The W7531 LS-F was the second MacRobert's Reply Short Stirling, and followed the damaged N6086 which was never to fly in action again following it's collision with a spitfire in Scotland. This second Stirling entered service in March 1942, but would not be officially named MacRobert's Reply until a few months while later.

On the night of May 17th, 1942, W7531 was one of approximately 60 bombers taking part in mine laying operations in the Danish Sound. (Picture below shows mines being loaded).

The code name for the operation was 'Gardening', and the area for the W7531 to target was the 'Daffodil' region (the southerly entrance to Øresund). It flew over the Norwegian coastline and from there in a clockwise circle via Malmo towards Øresund and then, while reducing height to just 200ft for the bomb run, was hit by anti-aircraft fire from a German cruiser (Prinz Eugen) which was on its way from Norway to Kiel through the Great Belt, and not identified by intelligence reports prior to the mission.

Logger ‘Hagen’ from HSFL Kopenhagen also fired 31 rounds of 2cm and 28 rounds with a machinegun, while Logger ‘Königsberg’ from the same unit fired 37 rounds of 2cm and 20 rounds with a machinegun. A further 9 rounds of 7.5cm and 160 rounds of 2cm were fired from shore positions as well. MacRobert's Reply was hit several times.

On fire and with few controls working, the pilot Squadron Ldr. John Hall DFC turned due west and tried desperately to reach the North Sea and the British rescue services, while the crew fought the on-board fires. The W7531 flew towards the Danish Jutland peninsula and, with a few miles left to go to safety, was fatally hit by anti-aircraft fire from batteries on the Little Belt bridge separating Jutland from the island of Funen. On the 1Km long bridge over the Little Belt, the Germans had stationed light flak (3./lei Flak Abt. 844).

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When the Stirling flew over the bridge, the light machine cannons opened fire, and the MacRobert's Reply suffered massive damage. The gunners of 3./lei Flak Abt 844 (II and IV Zug) received credit for shooting W7531 down, although the target was hard to miss.

MacRobert's Reply crashed at 02.10am on 18 May 1942 in Gals Klint Forest, 2Km west of the town of Middelfart. Sgt Donald Jeffs, the wireless operator, was the only survivor having been badly burned and suffering multiple injuries and broken bones. (A book of his experiences is in progress).

On crashing one of the mines still in the aircraft was detonated. The explosion was so intense that the only pieces of the W7531 initially left identifiable were the cockpit which was nearly intact, and the tailsection. Both of these were then engulfed in the fire that followed. Also found was a propellor blade - now housed at XV Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth.

A local man, Niels Ebbe Lundholt was one of the first at the scene. His impressions of the crash serve as a chilling reminder of the horrors he saw there:
Monday the 18th-May-02, I heard romours that a english bomber was crashed in the Hindsgavl forrest, and I took my bicycle and went to the area, in order to see if I could find some weapons, I could use against the germans. I brought a kodak box camera, in case that I could retrieve any usefull informations. At the crash site, a big part of the forrest was cut, it almost looked like a huge razor had cut through the trees. It look like there had been a huge explosion, since there were only small parts left from the bomber and there was a big hole in the ground. Since there were only small parts left, I could not recognise the bomber. There were a mixture of german soldiers and danish people at the site, so I was hiding my camera in a bag in a way so I could take some photos, without anybody noticed it. I did not find any weapons, but I found parts of the radio, a pressure vessel, parts of the attitude meter and the navigation system, which I brought with me. At a later stage, I spoke with a danish soldier, who claimed that he had been talking to the only survivor, one of the "gunners", who told him that the aero plane was about to make an emergency landing and had the landing lights on, when the air defence guns at the lillebælt bridge shoot down the plane. I was chocked over this terrible and barbaric act, but not surprised. (His own words from a personal written history).

A huge granite rock was ploughed out of the ground by the impact, and the people of Middelfart made a memorial stone out of it to commemorate the crew that died. The early memorial, and a later photograph of the same stone, are shown below. The stone in its original state just after the crash can be seen in the gallery.

Every year in May the local people attend the stone to commemorate the brave young men who died that fateful day. The crew are actually buried in a cemetery in Odense; the photograph below shows the actual graves....

(click for larger image)

Pictures from the 60th anniversary memorial service are shown here.

Crew of the W7531

Funeral of W7531 crew