Baggrund

Retur    

	Begivenheder i ens barndom kan præge for resten af livet. Den store aktivitet i luften under Anden Verdenskrig, da jeg var 7 - 13 år, gav mig en livslang interesse for alt, hvad der har med flyvning at gøre.               Flyverløjtnant august 1955 Som ung løjtnant i flyvevåbnet læste jeg i 1955 bogen ”Enemy Coast Ahead” af W/Cdr. Guy Gibson. Han gør i sin bog meget ud af en hændelse i 106. Sqn. lige efter sin tiltræden som chef for enheden. Gibson omtaler en pilot - Harry M. Stoffer -, der kort efter sit bryllup bliver dræbt på et togt til Rostock den 24. april 1942. Ved en tilfældighed fandt jeg mange år senere hans gravsten blandt flyvergravene på Aabenraa kirkegård. Jeg købte straks den netop udkomne bog ”Faldne allierede flyvere” af Anders Bjørnvad. Til min overraskelse så jeg her, at Harry M. Stoffer blev dræbt ved det flystyrt, der skete den 24. april 1942 ca. 10 km fra mit hjem. Jeg huskede begivenheden dengang. Jeg havde netop fået lov af mine forældre til sammen med nogle kammerater fra klassen at cykle over til vraget, da et Stirlingfly fra 15. Sqn. styrtede ned ved vor ejendom ved Store Jyndevad.Jeg nåede derfor ikke til Manchester-vraget. En hændelse, der under krigen blev fortalt, kunne nok sætte fantasien i sving hos en 10-12-årig dreng. En engelsk flyver var kommet ind i stalden til en mand og hans søn. De var ved at hjælpe en hest, der skulle fole. Hvorfor kunne sådan noget ikke ske hjemme hos os? Da jeg i 1978 fandt stenen, havde vi på Felsted Centralskole en elev, der var fra Visgård, stedet, hvor Manchesteren var styrtet ned. Af ham fik jeg et billede af vraget. Jeg fik samtidig at vide, at et besætningsmedlem var kommet ind på en gård ved Bjerndrup. Han havde givet ejeren sine personlige ejendele, der blev gravet ned i haven i en mælkejunge. Da man efter krigen gravede sagerne op og efterlyste flyveren gennem Røde Kors, fik man at vide, at alle spor af ham ophørte ved Lübeck i april 1945. Tilsyneladende vidste ingen noget om de øvrige besætningsmedlemmer. Der var fundet et par faldskærme, og man havde hørt om tilfangetagelser, fortalte man dengang. I 1992 - 50-året for nedstyrtningen - skrev jeg en artikel til bladet FLYV om begivenheden. Artiklen byggede på bogen af Guy Gibson. Den blev bragt i juli-nummeret, og mere skete der ikke. Da jeg gik på pension, fandt jeg materialet. Jeg sendte det til Jydske Vestkysten. Avisen bragte en artikel omkring årsdagen i april 1996. Artiklen gav anledning til en forbindelse til Gunnar Hounsgaard, Sønderborg. Han gav mig adressen på Desmond Richards, historiker og sekretær i bestyrelsen for 106. Sqdn’s eskadrilleforening. Desmond Richards oplyste blandt andet, at han personligt kendte et besætningsmedlem fra flyet, S/Ldr. Nickolas Pollock. Jeg fik nogen tid efter en kopi af et par sider fra bogen ”Escape to Danger” af Paul Brickhill. Her fortæller Nickolas Pollock om sine oplevelser umiddelbart efter redningen fra styrtet. Han fortæller, at han kom ind i en stald, hvor to mænd var i færd med at hjælpe et føl til verden. Mændene havde kort forinden fra stalddøren set et fly blive skudt ned. De var gået ud på grund af det voldsomme FLAK-skyderi fra Flensborg. Sådan blev der også fortalt dengang. Nickolas Pollock var altså den flyver, jeg havde hørt om. Det satte mig i gang. Jeg fandt ejendommen, og jeg talte med en datter, der dengang var 14 år. Hun er den eneste fra familien, der lever i dag. Nu rullede