Under et bombetogt til Rostock nedstyrtede et Hampden fly ved Sønderby Bjerge den 25. april 1942.
Folk i nærheden iler til ulykkesstedet for at hjælpe. De finder kun en overlevende:
Sergeant Gunner Frank George Webster Adams, der ligger ved Aa Strandvej med ild i sin uniform.
Et øjenvidne fortæller, at Adams skar sine støvler i stykker, mens han sad i grøften - for tyskerne skulle for alt i verden ikke have lov at tage dem. Adams bliver ført ind til Assens Sygehus - og kommer siden i tysk fangelejr.
Da den værste ild har lagt sig, går de mange mennesker tættere på flyet. Et forfærdeligt syn møder dem i lommelygternes skær. Sergeant Joe Hicks og og J.H. Smith ligger døde på jorden. Senere finder de Sergeant Potter siddende livløs i cockpittet.
Tre dage senere bliver Hicks, Potter og Smith begravet på den nye kirkegård i Assens. Værnemagten på Fyn er repræsenteret ved Kaptajn Gielcke, og der er tale ved feltpræst Vorrath. Kisterne bliver sænket i jorden til tonerne af ”Ich habe ein Kammeraten”, mens æreskompagniet affyrer tre salver over fællesgraven.
Samme dag som begravelsen finder sted, kan Joe Hicks forældre læse på forsiden af den canadiske lokalavis Daily Times Journal, at deres søn er meldt savnet efter en militær operation i udlandet.
Valdemar Hansen og andre tog initiativet til at få rejst en mindesten for de omkomne fra HAM P5330. Efter afsløringen 22. juli 1945 samledes de omkring 50 deltagere på Øbjerggård.
English:
During a bombing raid to Rostock crashed a Hampden aircraft at Sønderby Bjerge 25 april 1942.
People nearby rushes to the scene to help. They find only one survivor:
Sergeant Gunner Frank George Webster Adams, located at Aa Strandvej with fire in his uniform.
An eyewitness says that Adams cut his boots into pieces while he was in the ditch - the Germans must not be allowed to take them. Adams is led to Assens Hospital - and was later send to a German prison camp.
Since the worst fire has died down, the people goes closer to the plane. A terrible sight encounter them in the torch light. Sergeant Joe Hicks and J. H. Smith is laying dead on the ground. Later, they find Sergeant Potter sitting lifeless in the cockpit.
Three days later Hicks, Potter and Smith is buried in the new cemetery in Assens. Wehrmacht on Funen is represented by Captain Gielcke, and this is the chaplain Vorrath. The coffins are lowered into the ground to the tune of “Ich habe ein Kammeraten”, while honorary Company fires three ointments over the common grave.
The same day as the funeral takes place, Joe Hicks parents read on the front of the Canadian local newspaper Daily Times Journal that their son is reported missing after a military operation abroad.
Valdemar Hansen and others took the initiative to have erected a memorial for those who died from HAM P5330. After unveiling 22 July 1945 the 50 participants gathered at Øbjerggård.