Danish WW2 Pilots

LACW Karen Hansen

(1906 - 1999)

Karen Hansen was one of the Danish women who served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War. She was a domestic servant in Twickenham at the outbreak of war and experienced the Blitz before volunteering in 1942.

Karen Hansen was born in Nord Schleswig on 30 September 1906.[1] At the outbreak of war, she was working in Twickenham in the house of Dagmar M. A. Petersen, who was a Danish wholesale eel merchant.[2]

LACW Karen Hansen in her uniform while serving as a WAAF (Museum of Danish Resistance).
LACW Karen Hansen in her uniform while serving as a WAAF (Museum of Danish Resistance).

She volunteered for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force at some point in 1942 (2148118).[3] Hansen served as a Leading Aircraftwoman in the Officers’ Mess at RAF Cranfield in 1942 to 1946. She later recounted how they served breakfast for the pilot’s in the mess before operations. The next day, they never knew if the crews had made it back. It was difficult, but they never talked about it. And they never asked about those who did not return.

Hansen returned to Denmark after the war. She was awarded the King Christian X Memorial Medal for her service.[4]

Endnotes

[1] CPR-register.

[2] Ancestry: 1939 Register for England and Wales.

[3] Hansen’s seervice number is part of a block of numbers allotted in August 1942.

[4] Oplevede blitzen over London på nært hold, Lolland-Falster Folketidende, september 1986.