lavinen. Jeg kom i kontakt med en familie, hvor flyets andenpilot kom ind. Jeg talte med gårdejeren - nu næsten 90 år - , der havde gravet radiotelegrafistens ejendele ned i haven. Jeg var overrasket over alles reaktion: Stor glæde over at høre, at de to flyvere var kommet gennem krigen med livet i behold og skyldfølelse over at have måttet overgive flyverne til det danske politi. ”Kunne vi have gjort anderledes?”, lød det gang på gang. Jeg besluttede derfor at søge kontakt med S/Ldr. Nickolas Pollock gennem Desmond Richards. På en tur til England mødte jeg S/Ldr. Nickolas Pollock, som jeg forærede billeder af flyvraget, gården og familien, samt en lille ”dims” fra flyet. Det blev et meget spændende møde. Jeg havde en invitation til Nickolas Pollock fra familierne. Nickolas Pollock - nu omkring 80 år, men utroligt rask og rørig - ville meget gerne en tur til Danmark for at besøge familierne og se stederne fra dengang. Det er lykkedes at gennemføre besøget. MAERSK AIR sponsorerede flybilletten, og Nickolas Pollock var på besøg i Danmark fra den 10. til den 20. maj 1999. I forbindelse med besøget blev det indsamlede materiale omkring flystyrtet givet til Kliplev Sogns Lokalhistoriske Arkiv, og der blev opsat en tavle på Visgårdvej ved nedstyrtningsstedet med oplysninger om styrtet og med en henvisning til yderligere oplysninger i lokalmuseet Straagaards Smedie i Kliplev.
	Summary. Background.   I was in the age of 8 to 13 in the years of WW II. All the flying I saw in my childhood gave me a lifelong fascination in all about aircraft and flying. One event told during WW II talked much to my fantasy: on a farm a man and his son was helping a mare when an English airman suddenly came into the stable. Why did such not happen to us in my home?   Of course I later joined the Danish Air Force. I was a young lieutenant, when I read “Enemy Coast Ahead” by Guy Gibson. In his book he tells about a young pilot, P/O Harry Stoffer, who was killed a few days after his wedding.   I was really surprised as I many years later - in 1978 – suddenly saw Harry Stoffer’s name on a headstone at the cemetery of Aabenraa. A research was made, and again I was surprised to find out, that Harry Stoffer was killed in a crash the 24th of April 1942 only ten miles from my home. I remembered this crash. In the year 1992  – 50 years after the crash  -  I wrote an article about the crash told from what I read in Gibson's book. It was published in a Danish magazine. In 1996 I gave the article to a newspaper. This article gave me a contact to Desmond Richards, secretary of No 106 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION. I got a copy of a crewmember’s experiences, told in “Escape to Danger” by Poul Brickhill.  Again I really was surprised to find out, that the crewmember, P/O Nickolas Pollock, was the airman, I heard about. He was the airman, who came into that stable! A research at once was started. I found the farm, and I got the address of Nickolas Pollock from Desmond Richards.    In September 1998 on a trip to England Nickolas Pollock and I met at Swindon, and the 10th to the 20th of May 1999 Nickolas Pollock was in Denmark. He stayed with us in Egernsund, and in a way a wish from my childhood came true.   At the crash site we have put up an information board telling about the crash. Pieces from the crashed aircraft, a picture like the board and an account of the events now can be seen in the local museum.
