Philson, James Alexander (Sergeant)

Prisoner of War 1941-September-12

Sergeant James Alexander Philson RAFVR

Birth Date: unkown date

Born:

Parents:

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Home:

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Decorations: MiD

Mentioned in Dispatches

Service

RAFVR

Unit

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

Base

RAF Conningsby

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Wireless Operator/Air Gunner

Service Numbers

966530

Target
Google MapRostock Germany

W/Op Sgt. James Alexander Summers Philson landed safely in parachute in a field to the south of Havlykke farm near Belle. He folded up his parachute and hid it in a fence and started moving to the south. At dawn he reached Vejle fjord and hid in some scrub. Here he spent the whole day of 12/9.

At night he started moving to the north east navigating by the help of the North Star. When dawn arrived he came to the farm Røde Mølle and entered the barn and hid in the hayloft. Here he dug himself into the hay. Sometime during Saturday 13/9 a police car arrived and Philson saw a policeman with a dog entering the farmhouse. Shortly after the policeman left again without searching the place. Late in the evening Philson left the barn and started walking.

Since he had started walking late he had not moved very far when dawn approached. He hid in the small Spilkjær forrest near the railroad between Hedensted and Daugaard. It was raining all day Sunday 14/9 and in the evening he followed the railroad to Daugaard. Here he hid for the day in some scrub to the north of the station and watched the trains. In the evening he walked over to some goods wagons and entered a wagon with a brake hut. Here he fell asleep hoping to go on a train ride. The hope vanished when a railwayman opened the door to unlock the brakes.

>p>Philson was then at 10:45 on 16/9 taken to the Daugaard Inn for interrogation by the Danish police. He was given food and treated very well. Later the same day, when Philson was picked up by four Germans, a young maid put some cigarettes into Philsons hand but the German officer snatched them from him and threw them on the floor, saying, that they (the Germans) could provide the prisoner's needs. Philson was taken to the German HQ in Vejle where he was met by a very fat German Major.

After a day or two Philson was put in a car and taken to Flensburg airfield where he spent two days, then on to Dulag Luft in Oberursel near Frankfurt for interrogation. After a few days he was sent to Stalag VIIIB, Lambsdorf near Breslau.

After six months he switched identity with the Australian Sapper Oswald Wall to be able to go on a working party away from the camp. He managed to escape from the working party camp Laband together with John Payne (Believed to be Sergeant J.F.Payne of 83 Sqn). They were on the run for 8 days before they were recaptured near Stenberwitz about 13 kilometers from Tropau and given two weeks in the cooler.

Early 1945 the prisoners of war were sent on a march away from the advancing Russian troops. Near Braunschweig Philson was liberated by the 9. American Division and a week later sent to England.Text and photograph of Sergeant Philson from 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