Memorial appeal for American fighter pilot
Crashed near Blackbrook Reservoir during world war two
AN APPEAL has been launched to create a memorial for a young World War Two American air fighter pilot, who died after his aircraft crashed in a field near Blackbrook Reservoir.
For years the details surrounding the crash on October 24, 1944, have been surrounded in mystery and local legend.
The identity of the pilot was not even known.
However 20 years of research into the crash by two local aviation enthusiasts, Neil Entwistle and John Collier, along with the recollections of the family of the only eye-witnesses to the tragic event, more can be revealed.
And it is that research that has led to the appeal being launched.
The aircraft crashed into a field next door to the land belonging to the Botany Bay cottages, off One Barrow Lane, Charley.
Amanda Halliday of Botany Bay, whose grandfather, Meredith Hull, grandmother Charlotte and father Harry, witnessed the terrible event is leading the appeal.
The aim is to create a carved memorial, by local sculptor Graeme Mitcheson, using a stone from Botany land.
Amanda told the Echo, that the family members were on the lane at the time of the impact.
She said: “I do believe it was daytime, my grandfather’s car had broken down. Granny was in the driver’s seat - she didn’t have a driving licence by the way - and my grandfather and my father were giving it a bump-start down the lane
“And then this P-47 Thunderbolt crashed into the field just below our boundary and obviously they saw it all unfold.
“They were actually knocked off their feet by the impact.”
The pilot, Charles ‘Eddie’ Burdick, aged 24, was killed instantly and there is still the outline of a crater in the neighbouring field, farmed by the Stanley family.
AN APPEAL has been launched to create a memorial for a young World War Two American air fighter pilot, who died after his aircraft crashed in a field near Blackbrook Reservoir.
For years the details surrounding the crash on October 24, 1944, have been surrounded in mystery and local legend.
The identity of the pilot was not even known.
However 20 years of research into the crash by two local aviation enthusiasts, Neil Entwistle and John Collier, along with the recollections of the family of the only eye-witnesses to the tragic event, more can be revealed.
And it is that research that has led to the appeal being launched.
The aircraft crashed into a field next door to the land belonging to the Botany Bay cottages, off One Barrow Lane, Charley.
Amanda Halliday of Botany Bay, whose grandfather, Meredith Hull, grandmother Charlotte and father Harry, witnessed the terrible event is leading the appeal.
The aim is to create a carved memorial, by local sculptor Graeme Mitcheson, using a stone from Botany land.
Amanda told the Echo, that the family members were on the lane at the time of the impact.
She said: “I do believe it was daytime, my grandfather’s car had broken down. Granny was in the driver’s seat - she didn’t have a driving licence by the way - and my grandfather and my father were giving it a bump-start down the lane
“And then this P-47 Thunderbolt crashed into the field just below our boundary and obviously they saw it all unfold.
“They were actually knocked off their feet by the impact.”
The pilot, Charles ‘Eddie’ Burdick, aged 24, was killed instantly and there is still the outline of a crater in the neighbouring field, farmed by the Stanley family.
He had flown from the USAAF Base at Atcham in Shropshire on a training flight with the 495th Fighter Training Group.
Amanda said that her father and grandfather had both told her that there had been a mid-air collision with another aircraft, which managed to make an emergency landing in Desford.
In the aftermath of the crash other members of the family who were living in the three Botany Bay cottages came out to help.
Later, as to be expected, American servicemen arrived at the scene of the crash and Amanda’s Aunty Mary: “Made them cups of tea and gave them biscuits and bits and bobs whilst they were here and I know that when the Americans had finished what they were doing they took her a big hamper of food, because she’s looked after them.
Amanda’s father, Harry, was 11 at the time. She says he was a private man and was reluctant through the years to share the information he had with others, although he did eventually pass on the serial number of the aircraft to researcher Neil.
Harry passed away five years ago and around two years ago, while out on Botany land, Amanda saw Neil, who was in the field of the crash site and she invited him to bring his metal detector on to her land to see if he could find any of the debris, which indeed he did.
The pair, along with John Collier, exchanged information and now the plans for the memorial are in place.
Amanda said: “With the 75th anniversary of the crash fast approaching, the newfound information regarding the victim’s identity, and the wish to preserve history, it seems appropriate to remember the sacrifice of this young pilot with a permanent memorial next to the crash site.”
One mystery does remain however.
On the stonewall border of the botany feld with the crash site is a livestock water trough.
The stone trough was put in at a somewhat seemingly strange location right in the middle of the boundary, where the wall should be
It also bears the inscription of a date October 21st, 1944 (Three days before the crash) and Amanda’s grandfather’s name.
Amanda said there’s some question about that whether her grandfather actually installed the trough beforehand or whether he put it there afterwards to maybe cover a hole in the wall caused by the crash and the date inscribed was as close to the date to the crash that he could remember - a bit of human error.
She concluded: “There are two possibilities there and I guess that is going to remain a mystery, as there is nobody alive who could confirm one way or the other.”
A total of £750 is needed for the memorial, which will be visible from the public footpath that runs to the reservoir.
The appeal is on the Crowdfunder website.
If you want to donate then please go to
https://bit.ly/2Z2Pmis