Date: 19th/20th July 1940 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit No: 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, 5 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Hampden I

Serial: L4087

Coded: KM:C

Base: RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire

Location: In the sea off Jutland.

Pilot: Sgt. Edward Littleton Farrands 740864 RAF Age 23. PoW No: 136 * (1)

Observer: Sgt. Percy Dryden Nixon 580671 RAF Age 24. KiA

W/Op/Air Gnr: Sgt. Reginald Talbot Miller 551536 RAF Age 20. KiA.

W/Op/Air Gnr: Plt Off. Bernard ‘Pop’ Green MC, MiD, 76904 RAFVR Age 52. PoW No: 121 ** (2)

* Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania)

** Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

REASON FOR LOSS:

L4087 was one of five (5) aircraft that took-off from RAF Waddington, commencing at 20:42 hrs, detailed on a ‘Gardening’ minelaying operation off Samso Island and off Frederikshaven.

A wireless message was received from L4087 that they were force landing off Denmark.

L4087 was hit by Flak from 4./Res. Flak Abt. 615 and crashed in the sea off Skagen at 00:50 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (1939 - 12 July 1941) The Early Years Part 1 - Theo Boiten)

Members of the Kriegsmarine investigating the wreck of L4087

Aboard as an Air Gunner was Plt Off. Green MC, who had no business flying because of his age but wrangled his way in for one mission and as it turns out his last.

Sgt. Farrands and Plt Off. Green survived the ditching and swam to shore and were captured. Sgt. Miller’s body was found washed up on a beach on the 21st May and that of Sgt. Nixon on the 24th May, both were laid to rest in Skagen cemetery.

Sgt. Farrands and Plt Off. Green were transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 23rd July. Four (4) days later they were transferred to Stalag Luft 1, Barth arriving there on the 27th July.

In 1940, the first permanent PoW camp for members of the RAF was established in Barth. The first group of Officers and NCOs of the RAF arrived at the camp on the 7th July 1940.

In April 1942, they was amongst the 800 inmates who were transferred to the newly constructed Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan, Silesia.

(1) In October 1942 Sgt. Farrands was returned to Stalag Luft 1 which was only receiving NCO PoWs. In October 1943 all of the NCOs were transferred to Stalag Luft 6 at Heydekrug in Memelland. Sgt. Farrands was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) whilst at Stalag Luft 6.

In early 1944 the Russian Army were advancing into the Baltic States from the North and the East preparation for evacuating the camp was being made. PoWs from Stalag Luft 6, the camp closest to the Russian advance, were in the "northern route" of the force-marches, and were transported to Stalag 20A by train in July 1944, and from there took part in the forced-march.

It went to Stalag Luft 4 at Groß-Tychow, Pomerania then via Stettin to Stalag 9B and Stalag 357 at Fallingbostel. Some prisoners were marched from here at the end of the war towards Lübeck, however, for most, Fallingbostel was their final destination.

All that is known is that after Stalag Luft 4 he was at Stalag 9B, Bad Orb-Wegscheide, Hesse in Germany and his last known date as a PoW was February 1945. However, as he was interviewed on the 8th May 1945 it is more than likely he was on a forced march.

When he returned to England he remained in the RAF. On the 1st February 1951 WO. Farrands was appointed to a commission and promoted to 2603760 Plt Off. (London Gazette 19th June 1951). He was promoted to Fg Off. on the 1st November 1951, (London Gazette 4th March 1952).

Fg Off. Farrands was killed in an accident whilst flying Tiger Moth II NL702 on Sunday, 31st August 1952. The inquest determined that the aircraft stalled and spun into ground at Colemans Moor Farm while overshooting an approach to RAF Woodley Airfield, Woodley, Reading in Berkshire. Tragically this would have been his last flight after completing seven (7) years of service.

He was employed as an Engineer prior to enlisting in the RAF on the 20th November 1937.

(2) After arriving from Stalag Luft 1 the now Fg Off. Green remained at Stalag Luft 3. However, five (5) months later during September 1942 he was transferred to Oflag 21B at Szubin which was a few miles SW of Bydgoszcz in Poland. In April 1943 Oflag 21B was cleared of all PoWs and who were sent to Stalag Luft 3.

Flt Lt. Green was named as the ‘father’ of the camp. He was one of the Code Letter writers that were home for I.S.9 (Intelligence School 9) and was also one of a number of PoWs that dispersed the sand from the tunnelling. They came to be known as “Penguins” because of the sandbags made them waddle and were amongst the hardest-worked of the escape team (Ref 1, p 125).

His contributions earned for himself an early position in the line of two-hundred (200) hoping to escape from Stalag Luft 3. On the night of the 24th/25th March 1944, seventy-six (76) officers escaped from the north compound which, at that time, held between 1000 and 1500 RAF PoWs. The escape was made by the means of a tunnel. At about 05:00 hrs on the 25th March the 77th PoW was spotted by guards as he emerged from the tunnel.

Flt Lt. Green was the thirty-eighth (38) man out the tunnel. He joined his party of twelve (12) and walked to the Sagan railway station. After purchasing tickets the group boarded the train at 05:00 hrs and after an uneventful journey left the train at 10:00 hrs at Bober-Rohrsdorf. From here Fg Off. Green made his way alone in a northerly direction. He circled back into a southerly direction and approached Bober-Rohrsdorf from the north (Ref 2, pp 201-202).

