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Lancaster I ME449 crashed near Østergaarde south of Tarm
12/3-1945
The aircraft belonged to RAF103 Sqn. Bomber Command and was coded PM-T.
T/o 17:43 Elsham Wolds. Op: Gardening the northern entrance to the Øresund.
On the return flight ME449 was attacked by German JU 88G-6 nightfighter coded
D5+AL and piloted by Hauptmann Eduard Schröder of 1./ NJG 3 with the crew of
Hessenmüller, Zeinert and Brunsendorf and at 21:45 hours the Lancaster crashed
at Østergaarde south of Tarm.
Two of the Lancasters crew was killed during the attack, namely Rear Gnr. Sgt
Donald Morris and Mid upper Gnr. F/S Harvey J. Porter RAAF. They were retrieved
from the wreck shortly after the crash and taken to the hospital at Tarm. In the
afternoon the bodies were claimed from the hospital by the Germans and placed in
a couple of bags and placed on a horse drawn wagon driven by Chr. Andersen. He
was ordered to take the bodies to a wood east of Tarm where the Germans dug a
hole in the ground and threw the bodies therein.
Rear Gnr. Sgt Donald Morris
Mid upper Gnr. F/S Harvey J. Porter RAAF
During the summer of 1945 a grave site was created where the flyers had been
buried and on 12/8 1945 they were given a Christian funeral. A British
detachment marched to the grave and 800 Danish people showed their respect while
Rural Dean P. B. Gadegaard gave a speech and then blessed the graves. The parish
Executive Officer H. Gravesen spoke and promised that the town would look after
the graves for generations to come. Finally Sqn. Ldr. Smart who was the
Commander of Vandel airfield saluted the graves.
The rest of the crew successfully bailed out.
Pilot S/Ldr Stan Slater was helped by Farmer Niels Jørgen Pedersen who
called the Kørvel family of Ølgod.
Frederik Kørvel and his daughter Anna picked up the flyer on the farm and took
him to their home where he was quartered in the attic while two German officers
were quartered in the basement. Later on the same night Kørvel brought home
another flyer, namely W/Op Thomas Fairclough.
The flyers were transported via Fredericia to København, and on 23/3 they were
shipped over to Sweden.
Pilot S/Ldr Stan Slater
W/Op Thomas Fairclough
F/Eng Sgt Ken Foster got in contact with Bodil and Aage Uhre of Lyne and was
soon sent via Ølgod to Sweden.
F/Eng Sgt Ken Foster
Air Bomber P/O Marvin H. Bertie RAAF and Navigator F/o ”Stoney” H. A. S. Mitchell
RAAF reached Tarm and got in contact with 21 year old Dorthe Kristensen who
helped them to Ikast. From there they were helped via Herning to Ebeltoft. On
April 3. they were shipped over to Sweden.
Air Bomber P/O Marvin H. Bertie RAAF
Navigator F/o ”Stoney” H. A. S. Mitchell
Sources: Report Ringkøbing Police, BCL, CWGC, OK, FAF, AIR 27/817, WO
208/3326+3327DFEV.
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