ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 21381
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| Date: | Saturday 9 May 1942 |
| Time: | 02:23 LT |
| Type: | Avro Manchester I |
| Owner/operator: | 50 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L7489 |
| MSN: | VN- |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Marienborg estate, Stege, Sjælland -
 Denmark
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire |
Took off at 21:46 hrs for an operation against Warnemünde, Rostock, Germany.
Coned by 12/Flak Regt 29. Hit by 2 & 4/ Res Flak Abt 227, 1/Res Flak Abt 224 and 1-3/Res Flak Abt 525.
The aircraft crossed the Danish west coast north of the island of Sylt and flew on to the Heinkel works at Warnemünde. The attack was successfully carried out from 1500 feet even though flak was intense. After the bomb run the crew were not able to close the bomb doors and with these open it would not be possible to reach base. Course was set for Sweden via Denmark. The Manchester managed to climb to 4500 feet but was not able to maintain the altitude even with engines running at full power. The starboard engine and wiring caught fire and could not be put out, and when they approached the island of Møn they were down to 2000 ft. Pilot Sgt Maurice Gruber ordered the crew to bail out when over the island. The last of the crew to leave was Navigator/Bomb Aimer Plt Off Avery who told Gruber that he would leave through the rear hatch and leave the front hatch clear for Gruber.
Avery hurried down to the rear hatch and jumped out in a hurry as they were down to 500 feet. When his chute came out the harness hit him in the face and rendered him unconscious. He came too after about an hour.
The aircraft crashed in a field belonging to the “Marienborg” estate at 02:23 hours.
Sgt Maurice Gruber did not get out and fell to his dead with the aircraft. When the body was retrieved from the wreckage it was laid in a white coffin which was covered with flowers by the local people and taken to the chapel at Svinø cemetery.
On 13 May 1942 Gruber was laid to rest. The local vicar officiated at the graveside ceremony which was attended by a German Guard of honour and representatives from the Danish police.
During the morning the crew was found by the Danish police scattered over Møn and brought to the police station in Stege.
Plt Off Harold Frederick Avery RCAF was 06:30 found on Nøbøllegaard farm near Stege.
At 07:00 Sgt John Pearce and Sgt Sydney Garbutt were found at a farm belonging to Farmer Jantsen, Lerbæk, Askeby.
At 07:30 Sgt Donald Broadhead was found at a farm near Hjelm and at the same time Sgt Kenneth G R Johnson was found on a farm in Nr. Frenderup.
The last crew member to be found was Sgt Richard Solomon who was located at 12:15 in Frenderup.
Later on the same day the flyers were handed over to Leutnant Detmar from the Luftwaffe based at Avnø airfield.
From Avnø the crew was sent to interrogation in Oberursel near Frankfurt. After a while they were all sent to Stalag Luft III Sagan where Avery and Garbutt stayed for the rest of the war.
Pearce, Broadhead, Johnson and Solomon were later transferred to Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug and on to Stalag 357 Thorn / Fallingbostel. (Airwar Over Denmark):
Pilot:777669 Sgt Maurice Gruber - Svino Churchyard Grave 1.
Flight Engineer: 1027581 Sgt Sydney Garbutt - PoW/Stalag Luft 3 Sagan & Belaria/PoW Number 47.
Navigator: J/1315 Plt Off Harald Frederick Avery RCAF - PoW/Stalag Luft 3 Sagan & Belaria/PoW Number 1758
Bomb Aimer: 1251293 Sgt John Pearce - PoW/Stalag 357 Kopernikus/PoW Number 81.
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: 1311493 Sgt Donald Broadhead - PoW/Stalag 357 Kopernikus/PoW
Number 798.
Air Gunner: 1107282 Sgt Richard Solomon - PoW/Stalag 357 Kopernikus/PoW Number 92.
Air Gunner: 940043 Sgt Kenneth G R Johnson - PoW/Stalag 357 Kopernikus/PoW Number 63.
Sources:
Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999
http://www.flensted.eu.com/194218.shtml
Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part two
Google Maps
CWGC
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/gruber-maurice.html
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 25 March 1942 | L7486 | 50 Sqn RAF | 0 | RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire, England |  |
w/o |
| Bounced on landing | ||||||
| 18 April 1942 | R5782 | 50 Sqn RAF | 2 | Glasmoor, Norderstedt, Schleswig-Holstein |  |
w/o |
| 13 May 1942 | L7519 | 50 Sqn RAF | 5 | near Thurlby, Lincolnshire, England | |
w/o |
| 6 June 1942 | R5833 | 50 Sqn RAF | 6 | near Ile de Quiberon, 30 km SSE Lorient, |  |
w/o |
| 26 June 1942 | L7289 | 50 Sqn RAF | 7 | Burg-Grambke in Bremen | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Jun-2008 21:35 | JINX | Added |
| 01-Jul-2008 20:35 | JINX | Updated |
| 11-May-2011 23:59 | Masen63 | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Aug-2013 19:38 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Nov-2017 21:29 | Red Dragon | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Nov-2018 20:54 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 06-May-2022 10:03 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
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