Inside the church on the right side of the nave.

A glazed and framed commemoration to the subject, including a photograph, relics of the crashed aircraft and history of his death.

1LT John W. Fisher, 21, of the 337th Bomber Squadron, 96th Bomber Group, was on a top secret mission, 'Operation Aphrodite' on the afternoon of Aug. 4, 1944, when he flew off in a B-17 Flying Fortress (42-39835) -- nicknamed "Wantta Spar," a boxing reference -- carrying the biggest conventional bomb load ever put aboard a U.S. aircraft; Target - Siracourt, V1 rocket sites. The B-17 normally had a crew of 10 but, for that special mission, Fisher was joined only by Tech. Sgt. Elmer Most, who served as co-pilot and also had an unusual job designation -- automatic flight control engineer -- for the flight from Royal Air Force base Fersfield east of London. Their orders were to fly the bomber, crammed with 21,170 pounds of Torpex, a more powerful explosive than TNT that was used in torpedoes and depth charges, to an altitude of about 2,000 feet and then bail out over the English coast after turning over radio control of the plane to a Lockheed Ventura medium bomber flying above. The pilotless B-17 -- turned into what was possibly the first U.S. combat drone -- was then to be guided by remote control to crash in an immense explosion on a hardened German target. It was meant to be a blow to the Nazi regime as it was developing more devastating long-range weapons to target England. But the switchover of control from the B-17 to the "mother ship" failed after an initial connection. T/Sgt. Most was able to bail out safely (after Lt. Fisher helped free his snagged parachute harness) as the plane went into a stall, but Fisher stayed with the aircraft and may have steered it away from a populated area to crash in a woodland, Watling Wood, in Sudbourne leaving an enormous crater.

Fisher is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, but recent efforts have been made by the DPAA to recover his body at the crash site.

Background of Operation Aphrodite:

Codenamed Aphrodite by the USAAF,  and Anvil  by the Navy, they were two secret operations running side by side. The idea behind these operations, was to remove all excess equipment from war-weary B-17s and B-24s, fill them with explosives, such as the British Torpex, put in radio receivers so that the drone (baby) could be controlled by a separate aircraft (mother) and fly them into designated targets. A volunteer crew of two would take off, set the aircraft in flight and then bail out over the U.K. or English Channel, leaving the baby in the control of the mother aircraft. These would then fly, by remote control, to the target when they would be put into a dive destroying whatever they hit.

Another memorial remembers Lt Joseph Kennedy, US Navy and brother of future President John F. Kennedy who was killed while conducting an Operation Anvil mission.  See site: Blythburgh - Holy Trinity Church, Lt Joseph Kennedy & Lt Wilford Willy Operation Anvil Plane Explosion Plaque

Source: 

https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/2105/news/160477/dedication-of-memorial-plaque-for-1st-lt-john-wesley-fisher/

https://memorials.iwm.org.uk

https://www.military.com

Items on the plaque:

8th Air Force Patch.       Picture of Fisher        337th Bomber Squadron Patch

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1st Lieutenant John Wesley Fisher, Silver Star, D.F.C.

10 September 1922 - 4 August 1944 (21 Years)

John Fisher was born in Peekskill, New York, on 10th September 1922.  He joined the American Air Force in 1942.  On 4th August 1944, he was flying his B-17 42-39835, "Wannta Spar" as part of Operation Aphrodite, a Top Secret mission to remote control B-17's, which were laden with explosives to destroy V1 rocket sites in France.  The target was a V1 Bunker in Siracourt, France.  Whilst attempting to hand over remote control to another aircraft, the B-17 went into a flat spin and crashed in Watling Wood in Sudbourne Park.  The Engineer, T/Sgt Elmer Most, managed to bail out, after being helped by Lt Fisher, but Lt Fisher was unable to bail out and was killed when the B-17 exploded, as it hit the tree canopy.  His name is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery.  

Time will not dim the glory of their deeds (General John J. Pershing, US Army)

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Piece of the B-17 Hydraulic pipe found May 2024

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Pieces of 42-39835 'Wantta Spar'  recovered from the crash site in May 2024.

By Cotswold Archeology/DP Nightingale in conjunction with the DPAA

Held by Sudbourne Church on loan from Orford Museum