The Crash Site In Tiger Marsh

Tuesday. Just three of us for the walk today. We were on the old tramway which goes up to Great Links Tor and decided to divert across to the crash site. There is quite a boggy bit to go through to get to it. Since I was last here at lot more wreckage has been revealed.  The white bits in the foreground are melted aluminium. The plane came down on Christmas day in 1943 and still after all the years there very little vegetation is growing in the crash area.

The time of the crash is unknown. The area reported to have been covered in thick cloud.

The aircraft was attached to 25th Bomb Group USAAF based at Cheddingon, Herts and was part of 8th US Army Air Force. She was returning from a weather reconnaissance mission out in the Atlantic and was flying home, routed via St Eval, when she crashed.

There were eight on board:

Ernest Patterson   Major. CO 25th Bomb Group          Injured
Ray Coates            2 Lt.  Co-Pilot                                     Injured
Dick Neary            2 Lt. Navigator                                    Killed
Sherwood Renner Tech. Sgt. Flight Engineer               Killed
Sam Craig             Sgt. Radio Op./Gunner                      Killed
Al Blanchard        Staff Sgt. Gunner                                Killed
Mario Panitti         Staff Sgt. Gunner                               Killed
Basil Brown          Sgt [ RAF ] Met observer                   Injured.


NOTE:
Those killed were grouped in the waist of the aircraft. Those who
survived were in the nose, suggesting the aircraft crashed tail down, nose up attempting to clear the hillside.

The aircraft, like most of it’s crew, had a short life:
Delivered from Denver in September 1943, it was assigned to Cheddington at the end of October 1943. Records show such aircraft losses were not unusual. The same base lost another aircraft at sea and another in a mid-air collision at around the same time. Lots of yellow telegrams to be delivered back home. How Americans dreaded the sight of the man from Western Union.    

Thanks to Tom for the detailed note

Extras on my blog