Monument Details

B-17 'Spare Charlie' (42-97084) Crash Marker -381st Bomber Group

Details:

In the park just over the bridge. Marker

An upright polished inscribed marble monument that includes photos of each of the crew members.

The memorial marks the location of where B-17 'Spare Charlie' (42-97084) of the 534th Bomber Squadron, 381st Bomber Group, 8th US Air Force that crashed here on June 22, 1944 while on a mission to Abbeville, France. All but one of the crew were killed in action.

The memorial was dedicated in 2024.

Monument Text:

The inscription on the memorial is in French.

8th USAAF

381st Bomber Group 534th Bomber Squadron

(Units Symbols of the 8th Air Force, 381st BG and 534th BS)

Le 22 Juin 1944, s'est écrasé dans ce marais.

le bombardier Américain

BITG 42-97084 SPARE CHARLIE

abattu par un tir de Plak lors de l'attaque de la centrale

éléctrique d'Abbeville.

Translation: On June 22, 1944, the American bomber # 42-97084 SPARE CHARLIE crashed into this marsh, shot down by a Flak during the attack on the Abbeville power plant.

En Mémoire

des membres d'équipage tues dans ce crash

Translation: In Memory of the crew members killed in this crash

1st Lt Samuel PEAK (Pilot)

1st Lt Robert PETROSKI (Co-pilot)

2nd Lt Allen OSTERBERG (Bombardier)

2nd Lt John LUNDBERG (Navigator)

Sgt Frank WELKE (Radio Operator)

Sgt Max ROCKEY (Tail Gunner)

Sgt Murl SIMMONS (Engineer/Gunner)

Sgt Robert SCHARFF (Side Gunner)

Prisonnier et Interné au Stalag Luft IV en Pologne