Hvidsten drop zone

Preben Lok-Lindblad ("Habbit"), 1917-1982. SOE agent. Airdropped near Hvidsten on 21 April 1943. He served as an assistant to the SOE Leader, Flemming B. Muus, in Copenhagen until his arrest in September 1944...

Jens Peter Carlsen ("Lard") 1901-1954. SOE-agent. Airdropped near Hvidsten on 10 May 1943. Head of the SOE on Funen from May 1943 to June 1944, when he then fled to Sweden as he was badly sought by the Germans.

Vilfred Chr. Petersen ("Mustard") SOE-agent, born 1910. Airdropped near Hvidsten on 17 May 1943. He was a sabotage instructor and worked primarily in Central Jutland. In March 1944, he had to flee to Sweden...

The SOE agent Ole Geisler and Gudrun Fiil at Hvidsten Inn after the occupation.

Hvidsten Kro photographed before the occupation.

The SOE-agent Poul Hansen ("Jelly) was airdropped near Hvidsten on 10 May 1944. He served as a sabotage instructor in Copenhagen until October 1944, when he travelled to Sweden.

Hvidsten Kro photographed before the occupation.

Hvidsten Kro photographed after the occupation.

The SOE-agent Poul Hansen ("Jelly) is in the centre of the photograph, on the left is Major General Sir C. Gubbins and on the right is Jens Lillelund. Poul Hansen was airdropped near Hvidsten on 10 May 1944...

The interior of the Hvidsten Inn.

The Fiil’s silver wedding anniversary at Hvidsten in September 1942. Marius Fiil can be seen under the sign.

The apartment on J.M. Thielesvej in Copenhagen, where paratrooper Erik Boelskov and a helper were killed in an explosive accident on 25 August 1943. Two people from the rescue team were also killed in an explosion on the very same day...

A person from the rescue team is taken away from the apartment on J.M. Thielesvej in Copenhagen after an explosion on 25 August 1943...

The apartment on J.M. Thielesvej in Copenhagen, where paratrooper Erik Boelskov and a helper were killed in an accidental explosion on 25 August 1943. Two people from the rescue team were also killed in an explosion on the very same day...

Obituary in the newspaper Politiken dated Friday, 30 June 1944, placed by Mrs Gudrun Fiil, Hvidsten Kro, announcing the death of her husband, son and son-in-law on 29 June 1944.

Intro

On the night of 17th April 1943, SOE agent Kaj Ronald Lund ("Table Lamp") was airdropped to the drop zone at Allestrup Farm's fields (called Mustard Point). Lund was trained as a telegraphist and was to establish increased contact with England. Together with Lund, 6 containers and one radio device were dropped, these were unfortunately crushed in the fall. Paratroop Commander, Muus, criticized the fact that the plane had flown directly to and from Mustard Point, giving the German observers far too good an opportunity to locate the site.

17.04.1943

The Hvidsten Group

Jørgen Hæstrup: Kontakt med England 1940-43, 1954, s. 234ff. Birkelund og Dethlefsen: Faldskærmsfolk, 1986, s. 55f.

On 21st April 1943, the drop zone at Hvidsten Kro was back in action. The SOE agent Preben Lok-Lindblad ("Habbit") was airdropped here. The airdrop was not without problems - the plane approached the drop zone and threw the containers from a height of 400 metres, not the recommended height of 100 metres. The plane continued to circle around the drop zone several times, and Lok-Lindblad did not jump until 6 minutes after the containers had been dropped. However, the reception went well and everything was salvaged. Lok-Lindblad then came to Copenhagen, where he became the personal assistant to the Paratroop Commander, Flemming B. Muus.

21.04.1943

The Hvidsten Group

Jørgen Hæstrup: Kontakt med England 1940-43, 1954, s. 234ff. Birkelund og Dethlefsen: Faldskærmsfolk, 1986, s. 55f.

