
members of the Danish resistance movement.
W/Op W/O Arthur J. Dale
(Ole Rønnest)
W/Op W/O Arthur J. Dale
(Martin Toft Madsen)
On 10/5 Navigator F/Lt Reginald J. Allen was laid to rest in a common grave with
about 100 Germans in Aarhus Vestre Cemetery. On 8/6 1945 his body was moved to the grave he now rest in at
Aarhus Vestre cemetery.
The coffins of F/LT Reginald J. Allen and Pilot Flying Officer Geoff Adrian Mombrun
of Stirling IV LJ645
Above pictures from the funeral from Vestre Kirkegård, Aarhus
(Australian War Memorial)
2nd Pilot Flying Officer James L. Howatson RAAF
Pilot F/L George W. Hill, 2nd Pilot Flying Officer James L. Howatson RAAF, F/O Vincent D.
Sweeney RCAF, Sgt Patrick D. Phelan, F/Sgt William A. Devins, P/O Harold Parks,
Sgt Albert E. Tyrer, F/Sgt Robert J. McLean RCAF and F/S Charles A. Keown RCAF
have no known graves and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
(Via Geraldine Chase)
(Via Geraldine Chase)
The Toronto Star May 25, 1945, page 4
Sources: FT, AIR 27/2034, CWGC, FAF, Cemetery protocol Aalborg.
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