Frank William Marius Jensen joined the Royal Air Force before the war and had a long and eventful career ending as a Group Captain.
He was British by birth, but the son of a Danish father.
William Marius Jensen was born on 8 December 1914 in London. He was the son of Niels Søren Marius Jensen (born 1888 in Nykøbing, Denmark) and Elsie Neatherway. He was thus a British subject by birth.
He volunteered for the Auxiliary Air Force on 28 November 1933
Following the outbreak of the war, he entered on active duty. He was commissioned, and promoted Pilot Officer (on probation) on 17 July 1941. On 15 March 1942 he was made a Flying Officer (war substantial), and was confirmed in the rank of Flying Officer (on probation) on 17 July 1942.
During 1942 he served for 6 months as Flight Commander at No. 52 Operational Training Unit, where he was known as an outstandingly enthusiastic instructor and was awarded the Air Force Cross for his service at this unit. By now he was an Acting Flight Lieutenant.
He posted to No. 195 Squadron during the first half of 1943 flying Hawker Typhoons. In August 1943 he was sent to No. 181 Squadron in command.
In early September, the squadron received the first RP (Rocket Projectiles) fitted Typhoons at New Romney, and started practice with the new weapon from 21 September. A month later, on 21 October, the squadron was ready for the first operation.
Frank Jensen les three of his pilots escorted by aircraft from No. 247 Squadron, and with No. 182 Squadron as top cover, but no suitable targets were sighted.
On 25 October 1943, he took off in Typhoon Ib leading 6 RP-armed Typhoons, with No. 247 Squadron as close escort and 182 Squadron providing top cover. The target was a power station near Caen. 174 Squadron would provide a diversionary attack on marshalling yards near Caen, and the plan was for Jensen's Typhoons to use the confusion caused by the attack to cross the marshalling yards and continue along the railway line to attack the power station further down the line. Jensen was not fond of this approach fearing that the approach would disclose his intentions and he would rather have approached the target cross-country.
The Typhoons were in the air between 1220 and 1240 hours. Frank Jensen led the 181 squadron Typhoons in two vics of three aircraft on the deck across the channel. He wrote:
Just before the target was a line of poplars which marked the point where it was necessary to pull up into the rocket-launching position. At that moment all hell let loose as the Flak batteries opened up; Flg Off Hugh Collins and myself were hit immediately, and Flg Off King a few minutes later. I prepared for a forced-landing, jettisoning my rockets and cockpit side panels; with forward vision obscured by oil on the windscreen, I had to stick my head out of the side of the cockpit, but fortunately spotted a ploughed field in which to put the Typhoon down. I remember trying to keep the Tiffie straight with the rudder, as normal, and the rudder bar nearly broke my ankles!
F/O W R King was killed in the attack, while both Frank Jensen and F/O E H Collins were captured by the Germans and imprisoned in Stalag Luft 3.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross following this attack and his capture.
Frank Jensen remained in the Air Force after the war and was eventually promoted to Group Captain on 1 January 1960. He was appointed OBE on 31 December 1954, and promoted to CBE on 31 December 1963.
He died in 1999 at the age of 85.