On 10th May 1943, SOE agents Poul Hansen ("Jelly") and Peter Carlsen ("Lard") were airdropped at Mustard Point near Hvidsten - both were trained sabotage instructors. The reception went according to plan. Along with the containers, an S-phone (walkie-talkie) was also received. Carlsen came to work on Funen, where he partly set up sabotage groups and designated reception sites for weapon drops. Poul Hansen came to Copenhagen, where he was responsible for the contact between the sabotage organization BOPA and Holger Danske.

10.05.1943

The Hvidsten Group

Jørgen Hæstrup: Kontakt med England 1940-43, 1954, s. 234ff. Birkelund og Dethlefsen: Faldskærmsfolk, 1986, s. 61.

On the night of 17th May 1943, another successful airdrop of SOE agents was carried out at Mustard Point: three sabotage instructors, Jens Jacob Jensen (Pudding), Vilfred Christian Petersen ("Mustard"), Hans Robert Filip Johansen ("Brawn") were received by the people from Hvidsten. Whilst receiving the three agents, the S-phone was used for the first time in Denmark - but not with much success. The S-phone was a kind of walkie-talkie that allowed conversation between the team on the ground and the crew in the aircraft, but on this occasion, the pilot did not receive correct instructions. The parachuters all primarily came to work as instructors in Jutland. Hans Johansen came to Copenhagen in the summer of 1944. He committed suicide by taking his lethal pill during a Gestapo raid in Nyhavn. In December 1943, the Gestapo arrested Jens Jacob Jensen and other SOE Agents in Aarhus. He was sent to a German concentration camp. Vilfred Petersen was wanted by the Germans and therefore fled Denmark in March 1944, after approx. 10 months of work.

17.05.1943

The Hvidsten Group

Jørgen Hæstrup: Kontakt med England 1940-43, 1954, s. 234ff. Birkelund og Dethlefsen: Faldskærmsfolk, 1986, s. 61.

The aircraft was carrying three SOE agents, several containers (probably 6) and a radio. Agent Erik Boelskov ("Sandwich") was to be airdropped at Mustard Point by Hvidsten, after which the plane would continue to the drop zone at Madum Lake, where SOE agents Erik Jens Peter Petersen and Aage Møller Christensen would be airdropped. The airdrop of Boelsgaard did not go as planned. The group on the ground used an S-phone - a kind of walkie-talkie that allowed conversation between the team on the ground and the pilot in the aircraft - but since the crew on the plane was Polish and did not speak English, the S-phone was of little help. Paratrooper Flemming B. Muus later wrote to London: "The pilot refused to speak anything other than Polish, and although we are willing to speak Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, French, English and two or three African dialects on the S-phone, regrettably, none of us understand Polish." There was a further complication because Boelsgaard had landed in a tree and was hanging a few metres above the ground. He was found here by the reception group, who he then threatened with a gun as they were unable to answer him with a code word. The plane continued towards the drop zone at Madum Lake, but the airdrop was unsuccessful due to dense fog which had settled over the drop zone. The aircraft returned to England with the agents and the containers. Boelskov died in an accidental explosion on 25th August 1943, when he was making bombs in an apartment in Copenhagen.

23.07.1943 (uncertain)

The Hvidsten Group

Jørgen Hæstrup: Kontakt med England 1940-43, 1954, s. 251. Birkelund og Dethlefsen: Faldskærmsfolk, 1986, s. 65

It is reported that a signal was given to a German aircraft.

15.10.1943 (uncertain)

Jørgen Røjel: Modstandsgruppen Hvidsten, 1984, s. 24.

No airdrop.

10.03.1944 (uncertain)

Jørgen Røjel: Modstandsgruppen Hvidsten, 1984, s. 25.

Region: Jutland - District: 8 Zone nr.: 0 - Zone name: Hvidsten Place in the Military Map: Volume 1 - Page 27 - D2: I Steen Blichers Pl. Sources: Jørgen Røjel: Modstandsgruppen Hvidsten, 1984, s. 24f. Jørgen Hæstrup: Kontakt med England 1940-43, 1954, s. 234ff. Birkelund og Dethlefsen: Faldskærmsfolk, 1986, s. 61ff. Plac. iflg. Dp43 Info: Pladsen blev kaldt "Mustard Point".