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Lancaster ME663 of 460 Squadron RAAF based at RAF Binbrook was shot down by a German night-fighter / anti-aircraft fire after a mission to lay mines in the Baltic and crashed near the town of Aale in Denmark

Flight Sergeant Frederick Stanley Hodge DFM 426100 was taken Prisoner and survived the war

Flying Officer Charles Edward Suffren DFC 409280 survived but with severe injuries; he passed away in a Luftwaffe Military hospital in Germany 10 months after the crash and is buried in Durnbach Cemetery in Germany (he is referred to in Volume 9 of “Bomber Command Losses” by Chorley)

The 5 crewmen that were killed in the crash are buried in Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery in Denmark

CHAPMAN, Leslie Harold (Flight Sergeant) 410641

CROSBY, Peter Alan (Flight Lieutenant) DFC 416656

BILLETT, Clive (Flight Sergeant) 414191

ROBB, Laurence William (Flying Officer) 418879

BENDER, Milton Harold (Pilot Officer) DFC 173405 RAF

Further accounts of the loss of Peter Alan Crosby, DFC, (1923-1944) Lancaster ME663 AR-M

ME663 was flying at 23.000 feet on the return flight to England when it was attacked by a German night fighter piloted by Unteroffizier Erich Scheding of 2./ NJG 3 and started burning. Pilot F/Lt Peter Alan Crosby dived to 18,000 feet to escape the night fighter and ordered the crew to bail out. At the same moment the Lancaster turned over and dived to 6,000 feet before Crosby managed to level it off. ME663 dived again with flames streaming from both wings and after a short while it exploded at 03:58 hours one kilometre north of Aale. The wreckage was spread over a couple of kilometres. A wing was found near the road Aale/Mattrup and two engines were found in a nearby field along with the bodies of two of the crew.

The Wehrmacht in Horsens had been called at 06:00 hours by the local police constable who informed them about the crash but at 08:00 hours they had not yet shown up.

At 08:00 hours Navigator F/O Charles E. Suffren was found lying severely wounded in Donnerupskov forest. He had been blown out of the Lancaster when it exploded and had fallen to the ground. He had with him a water bag on which he had written: 03:40 attacked by fighter, thrown out of aircraft. Broke back. Give my love to my family, Ted. 05:10 pain unbearable. He was believed to be dead but moved when the search team attempted to cover the body with a blanket. Doctor Krogsgaard was called for and he gave the flyer a shot of morphine to relieve the pain. Suffren was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Horsens where the doctors prepared for an operation.

The Germans arrived and demanded that Suffren be handed over to them. Despite protests from the doctors the Germans placed him on the bed of a truck and took him to the German Field Lazarett in Aarhus. After some weeks Suffren was moved to Germany where he died on 16 February 1945 in a Luftwaffe hospital in Bad Tölz. Today he rests in the Dürnback War cemetery south of München.

The search teams found five dead flyers around the crash site. They were pilot F/Lt Peter Alan Crosby DFC RAAF, Flt. Engr. P/O Milton H. Bender DFC, Bombardier F/Sgt Cleve Billett RAAF, W/Op F/Sgt Leslie H. Chapman RAAF and Air Gnr. F/O Laurence W. Robb RAAF who were all laid to rest in Fovrfelt cemetery in Esbjerg on 15 April 1944.

Only Rear gunner F/Sgt Stanley F. Hodge had managed to bail out and landed in his parachute near Rask Skov forest 4 kilometres east of Aale. 

The next day he met a girl who took him to her grandfather’s house. Due to language problems a teacher, Emilie Henriksen, was called for. Hodge was taken to the local school where he was fed and had his bruises taken care of. Too many people knew about his existence, so Hodge choose to leave the school and walk towards Vejle. In the evening he contacted a couple of young men, but they spoke no English and took him to the Uldum Inn. 

At 00:02 the Parish Executive Officer of Uldum called the Police and informed them of Hodge`s location and said that he had served coffee for him and would try to keep him in the inn until he could be picked up by the Wehrmacht. The police in turn called Feldwebel Backmann of the Wehrmacht and Hodge was arrested. He was sent to Dulag Luft in Oberursel for interrogation. Next he was sent to Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug where he spent a few months until he was sent by ship via Swinemünde to Stalag IV Gross Tüchow. 

This was later evacuated, and the prisoners sent by foot to Fallingbostel which was reached after six weeks march through the German winter. After a couple of weeks, they were again sent marching, this time towards Lüneburg where they were liberated by English forces on 18 April 1945. When the prisoners were taken by truck to a nearby airfield the truck turned over. A sergeant was killed, Hodge got some bad cuts and F/Sgt D. Wardill who had been shot down near Odense on 26 February 1942 was wounded. He was treated for this back in England.

Peter Alan Crosby, DFC, (1923-1944) Member of Seacliff Life Saving Club, SA

Peter Alan Crosby was an active member of the Seacliff Life Saving Club in the late 30s and early 40s.

In August 1941, Peter, at 18 years of age, closed the front door at 35 Waratah Street, Seacliff and headed for war. He would have stood out in a crowd, a tall man at over 6 foot with a beaming smile, blue eyes and fair hair.

