The airplane crash on Lake Röjden

On Ascension Day the 10th of May 1945 at 2.50 a.m. Short Stirling LJ899 departed from Great Dunmow Airfield east of London. Its destination was Gardermoen, the airport 50 kilometers north of Oslo.

The day before, May 9th, the plane’s pilot Flying Officer Eric Atkinson had been informed that he and the other crew members were to transport 17 soldiers from the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and one soldier from the Royal Army Medical Corps to Norway. They were to be part of the allied forces that were to secure the German withdrawal from Norway.

The plane starts its journey in good weather with only a few clouds in the sky, but during the flight cloudiness increased, and at about 5.30 a.m. and some 60 kilometers away from the Norwegian coast, the plane is confronted with dense cloudiness. With more than half the route accomplished, Atkinson decides to continue the flight, hoping for clearer skies to enable landing.

At 6.45 a.m. Atkinson calls the British personnel at the tower at Gardermoen, as the airplane had failed to achieve contact through the Rebecca/Eureka navigation system. Without any contact with Gardermoen, Atkinson continues flying east. Suddenly at 6.50 a.m., the overcast skies open up, and the crew sees a big lake. Atkinson decides to lower the altitude to be able to estimate the plane’s position. He continues the flight now flying south along a river but after a while decides to return to Great Dunmow.

Surrounded by clouds, Atkinson takes the plane to an altitude of 1200 meters. Suddenly, however, the plane stalls and begins to dive quickly. When Atkinson is in control of the plane again, they have reached the Norwegian-Swedish border and Lake Röjden. He estimates that in the prevailing weather conditions it would be impossible to take the plane up to a secure height and decides to make a forced landing on the water. The plane hits the water surface with its tail, glides forward, and then with its left wing smashes into a pine tree standing at the water’s edge before coming to a halt in shallow water.

Here is the memorial located

After counting the crew and soldiers, it becomes obvious that four soldiers are missing. The body of the aircraft, which has flooded, and the tail, which it is discovered has broken off, are searched thoroughly, but the four missing passengers cannot be found. At the same time as everyone returns to the lake shore, a customs officer in a rowboat approaches from the custom-house on the opposite side of the lake. The customs officer takes a wounded soldier with him and rows back to contact the police. At 7.30 a.m. a Swedish unit from the 24th Border Defense Company arrives and the Britons are brought to Torsby, where they are cared for at the hospital and by the police.

In the following days the missing soldiers are found drowned. They were:

L/Sgt John Mulholland

Cpl James McAra Davidson

Cpl John Pearl

Pte Duncan Anthony Connolly

That same day another two British airplanes crash on their way to Norway. Short Stirling LK297 crashes at Sørkedalen outside Oslo, and Short Stirling LK147 crashes south of Gardermoen Airport. A total of 48 allied soldiers die on this day.

On May 16th the victims from the crash at Röjden were buried on Fryksände cemetery. A number of British soldiers, who had been moved from Norway, were present at the funeral. The funeral procession with the coffins draped in the Union Jack passed through the centre of Torsby and was, according to the news reporter at Nya Wermlands-tidningen, followed by 4500 people.

In his speech for the victims vicar Fensby said: ”Just as the peace bells finally rang out through the war-exhausted Europe, these men gave their final sacrifice.” In the unit’s war diary one can read: ”Altogether it was a most impressive ceremony, which clearly indicates the character of the Swedish people”.

Sixteen years later, in 1961, the buried were moved to the Kviberg cemetery in Gothenburg, where other British soldiers who died on Swedish territory during World War II had been brought.

Background to Operation Doomsday

On April 9th 1940 Germany unexpectedly attacked Norway. In one big sweep German units occupied the most important ports from Oslo in the south to Narvik in the north. After two months of resistance the Norwegian units were forced to surrender on June 10th 1940.

Germany capitulated on May 7th 1945 and the German commander in chief was informed and had to acknowledge facts on May 8th. The capitulation of the German troops required the presence of allied forces for the German units to surrender to.

Operation Doomsday was a plan to secure the withdrawal of the 350,000 Germans stationed in Norway and to prevent out-breaks of violence in connection with the retreat. By quickly flying in troops on May 9th, the airport in Gardermoen outside Oslo and Sola in Stavanger were secured. After the airports had been secured, the main force of Operation Doomsday could be received one day later on May 10th 1945. The planes that cras-hed were part of this transportation of troops.

The German capitulation took place without any great difficulties.

This inscription and stone were put up on May 2014 in commemoration of those who were killed in the airplane crash.

Text in swedish

(Text and photos are from the memorial site)