J Fecht, I am so pleased you have registered here , and are able to throw more light on the events of March 6th. As you observe, pre-interenet it was a long lonely slog to dig back into past events , and it is amazing how now you can suddenly stumble upon a cache of information for which you have searching for years. Your account of Bill Hart’s escape is an incredible story, and it is gratifying that even now, new details can emerge.

This is a forum about historic aircraft, but as often happens, it is the human stories which end up having the most resonance, and show how traumatic past events echo down through the years, shaping people and their outlook, one or even two generations later. I hope you are able to come to the UK sometime, and visit that peaceful valley. If you can come, I would be pleased to take you to the site, and show you round . Drop me a line at [EMAIL=”andrew4547@ntlworld.com“]andrew4547@ntlworld.com[/EMAIL] if that might be of interest.

They were all very brave men, and paid a terrible price, even the sole survivor. As their living representatives, to you and J Gould, we thank you for their service.