Following his training as a pilot Peter joined, No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. Based in England the squadron was part of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command.

Peter was a gifted pilot and a man of courage and daring. The citation for his Distinguished Flying Cross he earned during service, noted him as a being of, “exceptional coolness and fearlessness and an inspiration to his crew on all occasions”.

Peter’s final mission saw his Lancaster bomber attacked by a German night fighter at an altitude of 23,000 feet. One record of events reads, “After an evasive manoeuvre down to 18,000 feet pilot Peter Crosby gave the order to abandon the plane. All crew confirmed the order but the plane turned over and went down to 6,000 feet before Peter regained control. Peter repeated the order as the plane dived again. Both wings were burning and flames were licking along the fuselage”. The plane crashed in Denmark. The Rear Gunner and one other who was very badly injured (and later died as a prisoner of war) managed to escape the plane but Peter Crosby lost his life at 20 years of age along with four other crew.

Peter Alan Crosby, a former member of Seacliff Life Saving Club, is now at rest in Denmark. The memorial at the location where the plane crashed reads, “Here fell on the 10th day of April 1944, six allied airman in the common fight for freedom and right”.

Peter’s name is recorded on the  Club's Roll of Honour. It’s listed with three other members from the Seacliff Surf Club who lost their lives in World War II. In total the Seacliff Life Saving Club saw fifteen members leave for the Second World War, of whom four paid the ultimate price.

Courtesy: G Gray April 2018

Night fighters hunt Lancasters

Luftwaffe night fighters had tracked the Bomber stream on their inbound trip over the North Sea from about 150 km west of Esbjerg, Denmark - two of the Bombers were shot down before they reached landfall. The remaining bombers continued to the target and bombed between 01:20 and 02:13 hrs with no contact from night fighters. On their return journey however, they were again intercepted from 03:00 hrs with seven more allied bombers being lost, either over Denmark or the North Sea, seven others returned with combat damage.

Peter Alan Crosby’s Lancaster Bomber was intercepted by Uffz. Erich Scheding of 3./NJG3 at 03:58 hrs whilst at 5.200 mts. His first and only claim of the war. He was shot down and killed on the 26th July 1944 over the North Sea.

All but two of the crew were killed either during the attack or after the aircraft exploded. Flt.Sgt. Hodge baled out and Fg.Off. Suffren DFC is thought to have either baled out or ejected during the explosion of the aircraft.

Extract from 460 Squadron Losses WWII:

Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed at Sknaale, 10km west of Horsens, Denmark. Both Fg.Off. Suffren and Flt.Sgt. Hodge became PoW’s. In a later report Flt Sgt Hodge reported "The aircraft was badly shot about and set on fire by three enemy aircraft at 23,000 feet. At about 18,000ft the Captain ordered abandon aircraft and all the crew acknowledged. The plane lurched and at 6000 feet straightened out and the Captain said hurry and abandon. The aircraft started to dive again. I left by way of the rear turret. The aircraft was burning in both wings and the flames were coming back both sides. The starboard side was the worst. The aircraft was shot up in the vicinity of Arrhus and Horsens. I did not see the aircraft crash. I was met by Danes and taken for a meal. Then the Germans turned up. I have no information re the other crew".

Extract from Air War Over Denmark:

The aircraft dived again with flames from both wings and after a short while it exploded at 03:58 hours 1km North of Aale. The wreckage was spread over a couple of kilometres. A wing was found near the road Aale/Mattrup and two engines were found in a nearby field where also two flyers was found dead.

The Wehrmacht in Horsens had been called at 06:00 by the local police constable who informed them about the crash but at 08:00 they had not yet shown up.

At 08:00 Navigator Fg.Off. Suffren was found laying severely wounded in Donnerupskov Forest. He had been blown out of the Lancaster when it exploded and had fallen to the ground. He had with him a water bag on which he had written: 03:40 attacked by fighter, thrown out of aircraft. Broke back. Give my love to my family, Ted. 05:10 pain unbearable. He was believed to be dead but moved when the search team attempted to cover the body with a blanket. Doctor Krogsgaard was called for and he gave the flyer a shot of morphine to relive the pain. Suffren was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Horsens where the doctors prepared for an operation.

The Germans however arrived and demanded that Suffren be handed over to them. Despite protests from the doctors the Germans placed him on the bed of a truck and took him to the German Field Lazarett in Aarhus. After some weeks Suffren was moved to Germany where he died on 16th February 1945 in a Luftwaffe hospital at Bad Tölz.

Burial details:

Flt.Lt. Peter Alan Crosby DFC. Esbjerg War Cemetery. Grave A.7.7. Born on the 7th June 1923 at Brighton, South Australia, the son of Wilfred Alan and Vera Maud Crosby, of 35 Waratah Street, Seacliff, South Australia. Enlisted at Adelaide on the 16th August 1941, a bank clerk prior to service. Joined the Squadron from 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit on the 16th September 1943. Grave inscription reads: "Loved Son Of Alan And Vera Crosby Brother Of David, Seacliff, Sth. Australia". Flt.Lt. Crosby was awarded the DFC (effective 8th April 1944) whilst with 460 Sqn. Gazetted 21st December 1945.

Courtesy http://aircrewremembered.com/crosby-peter-alan.html