B-17 42-37958 'Old Faithful' Plaque
Details:
On the north side of the road.
A bronze plaque with an inscription in relief mounted onto a stone backboard and then set into a boundary wall of a house. At the top center of the backboard is the USAAF wing crest. The plaque commemorates the crash and lists the names of the 9 crew members of the B-17 42-37958 'Old Faithful' which crashed in the area on June 25, 1944.
Their B-17G 42-37958 ‘Old Faithful’ was badly damaged by flak over Toulouse. They had successfully flown 800 miles over enemy territory and attempted to land at Snag Farm in Wincanton when "Old Faithful" shed a wing. All nine aboard were killed.
Source of information: Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, www.honorstates.org
Source of images: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk
Monument Text:
THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF WINCANTON
IN HONOUR OF UNITED STATES AIRMEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
WHEN THEIR FLYING FORTRESS, "OLD FAITHFUL," CRASHED IN
FLAMES AT SNAG FARM, NEAR THIS SPOT, WHEN RETURNING
DISABLED FROM AN OPERATIONAL SORTIE OVER TOULOUSE, FRANCE,
ON 25TH JUNE, 1944.
2ND LT. PETER MIKONIS, | MARGATE CITY, NEW JERSEY. |
2ND LT. FRANK E. PEPPER, JNR., | BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA. |
2ND LT. JOSEPH E. SULLIVAN, | BELMONT, MASSACHUSETTS. |
2ND LT. WILL H. STEVENS, | SMITHFIELD, NORTH CALIFORNIA. |
S. SGT. ROY C. ANDERSON, | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. |
S. SGT. DOUGLAS K. DEURMYER, | TOPEKA, KANSAS. |
SGT. RALPH STEIN, | SAVANNAH, GEORGIA. |
SGT. RICHARD A. MEHLBERG, | MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. |
SGT. DEAN A. MCDOWELL, | OMAHA, NEBRASKA. |
Commemorates:
People:
Units:
401st Bomber Squadron, 91st Bomb Group
8th Air Force
91st Bomber Group
US Army Air Corps
Wars:
WWII
Other images :
