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Half way along
Church Street in Old Catton is a memorial
plaque. Many people walking through the
historic heart of the village stop, read the
inscription, and then move on without knowing
more about the two US bombers or the pilots that
gave their lives in early 1945.
In recognition of
their sacrifice, we would like to share the
story of these two events and to list the names
of the deceased as a mark of respect and
memorial.
Interestingly,
the memorial plaque (left) mentions 20 valuable
lives lost as a result of these two crashes.
But from the official reports mentioned in this
article, 18 crew men died, not 20. There were
no civilian casualties as a result of these
accidents. The reason for this disparity may
lie in the fact that the initial crew of a B-24
consisted of 10 men. But later on in the war,
this was reduced to 9 men when the ball turret
was removed. Even after that turret was
removed, some B-24's flew with 10 crew and
others flew with 9. In the case of one bomber,
"A Dogs' Life", the reason was simpler and the
crew member - very lucky!
It would seem
that at the time the memorial in Old Catton was
commissioned, no one checked the crash reports.
As no names are given on the memorial, someone
must have presumed that the aircraft were each
flying with a ten-man crew. |
