Just of the road on the edge of an agricultural field.

A plaque attached to a road sign pole about 6 feet high. 

On August 13, 1943, B-24D “Death Dealer” (42-40611) 409^th Bomber Squadron, of the 93^rd Bomber Group was on a bombing mission from Benghazi, Libya to bomb a target at the Weiner-Neustadt Aircraft factories in Austria.  The plane sustained serve flak damage and lost an engine near the target and diverted to Switzerland.  The plan successfully made a belly landing near Wil, Switzerland and the crew destroyed the plane. The crew was interned in neutral Switzerland internment camps for foreign belligerents.  This was the first US Plane of many  to come down on Swiss soil.

While the 93^rd Bomber Group normally was based out of England (Station 104-Hardwick), in late June 1943, it was transferred to Northern Africa to support the 9^th and 12^th Air Force “Operation Tidal Wave” – the bombing of the Ploesti, Romania  oilfields.  “Death Dealer” participated in the famous mission on August 1, 1943. 

The crew of “Death Dealer” included:

Pilot: Alva J. Geron, 1st Lt

Copilot: Russell P. Liscomb, 2nd Lt

Navigator: Robert V. Simpson, 2nd Lt

Bombardier: Robert E. Todd, 2nd Lt

Engineer: Donald J. Grimes, T/Sgt

Top Turret: Thomas A. Osborn, S/Sgt

Radio: Gumecindo J. Frausto, S/Sgt

Gunner: Charles L. Roberts, Sgt

Gunner: Richard G. Ryan, Sgt

Gunner: David L. Wightman, T/Sgt

Special thanks to the B-17 Museum in Utzenstrorf, Switzerland for the photos of this memorial and for information concerning this monument.  For more on the B-17 Museum Utzenstorf, see the museum website at https://www.b17museum.ch

The text on the marker is written in German.  Pictures of the plane and crash site.  The German reads:

Notlandung eines amerikanischen Bombers im 2. Weltkrieg

75 Meter von heir in Blickrichtung Autobahn endete am 13 August 1943 um etwa 16.20 Uhr die Notlandung eines amerikanischen viermotorigen Bombers vom Typ Consolidated Liberator B-24 D. Die Notlande-Strecke vom ersten Aufsetzen des Fahrwerks bis zum Stillstand der durch deutsche Fliegerabwehr beschädigten Maschine betrug 620 Meter.

In der Annahme, die Landung sei auf deutschem Boden erfolgt, setze die Besatzung das Flugzeug in Brand. Es war die erste Landung eines amerikanischen Bombers während des 2. Weltkriegs in der Schweiz. Ein Geschwader von 50 Maschinen starte am gleichen Tag um 03.00 Uhr vom Luftwaffenstützpunkt Bengasi in Nordafrika mit dem Auftrag, in Wiener Neustadt die Messerschmitt-Werke zu zerstören. 

The translation in English:

Emergency landing of an American Bomber in World War 2

75 meters from here, right next to the Autobahn, on 13 August 1943 around 4:20PM, an American 4 engine bomber, type Consolidated Liberator B-24 D, had an emergency landing. Damaged by German anti-aircraft guns, the plane traveled 620 meters from the time it hit the ground to when it finally stopped moving. 

The crew, believed they had landed on German soil so they set the plane on fire. This was the first American bomber to land in Switzerland during WW2. On the same day, at 3AM, 50 aircraft took off from Benghazi Airfield in North Africa with the mission to destroy the Messerschmidt factory in Wiener Neustadt, a city south of Vienna, Austria.