In the woodline adjacent to the open field in an area known as Jabloní.

The monument features a rectangular stone base decorated with the roundel of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the emblem used by American military aviation during World War II. Mounted on top of the base is a metal aircraft engine part that holds a plaque engraved with the names and photographs of the  B-17 #42-38096 'Big Time'  crew who perished when their B-17 crashed in this area during the war. The monument was created in 1982  and the plaque is inscribed in Czech.

On August 29, 1944, the 15th U.S. Army Air Force carried out Mission 263, a daylight bombing raid on the Moravská Ostrava industrial complex in occupied Moravia, targeting key industrial and railway facilities that supported the Nazi war effort. Among the aircraft participating was the B-17G 'Big Time' (serial no. 42-38096) of the 20th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group.

During the operation, the formation was heavily attacked by German fighters over Moravia. Big Time sustained severe damage, broke formation, and crashed near Vsetín / Sanov in present-day Czech Republic. All the planes of the 20th Bomber Squadron were shot down that day. Of the ten man crew,  9 were KIA and only one survivor the first pilot 2/Lt. Thayne L. Thomas. He escaped with the help of the local populace and partisans to Banska Bystrica airport (Slovakia) where he was picked up, together with other downed airmen, by 2 B-17s diring an OSS secret mission on Sept. 17, 1944. The Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 8110.

The crew included:

In 2017, family members of 2LT Richard Hartman left an additional rememberance at this memorial (See below)

Several of those killed during Mission 263 to include the 9 KIA on "Big Time" were buried in a mass grave in nearby Slavicin.   See the site Slavicin - Cemetery for more about the mass grave.

Several museums in the area also remember this battle.  See sites: Sanov, Slavicin, and Bojkovice.

See Site Banska Bystrica -Hotel, Memorial: OSS & SOE Slovak Uprising Plaque for more on the OSS Operation that assisted Pilot Thomas to freedom.

Search "Mission 263" for memorials and cenotaphs associated with this event on our website.

For more information, see the Air Battle over the White Carpathian website at: www.leteckabitvakarpaty.cz 

Special thanks to Mission 263 - Aug 29, 1944 / Letecká bitva 29.8.1944 Facebook page & group for remembering this battle and for the several memorials that remember this mission.

Source of information: b17flyingfortress.de &  www.leteckabitvakarpaty.cz 

Source of photos: https://mapy.com

PER ARDUA AD ASTRA

U.S. AIR FORCE B-17G FLYING FORTRESS

SANOV 29.8.1944 

V TCHTO MÍSTECH PADLO DEVT

AMERICKÝCH LETC

EST JEJICH PAMÁTCE SANOV
15.5.1987

• **Admin note: Please note that some of the names inscribed are misspelled or incorrect as this memorial was created in the 1980s. See list in section above for correct listing of the crew. The local group  Mission 263 - Aug 29, 1944 / Letecká bitva 29.8.1944 plans on upgrading the memorial in the near future (as of 2025). Thomas Coogan was a crew member on the B-17 'Tail End Charlies and is remembered on a memorial at Site Preckovice Woods; Luther Durette was a crew member of the B-17  'My Baby' on is rememebred on a memorial  at Site Vyskovec -South.

In English translation:

THROUGH ADVERSITY TO THE STARS
U.S. AIR FORCE B-17G FLYING FORTRESS
SANOV, AUGUST 29, 1944

IN THIS PLACE FELL NINE AMERICAN AIRMEN 

HONOR TO THEIR MEMORY SANOV
MAY 15, 1987

The Adjacent Plaque reads in English:

With love from your daughter,
Jane, whom you never knew,
her husband, Norm, your
granddaughters, Jeny and Mandy
and your great grandchildren,
Arden, Willow and Lincoln