In memory of Harold Roger Reardon
In memory of Harold Roger Reardon
Harold Roger Reardon hailed from Caerphilly. His parents were Roger Prosser Reardon and Sarah Ann Reardon, wites Adrian Hughes. He had one sibling, Dilys.
Sergeant Reardon was 19 years old when his Lancaster bomber took off, 25 minutes late, from RAF Kelstern, Lincolnshire, on the evening of 15February 1944. He was the plane’s flight engineer. Th
e crew’s mission was to bomb the German capital, Berlin. The plane had successfully negotiated the North Sea when it was intercepted by a Luftwaffe night fighter and shot down near the town of Haderslev in south west Denmark.
One crew member managed to bale out of the burning plane and was taken Prisoner of War by the Germans; the rest of the crew of seven all died. The bodies were left lying in the field for four days before they were picked up by the German Army and taken to Aabenraa where they were laid to rest in the churchyard.
In September 1949 Roger and Sarah Reardon visited their son’s grave in Denmark. They were extremely touched by the hospitality shown to them by their hosts. On their return to Caerphilly they wrote a letter of thanks: “We only wish that we could have stopped longer to admire the beauty of your country. If ever it is possible for you to come to Wales we shall try to show you the same kindness. We also want to thank you for the butter and eggs which we carried home without a mishap."
Each year on the anniversary of the crash, local schoolchildren place flowers on the memorial stone that has been erected at the crash site. It reads: “Here fell six British airmen on February 15th 1944. They gave their lives, we won our liberty.”
