|
Hampden I L4087 ditched in Tannis bay off Kandestederne 20/7 1940.
The aircraft belonged to RAF 44 Sqn. Bomber Command and was coded KM-C.
T/o Waddington OP: Gardening Yewtree (Off Frederikshavn)
At 00:50 hours the Hampden was hit by flak from 4.Res.Flakabt 615 near
Frederikshavn and ditched in Tannis bay 300 to 400 meters off Kandestederne five minutes later.
At eight o`clock in the morning it was reported to Skagen police from a peat bog
in Hulsig that a British flyer had been found there by the peat cutters. It was
Rear gunner P/O B. Green, who told the police that he had crashed into the sea a
few hundred meters off the west coast and had swam to the shore. He had then
walked in the direction of the smoke coming from the machinery used in the bog.
The German Wehrmacht in Skagen had been alerted and arrived soon after to
collect Green.
Later on it was reported to the police that the Pilot Sgt. Edward Littleton Farrands had been found in a summer cottage in Kandestederne belonging to
Wholesaler Carlo Gram. Farrands was soon after collected by the German Wehrmacht.
On 21/7 the dead body of Wop/Air gnr. Sgt Reginald T.Miller was found on the
beach near Spirbakken and taken to Skagen mortuary. On 24/7 he was laid to rest
in Skagen cemetery. On that day the body of Observer Sgt Percy D. Nixon was
found on Skagen northern beach and laid to rest in Skagen cemetery the day
after.
Green and Farrands were sent to Dulag Luft at Oberursel near Frankfurt in
Germany for interrogation and arrived there on 21/7 1940.
(Laurence Green)
Pilot Officer Bernard Green MC at RAF Aldergrove
After interrogation Farrands was on 23/7 sent to Stalag Luft I Barth
and in March 1942 to Stalag Luft III Sagan where he stayed until October 1942.
Then back to Stalag Luft I Barth where he this time stayed October 1943. Then on
to Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug. In July 1944 he was transferred to Stalag Luft IV
Gross Tychow where he stayed until February 1945. The pow`s were then sent on a
long and cold march during which several pow`s managed to slip away. It is not
known where or when Farrands was released and returned to England. He however
signed his "General Questionnaire for British Ex-Prisoners of War" back in
England on 8/5 1945.
Green was on 23/7 sent to Stalag Luft I Barth where he arrived on 25/7 and
stayed until April 1942. The next camp was Stalag Luft III Sagan where he stayed
until September 1942. The time from September 1942 to April 1943 saw him in
Oflag XXIB Schubin.
Then on to Stalag Luft III Sagan where he on 24/3 1944 along with 75 others took
part in the tunnel escape known as "The Great Escape". Green was recaptured in
Oberöhrsdorf on 25/3 by German privates and returned to the camp.
(Laurence Green)
Pilot Officer Bernard Green MC and major John Dodge to the
left in Stalag Luft III
He stayed in the camp until 28/1 1945 when he and about 2500 other British
soldiers were marched off to the local railway station and sent by train to
Marlag and Milag near Westertimke where they arrived on 3/2 1945. Green stayed
at Marlag until the camp was closed down on 10/4 due to the British advance in
Northern Germany.He and his fellow POW`s were send on a march to the Lübeck area
where he was finally liberated late April 1945, believed 24/4.
He must have been back in England on 3/5 1945 as he signed his "General
Questionnaire for British Ex-Prisoners of War" on that date.
(Bangsbo museum)
(Museumcenter Hanstholm)
(Martin Toft Madsen)
(Martin Toft Madsen)
Sources: FAF, BCL, RL 19/454/472, LBUK , UA, CWGC, OLCB, WO
344/106/1, WO 344/124/2.
Back to 1930 - 1940
Top of page
|