	Jørgen Jørgensen Sundgade 41, DK-6320 Egernsund
	The English Airman.   (Article in The 49 Squadron Association Magazine October 2008)   April 1942. I remember we were standing late in the evening on the road at my home, a farm some 15 miles west of Flensburg, my parents, my sister, my brother and me. I was 10 years old. We looked at the searchlights swinging in the sky over Flensburg. The FLAK was firing, heavy FLAK exploding on the top and light FLAK streaming upwards in rows of fireballs. It looked very much like a huge New Years fireworks. To my father, my brother and me it was an exiting event, but my mother and my sister found it awful. All the time we heard aircraft passing over a bit to the north heading eastwards, exactly the track Nicholas Pollock in 1998 draw on a map to me for the attack on Rostock.   Next day in school someone told that a big English bomber had crashed and burned out at Visgård some five miles away. My friends and I made up to go to the crash site. But in the next night another English bomber – a Short Stirling from No. 15 Squadron I later found out – crashed at my home. Pieces from the aircraft were spread all over the fields round our farm. No reason to go to Visgård, and I missed to see the wreck of the 106 Manchester. Two airmen were killed in the crash of the Stirling at our farm.   August 1942. In August my father went to the horse market at Kliplev to sell our two foals. Home again he told, that he met someone on the market who told, that as their foal was born and they were helping the mare, they saw someone looking into the stable through the window. They went out and found an English airman outside the stable. This told much to my fantasy. Very exiting! Why could such not happen to us in my home? All my life I have thought of this. Who was this airman, and what happened to him? Did he survive the war?   September 1955. Now a lieutenant in the RDAF, I read Guy Gibson’s book Enemy Coast Ahead. In his book Gibson tells about a young pilot, P/O Harry M. Stoffer. He was killed in action few days after his wedding. My service at that time was in SOC West, Sector Operation Centre West, in the RDAF, and I really understood the situation: Mary Stoffer at the Operation Board writing in the time for returning aircraft.   April 1978. I went to the cemetery at Aaberaa to see the graves of the two airmen, who were killed in the crash of the English Short Stirling bomber at my home. I found the headstones, but Oh dear! This can’t be true! Between the two stones was another headstone with the name H. M. Stoffer! Really a surprise it was! Could it be Harry Murdoch Stoffer from Guy Gibsons book? A research stated, that he really was the pilot mentioned in the book, and – a new surprise – he was killed in the crash at Visgård, which I remembered.   Marts 1992. In April 1992 it was 50 years anniversary of the crash at Visgård. I wrote an article about the crash told after Guy Gibson’s book. The article was published in a Danish aircraft magazine.   Marts 1996. Just retired I gave the article to a newspaper. This ended up with a contact to Desmond Richards, Secretary and Historian of No. 106 Squadron Association. Des wrote that he knew a crewmember from Stoffer´s crew, Squadron Leader Nicholas Pollock. Unfortunately I did not make anything about this information. I thought that I knew everything of interest about this crash.   May 1998. I got copies from Des of three pages from Poul Brickhill’s book “Escape to Danger”. A new surprise! I read, that the airman Nick from Stoffer’s crew came to a farm and through a window saw a foal being born. Nicholas Pollock must be the airman I had heard about and often thought of all my life! Now nothing could stop me! I had to meet this airman! I found the farm, and I met the farmer’s daughter. In 1942 she was 14 years old. She clearly remembered the English airman, who in an early morning came to her home. Her parents, her brother and she did not speak English, and the only word they understood was “Sweden”, a word the airman repeated again and again. They were unable to help and called the civilian authorities, which again informed the Danish police, she told.    August 1998. I took contact to Des Richards. He promised to introduce me to Nicholas Pollock, and in September 1998 we met at Swindon. I gave Nicholas Pollock pictures of the farm and the family and a little piece from the wreck of Manchester IA L7463. “I really wish I could pay a visit to this farm again!” Nicholas said, and we made up to arrange a visit to Denmark as soon as possible. “Keep in touch as long as memory serve!” Nicholas said as we parted. We really did!   May 1999. From the 10th to the 20th of May 1999 Nicholas visited Denmark and we saw persons and places he and his crew fellows met in 1942. He stayed with us during this visit, and in a way a wish from my childhood came true.   My wife Ingelisa and I had 10 unforgettable days together with Nicholas. Later we twice visited Nicholas in his home at Westbury, UK. We all the time since Nicholas’ visit here were in close contact through letters and calls on telephone. Nickolas Pollock died the 5th of August 2007 nearly 90 years old.   Jorgen Jorgensen
	Oxygen fitting. The little piece from Manchester L7463. foto: Simon Pollock

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