Bristol Beaufighter Ic Korsvika, Trondheim Sør-Trøndelag

248 Squadron Coastal Command T4843 WR-X "Operation Bluebeard" 27.04 1942

Wing Commander Leslie Ernest Hyde D.F.C. (28) and Flight Sgt. Jack Ernest Paget M.I.D (23) both died of their wounds shortly after.

09.05 2009 ©kjell sørensen

The Beaufighter took off from Sumburgh on a night strike on Lade airfield.
According the "KTB Admiral Norwegen", they were shot down by AA-fire from the German batteries at Ladehammeren. The aircraft ditched into the sea and now rest at a depth of 40 meters.


The Beaufighter was initially located back in late February 1992, but the exact position was kept secret. However, it's been well known among local divers
.

facsimile Adresseavisen 5.5 2009


The local newspaper, (Adresseavisen) interviewed a few people from the Ladehammeren area back in 1992 who witnessed the plane crash, and all of them claims that the airmen was alive for a while after the ditching.

Ragnar Jensen, then a 15 year old boy was awaken by the shelling from the AA-battery at Ladehammeren, close to their house. He saw the plane going down, and some time later he went down to the nearby German camp. There he could see one of the airmen lying on a stretcher. He soon was chased off by a German officer, but noticed that the airman was still alive.
The next morning he went down to the beach where he kept his canoe, and noticed that it was bloodstained, probably from being used in the rescue of the airmen.
According to Jensen, the Germans later raised one of the engines from the plane and placed it in the center yard of their camp as a kind of souvenir.

Wilfred Brandtzæg from Steinkjer was 19, and stayed at his uncles house near Ladehammeren while studying in Trondheim. He had gone to sleep, but was awaken by the shooting. He was informed that a plane had gone down in the sea, and they observed the germans going out with a boat. Shortly later, they returned, bringing the two airmen. One of them had a belly shot, and he was carried into his uncle's house. Shortly after, he was taken out again, and Wilfred was told that the wounded airman had died.
From what Wilfred observed when the germans brought them ashore, the other airman did not seem to be critically injured, but he didn't know what happened to him.
source: morten moe

 

W/C Hyde and Flight Sgt. Paget had a narrow escape from Norway just five days earlier when they were attacked by Bf 109's. Their Beaufighter T4785 P/248 received several hits, but he managed to return to Sumburgh on one engine and made a forced landing.

Stavne Cemetery 09.05 2009
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Lade airfield
AA batteries
Dora
T4843