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Halifax BII W7886 crashed near Sdr. Stenderup 17/1-1943.
The aircraft belonged to RAF 35 Sqn Bomber Command and was coded TL-C.
T/O 17:03 Graveley. OP: Berlin.
Returning to England W7886 was attacked by a German JU 88C night fighter from
10./NJG 3 which was controlled by the radar station FAUN based on the island of
Fyn. The pilot of the JU 88 was Feldwebel Herbert Holz with the crew of
Unteroffizier Kurt Schilcher and Gefreiter Hermann Bremicker.
At 21:34 hours the Halifax crashed in flames in a field belonging to Laurits
Juel in what is today known as Mørkholtvej 19 Sdr. Stenderup. The aircraft had
started to come apart while still in the air and the vertical stabiliser was
found on the bank of the Small Belt and two engines was found in the nearby
forest. Before the crash three crewmembers managed to get out of the Halifax and
saving their lives by means of parachute.
The wreckage on the beach
The pilot Sqn.Ldr. Ian M.R. Brownlie landed in a forest which was next to the
crashsite. He released the parachute and followed a small road thru the forest.
This led him to the forester house where he met Forrester Lassen. They discussed
the chances of escaping, and since they were rather small Brownlie decided to
give himself up. A phone call was made for the Parish Executive Officer and soon
after German soldiers arrived to arrest Brownlie whom they took to the local
German post in Gl. Aalbo.
Shortly after Oberleutnant Fröeber arrived and took Brownlie to Kolding where he
was questioned.
(Henry Pedersen)
Pilot Sqn. Ldr. Ian M. R. Brownlie
At 12:10 hours the Danish police received a call from the Sdr. Stenderup
telephone exchange informing them that an English flyer was present in Fisherman
Peter Vogensens house at Agtrupvis Strand.
Three policemen drove there and arrested Navigator F/L Jack Kenneth Corke. The
German Wehrmacht was informed about Corkes capture and the Danish police then
took him to Adjudant Hauptmann Belke at the Sdr. Stenderup Temperance Hotel. At
15:30 hours Corke was taken to the Wehrmacht HQ in Kolding.
Corke being arrested by the Danish police
At 16:00 hours it was reported from Fyn that a wounded flyer had been found and
was kept by the Wehrmacht in Middelfart. It was Flt. Engr. Sgt A M. Taylor who
had been wounded while in the aircraft and again when he released his parachute
after having landed in some tall trees. He was later taken to the German
military hospital in Hald for treatment. After some months he was transferred to
the hospital at Lamsdorf and Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf.
(Henry Pedersen)
Flt. Engr. Sgt A M. Taylor
Brownlie and Corke were after a couple of days sent to Dulag Luft for
interrogation and then passed on to Offlag XXIB Schubin bei Bromberg and later
to Stalag Luft III Sagan.
At 18:00 hours on 19/1 it was reported that the dead body of an English flyer
had drifted ashore near Hagenør on the northern bank of Kolding Fjord. The body
of Mid upper gunner P/O Laurence R. Adcock was handed over to the Wehrmacht.
(Henry Pedersen)
Mid upper gunner P/O Laurence R. Adcock
When the fire in the wreck died out three bodies was retrieved and together with
that of Adcock taken to Esbjerg where they were laid to rest in Fovrfelt
cemetery on 21/3-1943.
They were Bomber F/S Frederick D.M. McColl, Wop P/O Frederick A. Braybrook and
Rear gunner P/O William A. McMullan.
(Henry Pedersen)
Bomber F/S Frederick D.M. McColl
(Henry Pedersen)
Wop P/O Frederick A. Braybrook
(Henry Pedersen)
(Henry Pedersen)
Rear gunner P/O William A. McMullan.
(Henry Pedersen)
Mid upper gunner P/O Laurence R. Adcock and wife.
(Henry Pedersen)
Braybrooks parents visiting his grave.
Sources: LBUK, AS 34-216, RL 19/455, CWGC, BCL, UA.
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