Jespersen, Finn Varde
Killed in Action 1944-06-06
Birth Date: 1914-April-04
Born: Oslo, Norway
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RNorAF
Unit
97 (PFF) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Achieve Your Aim
Base
Coningsby
Rank
Lieutenant
Position
Lieutenant
Service Numbers
1205
Target
St Pierre du Mont
Lieutenant Jespersen was an orienteering champion before the war. Commercial College. Volunteered for the Royal Norwegian Army and participated in the defence of Norway following the German invasion in April, 1940.He Volunteered for the Royal Norwegian Army and participated in the defence of Norway following the German invasion in April, 1940. After the capitulation he went to Finland and onwards through the Soviet Union and Japan to join the free Norwegian forces in Canada, where he joined the RNAF at RNAF Little Norway in Toronto. Flight School, Flight Instructors' School. Served for some time with RAF Transport Command before transferring to RAF Bomber Command.source: Haakon O. V. Vinje, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Lancaster Mk.III ND815
Bombing St. Pierre du Mont 1944-June-06 to 1944-June-06
97 (PFF) Sqn (RAF) Coningsby
D-Day
ND815 was shot down at ca. 05.00hrs on D-Day, 6 June 1944, by Hauptmann Helmut Eberspächer of Luftwaffe's I.Gruppe, Schnell-kampfgeschwader 10, 3. Staffel, who operated Focke-Wulf 190G night fighter-bombers out of Evreux. Eberspächer survived the war and corresponded with the Dutch aviation historian Theo Boiten. His account is featured in Theo Boiten's Night Airwar. Personal Recollections of the Conflict over Europe, 1939-45. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press, 1999. Eberspächer also wrote an article «Flugtag Juni 1944", in Luftwaffen-Revue 1/95 in 1995. Eberspächer's sortie is also described in Steven J. Zaloga's Smashing Hitler's Guns. The Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc. D-Day, 1944. Cumnor Hill: Osprey, 2022. However, the kill was also claimed by Feldwebel Kurt Eisele of Eberspächer's squadron.
There were no survivors. Ashpole and an Unknown Norwegian Airman were, as far as we understand, found in the wreckage and buried in the local churchyard in Osmanville. The wreckage is said to have crashed in the garden of the local mayor. Ashpole was identified by the dental surgeon of the Norwegian War Graves Service, Major John Braadvig, in 1950; this was accepted by the RAF and his grave was subsequently rededicated and a CWGC headstone marking his name was installed. It was unfortunately not possible to identify the Norwegian; he was repatriated and is buried as an Unknown Norwegian Airman at Oslo's Western Cemetery.
The Mid-Upper Gunner, Flying Officer McCutcheon of the RCAF, and the Norwegian Rear Gunner, Sgt. Evensen, were found with what I understand to have been another piece of the wreckage, and buried at Bayeux War Cemetery. They were both identified on the basis of the piece of the wreckage and uniform effects. Sgt. Evensen was repatriated to Norway in 1946 and is buried in Oslo's Western Cemetery; being the only Norwegian crew member who is accounted for. As they were not buried in Osmanville but in Bayeux, I surmise that they were not found with Sgt. Ashpole and the Unknown Norwegian Airman.
The story of the Jespersen crew is quite well-known in Norway; there are relatively few RNAF crews that are still unaccounted for, and there is a certain shroud of mystery surrounding the case. The Norwegian War Graves Service has been reviewing and re-reviewing the case over a number of years.
In 2014, to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the Norwegian Armed Forces erected a Memorial to the crew, with all names inscribed, in front of St. Clement's Church in Osmaville, with the attendance of the Chief of the Norwegian Defence Staff.
The Norwegian Armed Forces hold a ceremony there on D-Day each year. At the 80th anniversary in 2004, both the Norwegian Minister of Defence, the Chief of the Norwegian Defence Staff, and the Chief of the Norwegian Air Staff, were in attendance, as well as an honour guard from the Royal Norwegian Navy. Wreaths were laid at the memorial. The Senior Enlisted Leader of the RNAF, Command Sergeant Major Didrik Sand, laid a wreath on Sergeant Ashpole's grave.source: Haakon O. V. Vinje, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality
Avro Lancaster
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era.
The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one version, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling. Wikipedia
Lancaster Bomber
Wikipedia
Harold A Skaarup Web PageLancaster ND815 Mk.III - Bombing St. Pierre du Mont - 1944-06-06 to 1944-06-06
6 Bomber Group June 6, 1944
419 squadron sent 7 Lancasters to the coastal guns at Longues. Target was attacked from 6000 feet with crews releasing 78,000 lbs of ordinance. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
ND815 was shot down at ca. 05.00hrs on D-Day, 6 June 1944, by Hauptmann Helmut Eberspächer of Luftwaffe's I.Gruppe, Schnell-kampfgeschwader 10, 3. Staffel, who operated Focke-Wulf 190G night fighter-bombers out of Evreux. Eberspächer survived the war and corresponded with the Dutch aviation historian Theo Boiten. His account is featured in Theo Boiten's Night Airwar. Personal Recollections of the Conflict over Europe, 1939-45. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press, 1999. Eberspächer also wrote an article «Flugtag Juni 1944", in Luftwaffen-Revue 1/95 in 1995. Eberspächer's sortie is also described in Steven J. Zaloga's Smashing Hitler's Guns. The Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc. D-Day, 1944. Cumnor Hill: Osprey, 2022. However, the kill was also claimed by Feldwebel Kurt Eisele of Eberspächer's squadron.
There were no survivors. Ashpole and an Unknown Norwegian Airman were, as far as we understand, found in the wreckage and buried in the local churchyard in Osmanville. The wreckage is said to have crashed in the garden of the local mayor. Ashpole was identified by the dental surgeon of the Norwegian War Graves Service, Major John Braadvig, in 1950; this was accepted by the RAF and his grave was subsequently rededicated and a CWGC headstone marking his name was installed. It was unfortunately not possible to identify the Norwegian; he was repatriated and is buried as an Unknown Norwegian Airman at Oslo's Western Cemetery.
The Mid-Upper Gunner, Flying Officer McCutcheon of the RCAF, and the Norwegian Rear Gunner, Sgt. Evensen, were found with what I understand to have been another piece of the wreckage, and buried at Bayeux War Cemetery. They were both identified on the basis of the piece of the wreckage and uniform effects. Sgt. Evensen was repatriated to Norway in 1946 and is buried in Oslo's Western Cemetery; being the only Norwegian crew member who is accounted for. As they were not buried in Osmanville but in Bayeux, I surmise that they were not found with Sgt. Ashpole and the Unknown Norwegian Airman.
The story of the Jespersen crew is quite well-known in Norway; there are relatively few RNAF crews that are still unaccounted for, and there is a certain shroud of mystery surrounding the case. The Norwegian War Graves Service has been reviewing and re-reviewing the case over a number of years.
In 2014, to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the Norwegian Armed Forces erected a Memorial to the crew, with all names inscribed, in front of St. Clement's Church in Osmaville, with the attendance of the Chief of the Norwegian Defence Staff.
The Norwegian Armed Forces hold a ceremony there on D-Day each year. At the 80th anniversary in 2004, both the Norwegian Minister of Defence, the Chief of the Norwegian Defence Staff, and the Chief of the Norwegian Air Staff, were in attendance, as well as an honour guard from the Royal Norwegian Navy. Wreaths were laid at the memorial. The Senior Enlisted Leader of the RNAF, Command Sergeant Major Didrik Sand, laid a wreath on Sergeant Ashpole's grave.source: Haakon O. V. Vinje, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality