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HELMDON, United Kingdom – November 30, 1943, started out as a
typical English day in Helmdon, United Kingdom – dark, damp, cloudy
and the sun was just starting to break over the horizon – but all of
that changed at 8:19 a.m.
“My father left our cottage, at
Astwell Castle Farm, after breakfast to continue the day's work,”
said Derek Ratledge, who was 8 years old in 1943. “As he left, he
heard the not uncommon roar of a low flying formation of B-17
bombers and shouted back to the cottage, ‘They are off again' then
he said, ‘there's one in trouble - it's on fire!'”
Everybody
on the ground could only watch in horror as the tragic event
unfolded before them as the plane was heading directly for the
cottages, farmhouse and farm buildings at Astwell Castle Farm
(located about one mile east of the village of Helmdon), surely to
demolish all of them.
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The 422nd Air Base Group Honor Guard salutes the memorial for
10 Airmen killed when their B-17 bomber crashed in at the Astwell
Castle Farms in 1943 during a memorial service in the Parish Church
of St. Mary Magdalene in Helmdon on November 2, 2013. The ceremony
honored the 327th Bombardment Squadron, VIII Bomber Command, Airmen
killed November 30, 1943, when they left RAF Poddington on a bombing
mission to Germany. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Brian Stives)
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“At the last minute, it banked at almost 45 degrees away
from the houses and crashed beyond the farm buildings in a
huge explosion. My father watched it all and to his dying
days he swore that it was going to crash into the buildings.
I think, those men that crashed saved all of our lives,”
said Ratledge as tears began filling his eyes.
Ratledge's father and his neighbors rushed through the farm
to the crash site to see what they could do to help. Once on
the site, they saw the mass of tangled, burning wreckage
that was once an airplane, exploding ammunition and small
bombs. Ratledge said they could see there was little chance
of anyone surviving the inferno, so his father and neighbors
left the site - most of them in tears.
“I remember a
few hours later avoiding the guards and going onto the crash
field and seeing the wreckage,” said Ratledge as the tears
began welling up even bigger in eyes. “I saw smoke and
burning wreckage – the worst of it had been removed. It was
a mess and you couldn't recognize it as an airplane.”
For many years, Ratledge's mother searched for the names
and information about the men on board the plane, without
success. Then in late 2007, Ratledge posted a comment on a
U.S. veteran's website. At the same time, Beth Pugh was
searching the internet for details about her Great Uncle
Richard, who had died in the crash. Pugh had obtained the
official crash report and the name of Astwell Castle Farms
was recorded in it. After typing in Astwell she found and
read Ratledge's post and responded to it. Ratledge finally
had the answers his family had been searching almost 65
years for. What he found out were that the B-17s were from
the 327th Bombardment Squadron, VIII Bomber Command, from
RAF Podington, located east of Northampton, and heading on a
bombing mission to Germany and the report also included the
names of all 10 men on board.
“I felt like I needed
to find out about the people that were killed that day
because I figured their family would like to know where
those boys had died,” said Ratledge.
Almost 70 years
after the crash, the 422nd Air Base Group from RAF Croughton,
United Kingdom, and local community gathered in the Parish
Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Helmdon to remember those
lost so long ago.
“At 8:19 a.m. on Nov. 30, 1943,
the Sharon Belle, a B-17 bomber piloted by (1st Lt.) Billy
Holland, crashed at Astwell Castle Farm, and all of the crew
was killed,” said Col. Charles Hamilton, 422nd ABG
commander. “We know the exact time because the watches worn
by Flight Officer Leighton Paterson, the navigator, and
Holland stopped exactly at that time.”
“For me, the
journey still goes on,” said Ratledge. “I have now contacted
nine of the families of the descendants of the crew. Many of
them have vowed to visit Helmdon.”
A plaque inside
the church in memorial to the crews reads:
”In the
going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember
them...
Capt. Richard W. Pugh, copilot
1st Lt.
William M. Holland, pilot
F/O Leighton D. Paterson, navigator
2nd Lt. William S. Munro, bombardier
T/Sgt. Thomas D. Glaspel,
engineer
T/Sgt. Billy B. Freeman, radio operator
S/Sgt. Dean
Landfear, waist gunner
S/Sgt. Charles E. Slayton, waist gunner
S/Sgt. Harry A. Scott, ball turret gunner
S/Sgt. Henry P.
Brannon, tail gunner
These American airmen were the crew members of B17 bomber
42-30408 they died at 08:19 on 30th November 1943 at Astwell Castle
Farm”
By USAF Staff Sgt. Brian Stives
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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