A guest post from Clive Stevens

‘Aviation historians attempt to trace family members of wartime tragedy for new Memorial unveiling’

On November 10th 1943, a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber which had taken off from Thorpe Abbotts Airfield, near Diss minutes earlier, crashed in Brome village after unsuccessfully attempting to reach the newly constructed concrete runway at Eye airfield.

Civilian eyewitness reports, documented at the time by United States Army Air Force Accident Investigators, stated that the aircraft was observed with an onboard fire and flying at very low level, before pulling-up sharply to avoid hitting the tree-lined avenue at the front of The Old Rectory (now the Oaksmere Country Hotel). The aircraft immediately stalled out, crashing into overhead power lines and a gang of local road workers clearing drainage ditches. Fire quickly engulfed the already burning aircraft as it dragged a horse and tumbril into a nearby field as the road men tried in vein to flee the scene. As the heat from the aviation-fuelled fire rapidly intensified, exploding ammunition and phosphorus ordnance prevented bystanders from being able to help any of the young airmen onboard the doomed Bomber.When the gravity of the situation was fully realised, 13 American Airmen, 4 British civilians and one horse had all tragically succumbed to the horrific accident which still to this day ranks as one of the very worst aviation related loss of life incidents in the whole of the Mid-Suffolk District.

Fressingfield lorry driver Roland Thirkettle narrowly avoided serious injury when he was stood beside his truck close to Brome Crossroads and saw the aircraft approaching at what he estimated to only be 100 feet high and heading directly towards him. It cleared the trees, violently nosed down, hit the road and came to an abrupt halt in the ploughed field with the tumbril beneath it. He stated in his report written on the day of the crash that he “had to run fast to keep from being hit!’ 

The local roadmen killed in the crash were Walter Clarkeaged 50 from Stradbroke, William Charles (Charlie) Burridge aged 54 of Langton Green, Eye, William Dixonof Finningham (who also owned the horse and tumbril) and Ernest Barker of Wetheringsett who died of his injuries two days later in Hartismere Hospital, Eye. (Dixon was working at the time for a Mr G Arnold and his former employer was a Mr R Turner – These details are provided in the faint hope that somebody might just have a picture of Dixon with his horse and tumbril).

Another eyewitness to the incident, William Cooper Browne, a local Builder, stated “I saw an Officer rush up to the burning plane, dive under one wing and drag out two of the badly burnt roadmen. In view of the intense heat, this Army Officer demonstrated the highest bravery and disregard for his own life.” Sadly both of those men rescued did not survive the ordeal.

Whilst Press censorship, propaganda and the issues of public morale often compromised such stories from being told during times of war, the incident was covered by the local Diss Express Newspaper at the time where funeral details of all the civilians killed were posted in the November 19th 1943 edition of the Newspaper. The bodies of the 13 young Servicemen who were aboard the aircraft were also recovered and buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey with full Military honours. At the end of WWII, the next-of-kin for all those men where given the choice of having their sons and husbands returned to America for family burials or to be reinterred at the American Military Cemetery at Cambridge along with their fellow combatants, on land gifted for the purpose by Cambridge University at Madingley. Five of the Aircrew lost in the Brome crash still rest at Madingley today, including the pilot of the aircraft, Lt. Arthur Reynolds, who had previously flown a Combat Tour of missions over Europe with 91st Bomb Group, to which the famous B-17 ‘Memphis Belle’ was assigned.

It is very much hoped that any descendant family members of those locals who were both eyewitnesses to the tragedy and the four roadmen who were killed, could be traced in time to attend an unveiling of a new Memorial to honour all those who lost their lives at Brome eighty years ago this coming November. Ipswich resident Tarkey Barker of Chantry Estate, has spent the past few years researching his family tree and determined to be a distant cousin of Ernest Barker of Wetheringsett. 

On Friday November 10th at 10:40am, exactly 80 years to the minute that the mighty bomber crashed, local people are being invited to attend a Memorial Dedication Ceremony in the grounds of the Oaksmere Country Hotel, Brome, where current serving United States Air Force (USAF) personnel from Alconbury, near Huntingdon will perform an Honour Guard Ceremony and Folding of the Flag. The original B-17F Bomber, which was a top-secret radar equipped Pathfinder aircraft, was assigned to the 482nd Bomb Group and stationed at Alconbury Airfield and was performing a routine non-combat transit flight from Thorpe Abbotts Airfield and returning back to its home base, when events overtook the airmen moments into what should have been an entirely routine flight in unlimited ceiling and 1500 yards visibility. 

The organisers are very keen to gain any further information concerning the accident and would very much like to hear from anybody with a family connection to those involved. Local WWII Historians Maggie Aggiss, Steve Andrews and Clive Stevens who are coordinating the Memorial Project, can be contacted on3drews@tiscali.co.uk   and stressed that the general public are very much welcome to attend the Memorial unveiling ceremony in November, just 48 hours before the whole Country falls silent on Remembrance Sunday itself.

The timing of the Memorial Unveiling Service (which has been largely dictated by the date of the original crash) is anticipated to gain greater interest from the public due to the eagerly awaited release this Autumn of Stephen Spielberg & Tom Hank’s final ‘tip of the hat’ to WWII – Masters of the Air. Based upon the story of the United States 100th Bomb Group, who were posted to Thorpe Abbotts airfield in Norfolk in 1943, this new television Nine Part Series (and sister series to the award winning 2001 Band of Brothers), has been entirely filmed in the UK and charts the story of the United States Eighth Air Force daylight bombing campaign, flown from the many wartime airfields of Suffolk & Norfolk. 

Fund-Raising for this significant Memorial Project is very much an ongoing effort and any individual or business that might wish to consider donating towards to the extensive costs of constructing the Memorial can find out more details from the GoFundMe website by looking up ‘B-17 Crash Memorial Project – Suffolk, England.’

The official November 1943 Accident Report concluded, from both eyewitnesses interviews and the condition of the plexiglass canopy that was throw clear upon impact, that the pilots were combating fire in the cockpit at the point of loosing control, but the cause of the fire was 100% undetermined. It is hoped that by the placing of the Memorial in a prominent position within the beautiful grounds of The Oaksmere Hotel, the names of the many individuals who lost their lives that day will be forever remembered and the tragic story surrounding their deaths exposed to a new, younger audience, who are most probably unaware of what took place in the village eighty years ago. 

Please do not hesitate to make contact for any further details on the Pathfinder Memorial Project and we very much welcome your enquiry.

Written by

Clive Stevens

https://gofund.me/069e16b4