By: Hornchurch - 14th July 2017 at 00:58
Nice to see ANY memorial of this nature//kind, towards the 8th & especially the 2nd Air Division.
May seem a minor point to some, but they’ve put the 392nd’s “home base” in the wrong county.
It should read….
41-29509…… of the 392nd Bombardment Group, based at Wendling in NORFOLK
Beeston (Wendling), is comfortably inside Norfolk & lies just to the North of the A.47 highway.
.
By: Matt Poole - 11th July 2017 at 20:18
The wording on the plaque follows. A tiny bit more is found here: http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=1971.0
On the 27th April 1944, two mission-damaged B-24 Mark H Liberator aircraft of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) returning from different pre-D-Day Raids over France, attempted to make emergency landings at RAF Manston, but crashed as night fell along the Thanet Coast in the same hour. This memorial serves as a tribute to all allied pilots and crew, who gave their lives in the Second World War in the struggle against fascism.
The pilots of both aircraft were recognised for their bravery and skill in avoiding the towns of Margate and Westgate and one aircraft, No. 41-29509 of the 578th Bombardment Squadron of the 392nd Bombardment Group [The Crusaders] based at Wendling in Suffolk made a forced landing at 6.20 pm in shallow water at Westgate-on-Sea near this memorial, shortly afterwards the second aircraft, No. 41-29543, piloted by 1st Lt. Harold J. Larson from the 706th Bombardment Squadron of the 449th Bombardment Group [The Bungay Buckaroos] based at Flixton, collided with the clifftop at Foreness Bay in Cliftonville and was totally destroyed on its mission.
This plaque remembers that evening in 1944, the events that took place along our shore and those brave servicemen of the United States Army Airforce, who died in both crashes while trying to reach safety following their missions over occupied Europe.
This Plaque was dedicated by the Margate Charter Trustees 27th April 2010.
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AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
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July 10, 2017 at 2:11 pm