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Wellington III BK368 crashed near Filskov 9/3-1943.
The aircraft belonged to RAF 166 Sqn. Bomber Command and was coded AS-P.
T/O18:43 Kimington. OP: Gardening Forget-Me-Not. (Kiel Bay)
When BK368 approached the west coast of Denmark V./2./lei.Flakabt.844 ,
III./2./lei.Flakabt.742 and Alarmflakbatt.II/XI (L) near Esbjerg opened fire and
at 21:58 the Wellington crashed near Filskov.
(RM 45 III 315 via Carsten Petersen)
(RM 45 III 315 via Carsten Petersen)
It fell in a field belonging to Mrs. Margrethe Jørgine Nielsen and soon after
some young Danes brought to her house a wounded English flyer.
It was Airbomber
Sgt James Sandilands. Doctor Petersen was called for and he treated the
flyer for his head wounds before sending him to the County Hospital in Give in an ambulance.
The remains of BK368
Two flyers were found lying in a nearby field together with their parachutes.
Apparently they had left the aircraft at too low an altitude for the parachutes
to deploy properly and they had fallen to their death. These two bodies were
taken to Vejle by ambulance.
Two more bodies were found in the charred remains of the Wellington, and these
were taken to Give hospital.
The death flyers were taken to Esbjerg by the Wehrmacht and laid to rest in
Fovrfelt cemetery on 13/3-1943. They were Pilot P/O John P. Kavanagh RCAF,
Navigator F/O Donald G. Denslow, Wop P/O Allen L. Weller and Air Gnr. Sgt
William Bullen.
On 16/3 Sandilands was moved from Give to the German Field Lazarett in
Fredericia and later on to Dulag Luft near Frankfurt for quistioning. After
quistioning he was sent to Stalag Luft I Barth where he stayed untill 31/10-43
when he was sent to Stalag IV Heydekrug in East Preussia. In July 1944 he was
sendt to Stalag 357 Thorn in Poland where he stayed until august same year. The
POW`s was then send to Stalag 357 Fallingbostel near Hanover where Sandilands
stayed until release in April 1945.
(Mark People)
Pilot P/O John P. Kavanagh RCAF
On 5/5 2008 Filskov local archive inaugurated a memorial for
the airmen.
Sources: KT, Report Vejle Police, LBUK, RL 19/472+455, AS 35-126, BE, WO
344/277/2.
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