Hi All
I recently read a not very good novel (in my opinion) called ‘Hornet Flight’ by Ken Follett.
The basics of the plot are that a young couple escape from Nazi occupied Denmark in a Hornet Moth carrying details of the Freya Radar system.
‘All very likely’–I thought.
The yesterday I just happened to be looking through De havilland Aircraft since 1909 by AJ Jackson (Putnam) and he tells me that Hornet Moth OY-DOK was used for an escape from Denmark in 1941 and the aircraft was subsequently used by 24Sqn and given the S/no HM498 in December 1941.
I assume Mr Follett must have heard this story and used it as a basis for his story.
So, does anyone know any of the details of this escape and why? Also are there any pictures of the aircraft out there?
Thanks in advance
Andy
By: Bograt - 16th March 2004 at 13:14
Aha! Well done David! I couldn’t remember where I had read about the escape from Denmark; now I know where it is, sitting on my bookshelf!
If any of you don’t have this book, it’s a vital addition to any collection. Get a copy!
By: david brown - 16th March 2004 at 13:11
The 1941 wartime flight from German occupied Denmark to UK was covered in RV Jones’s excellent book ‘Most Secret War’
The flight was fraught with difficulties and when pilot Thomas Sneum arrive inthe UK he was placed in the custody of MI5 who did not believe that a Hornet Moth could have flown so far, before being released.
Thomas Sneum brought with him undeveloped film of the Freya installation (which the GPO ruined when processing.)
Sneum then joined the RAF and ended the war as a Mosquito pilot.
Hope this helps.
By: Bograt - 16th March 2004 at 13:03
It’s quite true – from memory, the aircraft was hangared in a shed and the Germans did not know it was there. Two enterprising young Danes got the aircraft working, literally under the noses of the occupying forces, and flew it to the UK.
One detail I remember is that they had to replace the wing attachment bolts, they could not get the real ones, naturally, so they made their own.
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March 16, 2004 at 10:05 am