Flyvergraven ved Hemmet

In the Evening of December 1st 1943 a British Short Stirling MK III Bomber, of the 90 Sqn RAF, launched from RAF Wratting Common in Suffolk (UK). For the young and inexperienced Crew, it was their first and final mission over enemy territory.

When Nazi Germany occupied Denmark and Norway, in the spring iand summer of 1940, they gained controll over the Skagerrak, which prevented allied ships from the passage of this vital naval stait, between the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. As part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall the area became secured and defended by a combination of coastal artillery and vast minefields. The only way to safely pass these waters was to navigate deliberately and based upon precise maps of the minefields.

To interfere with Axis movements within the Skagerrak and Kattegat allied command planned their own mine-laying operations in these waters. On account of the German superiority in the area these undertakings could only be conducted by air. The purpose of EF-191's first mission was one of these mine-laying operations at Kattegat, between Jutland's east coast and the Swedish mainland. These aircraft based mine-layings were also referred to as "Gardening operations". But to reach their target area, the Bombers had to cross occupied Jutland, which was defended by Flak and the German Luftwaffe.
At 15:13, December 1st 1943, the Short Stirling MK III Bomber, carrying the tail number EF-191, took off at a base of the Royal Air Force heading towards the jutlandish peninsula. Soon before the British Bomber reached the danish shoreline, the aircraft was allegedly detected by German radar. At roughly the same time a Junkers Ju 88C-6, of the 4. group of the 3. Nighthunter squadron (Nachtjägergeschwader) started at Westerland airfield, situated on the German Island of Sylt. The experienced nighthunter pilot, Oberleutnant Gerhard Raht, headed north to engage allied bombers, where he tracked and shot down EF-191.
In the late evening EF-191 was attacked and hit by the German Nighthunter. According to local Eyewitnesses the crew of the Short Stirling replied fire upon the enemy aircraft even after their own burning Bomber started into decent. Suddenly EF-191 lost a great amount of altitude and exploded just some hundred meters above ground. Just moments later it crashed into the ground. The following explosion, caused by the payload of several anti-ship mines, created a big crater within the landscape.
At 19:52 the Danish Civil Air Defence station at Tarm reported: “An English plane has crashed near Hemmet, app. 10 km SW of Tarm."

When German ground troops reached the crash site, they recovered the corpses from the wreck and brought them to Scandinavia's largest war cemetery. Here at Esbjerg, the seven Airmen were buried on December 17th 1943, beside 1.143 other Allied and German soldiers, as well as 151 German refugees.
The seven young airmen, on board of EF-191, never returned from their first and only mission. Gerhard Rath on the other hand survived the war and died in 1977 at the age of 56.

About three weeks after the incident, on Christmas Eve 1943, two local citizens erected a wooden cross at the crash site, commemorating and honoring the casualties of war. Until today the crash site near Hemmet is an important historic place and war memorial. The impressive crater, caused by the crash later filled with water, created a pond. Nowadays the site contains signposting about the tragic event as well as tables, which invite the guest to stay for a while. In addition, parts of the wrecked airplane are on display at Ringkøbing Museum.

In remembrance of:
Warrant Officer Denis John Nixon (Pilot - RAF)
Sergeant Harry Ernest Steele (Navigator - RAF)
Sergeant Clarke Edward (Bombardier - RCAF)
Sergeant James Lawson Blackwood (Flight engineer - RAF)
Sergeant John Herbert Flack (Radio operator - RAF)
Sergeant Ronald Gordon Whithmarsh (Gunner - RAF)
Sergeant Edwin Draper (Gunner - RAF)