He could see no way to by-pass the village and after a 2 hr wait he decided to risk walking through the village. Just as he was about to leave the village on the other side he was stopped by German soldier on police duty. The soldier was not convinced with his story and after he had made several phone calls took Flt Lt. Green to the Police station at Hirschberg. Arriving there he saw Maj. Dodge and Flt Lt. Wernham. He and Flt Lt. Wernham were then marched to a PoW camp outside of Hirschberg. After 2 hrs they were taken back to the Police station at Hirschberg where Flt Lt. Green was interrogated (Ref 2, pp 201-202).

He was then taken to the Civilian jail at Hirschberg with seven members of his original party of twelve (12) who were, Maj. Dodge, Fg Off. Pawluk, Plt Off. S. Skantziklas, Flt Lt. J.C. Wernham, Flt Lt. B.A. James, Lt(A). D.A. Poynter and Flt Lt. J.C. Kiewnarski. Over the next four days (4) each of the other officers were taken away until there was just Lt(A). D.A. Poynter and Flt Lt. Green remained in the jail. On the morning of the 29th March they were taken back to Stalag Luft 3 (Ref 2, pp 201-202).

Maj. John Bigelow Dodge DSO, DSC, MC 101106, British Army and Flt Lt. Bertram Arthur 'Jimmy’ James MC 42232, RAF were sent to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. They both survived.

- Flt Lt. K. Pawluk, Plt Off. S. Skantziklas, Flt Lt. J.C. Wernham, Flt Lt. J.C. Kiewnarski.

These four (4) Officers were amongst the fifty (50) who were murdered by the Gestapo.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages. On the 2nd February he was amongst the PoWs that were sent to Marlag und Milag Nord at Westertimke.

Marlag is an acronym for Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp), Milag is short for Marine-Internierten-Lager(naval internment camp), and Nord is German for ‘north’.

On the 2nd April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving only a small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen. However, that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred SS-Feldgendarmerie entered the camp, mustered over 3,000 men and marched them out, heading east. Flt Lt. Green was listed amongst those on the forced march.

The next day, at around at 10:00 hrs the column was strafed by RAF aircraft, and two PoWs were killed. Over the next few days the column was attacked from the air several times. Finally the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO), who was later killed in a strafing attack by RAF aircraft, offered the Germans the PoW’s parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night to which the Germans agreed.

On the 9th April 1945 the guards at Marlag-Milag moved out and were replaced by older men, presumably local Volkssturm. Meanwhile, the column slowly headed east, finally crossing the River Elbe, north of Hamburg, on the 18th April.

On the 27th April the camps were liberated by elements of the British Guards Armoured Division.

The next day, the 28th April, the column finally arrived at Lübeck on the Baltic coast. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on the 1st May 1945. Flt Lt. Green was interviewed on the 3rd May 1945.

At the outbreak of WW1 Bernard Green joined the Royal East Kent (The Duke of Connaught’s Own) (Mounted Rifles) as a private and was appointed to a commission as a 2nd Lt. on the 24th June 1914 (London Gazette 23rd June 1914). He was promoted to Lt. on the 1st September 1914 (London Gazette 20th October 1914).

He was Mentioned in Despatches in 1917 (no notification found).

Capt. Green 4658 was awarded the Military Cross (MC) whilst serving in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and attached to the Machine Gun Corps (London Gazette 3rd June 1918).

He relinquished his appointment as a Capt. with the 5th West York Regiment, Territorial Force on the 28th December 1918.

He enlisted in the RAFVR in the General Duties Branch on the 29th December 1939 and the next day was appointed to acting Plt Off (London Gazette 19th January 1940). On the 4th February 1940 he was granted his commission as a Plt Off. (London Gazette 9th April 1940).

Whilst being held as a PoW he was promoted to Fg Off. effective 2nd March 1941 (London Gazette 20th June 1941). He was promoted to Flt Lt. on the 2nd March 1942 whilst at Stalag Luft 3 (London Gazette 9th June 1942).

Flt Lt. Green was Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) for the second time which was promulgated in the London Gazette 7th January 1947.

He relinquished his commission and was granted permission to retain his rank of Flt Lt. with effect from the 10th February 1954 (London Gazette 22nd June 1954).

Bernard Green was born on the 23rd December 1887 in Woburn, Buckinghamshire. He worked in the family paper making firm prior to enlisting in the RAFVR. Bernard Passed away on the 2nd November 1971 in Chichester, Sussex.

Burial Details:

The cemetery is on the western side of the town of Skagen. The above 4 Grave markers are Joint Grave M.1 (single headstone) and Collective Grave M.2 (three headstones) Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Sgt. Percy Dryden Nixon. Skagen Cemetery, Denmark, Coll Grave M.2. Born on the 16th June 1916 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. Son of Thomas Draper and Jane Mercer (née Charwick) (deceased in January 1934) of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. Reginald Talbot Miller. Skagen Cemetery, Denmark, Coll Grave M.2. Grave Inscription: “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT HE GIVETH HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS”. Born in 2nd Qtr of 1921 in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Son of Talbot William and Lily (née Marrett) Miller of Winsley, Wiltshire, England.

Post War:

Fg Off. Edward Littleton Farrands. Hove Cemetery, Section 13, Grave 92. Born on the 30th June 1917 in Enfield. Son of Harry (deceased in 1949) and Florence Isabel (née Woodward) Farrands. Husband to Edna Sylvia Gladys (née Walford) Farrands of Reading, Berkshire, England.

Original research by Kelvin Youngs (Web Master) with thanks to Terry McSweeney. Update researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to this crew and their families (Mar 2025).

Other sources listed below:

Reference:

1. The Great Escape – The full dramatic story with contributions from survivors and their families - Anton Gill - ISBN: 878-0-75531-037-1.

2. Stalag Luft III - An official history of the “Great Escape” PoW Camp - Published by Frontline Books - ISBN: 978-1-47388-305-5.

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