Davies, Francis William (Sergeant)

Prisoner of War 1941-September-12

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date

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Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RAFVR

Unit

106 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Pro Libertate For freedom

Base

RAF Coningsby

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Air Gunner

Service Numbers

1253601

Target
Google MapRostock Germany

When jettisoning the escape door Air Gnr. Sgt. Danies lost part of a finger. The door and the finger were later found near Daugaard. He landed safely in parachute on the estate “Rohden” 5 km south west of the crash site, and walked around for about an hour before he knocked on a window at a house belonging to the estate.

A farm worker then took him to the main building where Proprietor Lüttichau and his wife took good care of him. He was placed in a bed. Proprietor Lüttichau then called the Danish police to inform them that an airman had arrived on the estate. The police arrived, and Head of police Palle Højbye explained to Davies that they could not possibly help him to escape.

Doctor Heegaard, Hedensted who had been called to take care of Davies finger, had him taken by ambulance to Hornsylt hospital to have the damaged finger bandaged. When that had been taken care of, he was taken to Vejle by the Germans.

>p>He was sent to Dulag Luft and from there to Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf. At the end of war he was located in 357 Fallingbostel.AirWar over Denmark

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Mission

Hampden I AE300

Bombing Rostock Germany 1941-September-11 to 1941-September-12

106 (B) Sqn (RAF) Coningsby

The outbound flight took AE300 across the North Sea, north of the island of Sylt, across Jylland and south over the Baltic to Rostock where the target was the U-boat pens.

Altitude was about 16.000 ft with a thin layer of clouds with gaps through which the crew could see the coastline and finally the target below.

After attacking the target the crew resumed their homeward journey heading north over the Baltic. The flight was beautiful with a bright moon. About 10-15 minutes after leaving the target area Wireless operator/ Mid upper gunner Philson noticed something that required his attention. With the captains permission he unplugged his intercom and temporary left his position. After about 30 seconds he returned to his position just in time to hear the Under gunner reporting an unidentified aircraft on a converging course beneath AE300. The captain changed course a few degrees and lost about 500 ft but that was too little, too late. Suddenly there was a explosion on the starboard wing and EA300 dived going down from 16000 ft to 6000 ft. AE300 continued in a westerly direction away from the scene of the attack to avoid a follow-up. When the captain finally leveled out and the crew took stock of the situation it became obvious that they could not reach England. The starboard engine was dead and they were losing fuel from the starboard wing tanks. Fortunately there was no fire. As they could not reach England and would not be able to take evasive action in case of yet another attack also heading for Sweden was ruled out.

In the meantime Philson had been sending ?SOS? and telling base that the starboard engine was out. Their position was plotted to a position 50 miles off the island of Sylt. It was decided to return to Denmark and abandon the aircraft.

The first to leave the aircraft was Sgt. Davies followed by Sgt. Felson and Sgt. Dunn. The last man to leave was W/O Bannister. At 03:25 AE300 crashed into a field belonging to farmer Herman ?stergaard near Hostrup, 10 miles east north east of Vejle. When the crash was reported to the police a search for the flyers was stated. Apart from the Danish police, German soldiers from the Observation post ?Lottrup? near Gramrode and from FLUKO Vejle under the command of Hauptman Evers and Leutnant Hase took part.AirWar over Denmark

Hampden serial: AE300

(RCAF Photo via Chris Charland)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Handley Page Hampden (Serial No. P5428), of No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Patricia Bay, British Columbia, in the torpedo-bomber training role between May 1942 and February 1944.

Handley Page developed a modern stressed-skin mid-wing monoplane, powered by Bristol Pegasus radial air cooled engines, with its first flight in 1936. It had the most advanced wings available at the time, giving it a remarkably low landing speed of 73 mph for an aircraft of its size, with a top speed of 265 mph. The Hampden had a short, narrow but tall main fuselage with a very slender tail unit. This configuration led to the nicknames "Flying Panhandle" and "Flying Suitcase". At the end of the war, no complete or partial Hampden aircraft were retained for museum display.

The Hampden served in the early stages of the war, bearing the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and in the first 1000-bomber raid on Cologne. In Canada, Hampdens were built by six companies that formed Associated Aircraft. There were three in Ontario and three in Quebec, hence they were identified as the Ontario Group and Quebec Group. They supplied all the the components to the two assembly plants. The Ontario Group's assembly plant was at the Malton Airport, while the Quebec group's assembly plant was at the St. Hubert Airport. Canadian Museum of Flight and Harold A Skaarup web page

YouTube Handley Page Hampden in Flight

Wikipedia Wikipedia Hampden Bomber

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Kestrel Publications Hampden - Kestrel Publications