258919 S/Lt. Jens Bull Arentz Royal Air Force No. 333 (Norwegian) Squadron from:Stavanger, Norway (d.30th Apr 1944) Jens Arentz was my maternal uncle. I have long wanted to visit Buddon Ness, Angus, where his Mosquito B went down during target shooting. He was a veteran pilot, having being trained at Little Norway in Montreal, Canada after fleeing Norway, traveling via North Africa, Russia, and China. He was very special to my mother and she never quite recovered from the news of his death. She was a refugee in Stockholm at the time, and my father worked for Special Operations Executive in London after having been hurriedly evacuated by a Mosquito flight in Autumn 1943.
On 30th April 1944, my uncle was killed during a training exercise at RAF Leuchars (in Broughty Ferry, Angus), when the Mosquito he was piloting suddenly crashed into the sea next to the airfield. With him died a fellow crew-member named Per Walderhaug Korsnes. Concerning the accident, the RNLI Records of Service (1939-46) state the following:- 30/04/44, 333 Sqn Mosquito II DZ744 Code G Op: Training, RAF Leuchars, Time Up 11:30 S/Lt. Arentz RNorNAS LAC Korsness RNorNAS: The aircraft took off for APC practice and completed the exercise. The range officer, F/Sgt Cowle, reported that the Mosquito made a turn out to sea then returned before diving into sea 1 mile west south west of Buddon Ness, Angus. Salvage of the aircraft was attempted then abandoned on the 9th of May 1944. Only oil and wreckage (1 wheel and 1 fuel tank) were found. A communication I received from Kjetil Korsnes, a relative of Per Korsnes, provides additional details: âIn his diary, Gunnar Helgedagsrud (navigator B-flight) wrote: The 30th April 1944 was a sad day. S/Lt. Arentz dived straight into the sea, close to the airfield. He wasn't flying with his navigator Bjorn¸, but with one of the ground crew named Per Walderhaug Korsnes (flysoldat, born 22.09.21). Arentz was doing shooting practice and seemed to be finished. He was entering his final approach for landing, when the aircraft took a nose-dive for some unexplained reason. Arentz was one of the nicest men we had. I think Lauritz Humlen (navigator B-flight) and Egil D. Johansen (A-flight) are still with us (I met them a few years ago).
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