War hero US airman found after 79 years
DNA identifies pilot who saved 7 in Sussex crash
THE remains of a heroic pilot have been identified 79 years after he saved seven of his crew.
Lt William Montgomery was killed when his B-24 Liberator came down on farmland near Arundel, West Sussex, on June 22, 1944 – only his identity bracelet was recovered at the time.
The bomber had been badly damaged by flak while attacking a German air base near Versailles in northern France.
Lt Montgomery, 24, skilfully nursed it back over the Channel until it lost height just off Sussex.
He ordered seven US Air Force colleagues to bail out and they survived, but he was killed when the four-engine plane crashed in flames moments later, with Sergeants John Crowther and John Holoka, the engineer.
Co-pilot Sgt Crowther’s body was recovered but until recently nothing had been found of the other two. Local aviation historian Andy Saunders researched the Second World War crew’s fate in the 1970s and pinpointed the site.
A search began after he attended a conference and mentioned his work and the bracelet to a Major from the US agency responsible for locating veterans missing in action.
Three investigations were done with help from UK historians.
Honours
The digs in 2017, 2019 and 2021 unearthed wreckage of the Liberator and a lot of human remains.
They were taken to the US where DNA testing has confirmed that some were Lt Montgomery, of Ford City, Pennsylvania.
He is to be buried with full military honours at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where a rosette will go next to his name on a memorial to the missing to show he has been found.
Lt Montgomery’s great-niece Tracey Kirchhoff from North Carolina said the family were delighted he was home at last.
She has visited the crash site where a memorial plaque reads: “For our lost heroes, long gone but not forgotten.”
Mr Saunders said it was a privilege to have helped return a war hero to his homeland.
Ms Kirchhoff has emailed him to say the family are “absolutely delighted and very happy that he has been found”.
He added: “I spoke to an elderly local resident who remembered one of the crew was called Montgomery and he had found the bracelet with his name on, and that unlocked the story.”
The crew flew with 844 Squadron of the USAF from wartime RAF Halesworth in Suffolk.
Mark Khan, part of the dig team, said: “It is what we set out to do. Lt Montgomery is no longer missing.”