Danish teacher solved war mystery By JONAS H.R. MOESTRUP (translated by Anders Straarup) Published :21

Transcription

1 Seconds before the crash the British plane dropped a bomb to reduce the danger of an explosion. After the shotdown the crash site area with debris and 8 airmen torn to pieces had to be cleared up. i Korsør. Danish teacher solved war mystery By JONAS H.R. MOESTRUP (translated by Anders Straarup) Published :21 8 British airmen buried in unmarked graves in Denmark for 68 years. German registration of the shotdown. The crash site at Halskov. / Lokalarkivet i Korsør

2 Strandgården was severely damaged by the air crash that cost the lives of 8 young airmen. / Lokalarkivet i Korsør Many residents of the area went to the crash site of the British aircraft. Lokalarkivet i Korsør Bruce Brett - pilot of the plane that was shot down near Korsør.

3 Deryk Martin perished on his first flight. The final resting place of the British airmen in Bispebjerg Cemetery in Copenhagen. They have rested in unmarked graves for 68 years. Now they will have headstones with their names on. Photo: Britta Pedersen / Anders Straarup who solved the mystery of the 8 British airmen. Private photo/ Lokalarkivet i Korsør / Collage: UffeC Straarups webside - Information and photos of the airmen from this Halifax. Planes - clickable map.

4 One night in April 1943 a British bomber flies over the Great Belt. World War II is raging in all of Europe and the bombing raid this night is on German targets in the Polish town Stettin. The British Halifax bomber has a crew of eight - two pilots, two air gunners, a bomb aimer, a navigator, a wireless operator and a flight engineer. During the flight from England the plane gets off its course, most likely because it has been hit, and it happens to fly towards Korsør. When the plane flies in over land it is hit from German flak positions on the ground, and the British airmen return the fire. However, the crew soon realize that they have been severely hit, so they drop a big bomb over a field to reduce the risk of an explosion at a forced landing. A few seconds later the planes crashes to the ground and there is an enormous explosion and a sea of flames. The crew and the plane have been pulverized beyond recognition. It was on 21 April 1943 and the plane crashed into a field at Strandgaarden on Revvej at Halskov near Korsør. Knows all shotdowns For 68 years the bereaved families of the 8 perished airmen have not known the fate of their family members. Now they know, and they can thank the retired teacher Anders Straarup from Randers for that. After the shotdown the remains of the airmen were collected and later buried in Bispebjerg Cemetery in Copenhagen. Newspapers did not write about the bodies. Police reports no longer exist. However, thanks to a great job of unravelling Anders Straarup has now added names of the perished airmen who were buried in unmarked graves by the Germans. Great knowledge Anders Straarup, 67, has a great knowledge of Allied planes that crashed in Denmark during World War II, so he has established a website containing data from no less than 4 years of collecting information from all over the country. On a map of Denmark he has listed all air crashes and shotdowns from the war. If you click on number 152 near Korsør you enter the list of the Halifax crew and the full story of the plane. And in that way you may read about a total of 461 planes and 3,063 British and American crew members who all perished in Denmark or just stayed in Denmark for some time. Help from residents of the area After the shotdown at Halskov the Germans reported that a Halifax plane had been shot down and that 7 crew members had perished. The number 7 was solely based on an estimation of the normal number of crew members in a plane of this model, as it was impossible to tell from the human remains how many people had been on board. Particularly this report should prove to be important for the further research, Anders Straarup relates to kpn.dk

5 The Local Archives in Korsør In the local archives in Korsør he found photos of pieces of wreckage from the bomber, and assisted by experts in aviation he found that it was either a Halifax or a Lancaster. As he needed eye witness accounts about the incident he contacted the local newspaper that wrote a number of articles about his project. To Anders Straarup s surprise a number of people were able to report about the shotdown. German report Via residents of the area he found the German report stating that it was a Halifax, and then the mystery was nearly solved. By comparing with British archives stating the fate of 7 of the 8 Halifaxes lost on this bombing raid it was possible to identify this particular plane and then the identity of the crew members. Eight crew members Anders Straarup also found that an eighth crew member had been on board and that the crew consisting of only seven members registrated therefore had created further confusion in the attempt to identify the plane. It appeared that a newly educated pilot, 21 years old, had been on board to get experience with bombing raids. Glad family In England the relatives are grateful and glad because of the great work Anders Straarup has done. Till now they have erroneously lived in the belief that their family members had crashed into the sea, as this was the original message from the Royal Air Force. To hear this news after 68 years and the prospect of being able to pay hommage and say goodbye to him is staggeringly wonderful, the 80-year-old brother of the 21-year-old pilot who lost his life on his first raid in 1943 states in an interview with the British newspaper Daily Mail. Also the next generation are delighted by the new discovery. The gratitude from my father, uncle and aunt to Anders is enormous, says Deryk Martin s 49-year-old nephew. Mutual gratitude For Anders Straarup there is a mutual gratitude. "On the gravestones the words freedom and gratitude appear time and again. We are lucky to live in a free country and we owe that to Allied airmen and others. That is why I show my gratitude by making my website, he says to kpn.dk. Now the relatives are to attend a special memorial service in Bispebjerg Cemetery when stones with the names of the eight killed airmen are in place.