On the wall inside the pavillion.

An information poster sign

The informational poster remembers the B-17 B-17 'Ten Horsepower' #42-31763 of the 510th Bomber Squardron, 351st Bomber Group which crashed at the nearby Polebrook Airfield (USAAF 110) on February 20, 1944; two members of the crew were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions on that day. The sign provides a description of what happened to the B-17 that fateful day.

TEN HORSEPOWER (MIZPAH) (A-ABLE)
Sunday 20th February 1944

Relive the last flight of Ten Horsepower...
On 20th February 1944, a Polebrook based USAAF B17 'Flying Fortress' named "Ten Horsepower", on a mission over Leipzig in Germany, was attacked by a ME109 German ighter. A cannon shell exploded in the cockpit, killing the co-pilot F/O Bartley, and injuring the pilot, 2nd Lt. Nelson. The bomber then wenti n to a spiral dive. The bombardier Lt. Joe Martin came in to the cockpit, levelled the aircraft out, and not seeing anyone alive, decided to bail out. The flight engineer and ball turret gunner, Staff Sgt. Archie Mathies, helped by 2nd Lt. Walter Truemper, the navigator, took over the controls and began the flight home. Many of the windows were missing, and they were attacked again during the return flight. When they finally reached Polebrook Airfield, Sgt. Mathies made two unsuccessful attempts to land. He was then ordered to gain height so that all the crew could parachute down. Five of the crew
jumped, Mathies and Truemper chose to stay with the pilot, Lt. Nelson who was still alive.
In its final minutes, the B17 was travelling too fast and it bounced, then hit the side of
"Red Hill", disintegrated, and came to rest in front of the small wood on the summit of the hill. Mathies and Truemper died instantly. The injured pilot, Lt. Nelson, died shortly afterwards.
The site of the wreckage can clearly be seen on the south-west horizon from your present position inside the Stilton Pavilion.

Staff Sergeant Mathies and Lt. Truemper were both posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in recognition of their unselfish heroism.

POSTHUMOUS AWARDS
(Purple Hearts)
Lt. Nelson, Lt. Truemper, Flight Officer Bartley, Sgt. Mathies.

SURVIVING CREW MEMBERS
(Purple Hearts) Sgt. Tom Sowell, Sgt. Russell Robinson,
Sgt. Joe Rex. (Purple Heart & Silver Star)

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS
Sgt. Carl Moore
11 AWARDS/10 CREW

The Heroism and Sacrifice of 20th February, 1944 did not go unrecognised.
At the cost of four lives, the men of Ten Horsepower became the most decorated crew to fly with the Eighth Air Force in World War II.