Flypast honors US bomber crew who died saving British kids
SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — Tony Foulds has a routine when he visits the memorial for 10 American airmen killed in World War II.
First, he kisses his finger and lays it on the metal plate bearing their names. Then he sits beside the rock, laying a shaky hand on its smooth slope with the care of someone o ering comfort to a loved one. As he taps the stone, Foulds tells the airmen about the weather and his plans for the day.
It’s the least he can do, because Foulds believes the young Americans sacrificed their lives to save his. The pilot decided not to land his crippled plane on Endcli e Park, in the English city of She eld, to avoid a group of children on the grass.
“I pray for them every morning,” the 82-year-old retired engineer said. “I would’ve been dead if they didn’t do what they did.”
Tony has long dreamed of a more public recognition of the sacrifice made by the crew of the B-17G Flying Fortress nicknamed “Mi Amigo.” He wanted an aerial display — a flypast— befitting men who fought in the sky.
On Friday, he will get his wish. The U.S. and the Royal Air Force are set to honor Lt. John G. Kriegshauser and his crew. But even that won’t ease Foulds’ guilt. Kriegshauser, a 23-year-old pilot from St. Louis, Missouri, was on his 15th mission on Feb. 22, 1944.
On board with him were young men 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest.
Tony was almost 8 years old, and that day he had gathered with other children for a schoolyard brawl in Endcli e Park, an oasis of green surrounded by terraced houses. After five years of war, including German attacks on She eld’s steel and armaments plants, the boys were accustomed to hearing planes. But the sound of this aircraft wasn’t right.
“When it came over, one engine working, spitting oil, you could actually see daylight through the tail. That’s how bad it was,” Foulds said. “I only saw one person. No gunner. No co-pilot. No radio operator. I just saw the pilot.”
The pilot circled when he saw the stretch of green, and waved his arms at the kids. They waved back. Years later, Tony realized he was trying to get them to run out of the way.
The plane circled three times, the last time coming in so low it was just above the houses’ chimneys. The pilot could have tried to land on the green, but he didn’t. He turned his plane into the nearby woods, tried to rev up his only working engine and failed to gain altitude.
“They could have saved themselves,” Foulds said. “I’ve put myself in their place many a time and thought if I was wanting to land and there were children on, I would think to myself, ‘Well, I’ll land and hope I don’t hit them.’”