On December 27. 1941 at 08:40 pm a Whitley with the identification number Z.9125 from the Royal Air Force took of from the Stradishall airbase in England. It was piloted by Sgt. Jones (KIA January 29. 1942) and 2nd pilot Sgt. Gold. The plane carried four 250 pounds bombs, a package in a separate parachute containing assorted equipment together with Chilblain I & II – the first Danish S.O.E. agent’s team to set foot on Danish soil. The agents were Carl Johan Bruhn and Mogens K. A. Hammer.

The airdrop which took place at Haslev in South Zealand should have been the foundation stone for S.O.E’s future operations in Denmark and was code named “OPERATION CHILBLAIN”. Carl Bruhn was selected as chief of S.O.E. in Denmark while Mogens Hammer in his capacity of being a telegraph operator should establish the communication line back to England.

On December 27. 1941 at 09:00 pm 2 inches of snow covered the landscape, the temperature was 17.7 Fahrenheit and the wind was North East 22-26 f/s. It was moonlight but once in a while dark clouds drifted across the sky, making the navigation difficult especially in altitudes below 2000 feet.

As a diversion they flew to Masnedø at Vordingborg but their first approach towards the target failed and Sgt. Jones decided to try one more. At their second approach they were succesful in dropping four bombs from a height of 1000 feet. One of the bombs detonated on a field and another impacted close to the railway tracks only 150 yards from the transformer station. Unfortunately no significant damage occurred and the last two bombs failed to detonate. The rear gunner signed off by firing four bursts from his machine guns at the target and then the Whitley headed out for their primary objective of the mission, the drop zone North East of Haslev.

The plane circled a couple of times around the church in Freerslev approximately a mile south of the drop zone and then continued towards Torpeskov, to complete the mission. The drop which took place from an altitude of only 500 feet was “blind” which meant without a reception of Resistance fighters. Carl Bruhn had expressly ordered a “blind” drop because he didn’t find it necessary due to his graduation in forestry in this particular area (Bregentved Gods) which made him extremely familiar with the territory. He also had some personal friends that he could trust.

According to Mogens Hammers personal account, told to his brother Svend Erik Hammer, and an interview to the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende from August 07. 1945, Carl Bruhn was the first to jump followed by the package and then at last Mogens Hammer.

Unfortunately Carl Bruhn’s parachute failed to open as the snap hook on his static line came away from its anchorage point inside the aircraft and followed him to the ground. It was known that cable static lines had a tendency to "whip" but it had never been foreseen that the result of such whipping could possibly cause the static eye-splice to part from its anchorage point. As a direct consequence of this accident all snap hooks are to this day fitted with a locking device.

In the cause of nature Carl Bruhn was instantly killed when he hit the ground and with that the first attempt to establish an S.O.E. operation in Denmark. Mogens Hammer who landed safely found the body of Carl Bruhn within an hour. He searched the body in order to get the papers and money in order to proceed with the operation. The money was hidden in Bruhn’s boots so he had to cut them open to get to them. Needless to say it was a very unpleasant experience for Hammer, especially as they had become good friends during their training. Mogens Hammer managed to slip away unobserved.

December 28. at 08:00 in the morning the temperature was 7.5 Fahrenheit and the wind calm. Carl Bruhn's wristwatch had stopped at the time of impact, and showed 02:05 am.