Gronhoj 25th May 2013

Just back from Denmark after attending the Memorial to R5679 a very moving ceremony held at the Gronhoj Inn where a stone to the crew was unveiled along with a room set aside to display the history and information that has been discovered over the 2 1/2 years of research into R5679 and the airwar over Denmark, when I get time I will post more information. Of most interest for this forum I would imagine is the amount of detail that has been discovered. A map with the eyewitness accounts superimposed from airmen.dk which was designed by Rikke Dalegaard a student of Hansenberg Kording as part of her course work.

It was interesting talking to the locals of which over 200 turned up with standards of the Danish Home Guard held high as the we had a flypast from the Danish airforce. Representatives from the Danish/UK armed forces along with local dignitaries made speeches of rememberance along with David Geddes nephew of the pilot Lewis Morrison.

What was evident was the aircraft was under control up to the point it made a crash landing, due to the shallow approach angle which left a trench 100 metres long. The crash site has now been marked with a pole. I was invited to visit the garden where my cousin Ralph Bevan (rear gunner) was discovered the next morning with his parachute partially deployed.

As part of my visit I traveled to Frederikshavn in the north of Denmark to visit the graves of the crew in the case of my cousin I am the first member of the family to make such a visit. Whilst there I left a wreath for Ralph and laid a single rose at the stone of each crew member.

BC