Partridge P-47 Pilot Memorial Plaque
Details:
In the cemetery hanging on the portico wall.
An inscribed marble plaque, about 12” by 18”, with a mounted picture of the pilot.
The town of Boffalora s. Ticino local government, with the assistance from the Rotary Club -Magenta, placed the marker in the town cemetery to remember the sacrifice of Second Lieutenant Harry A, Partridge when he was killed in the skies over Boffalora on September 14, 1944. The Rotary Club-Magenta also placed a memorial marker at the site where Partridge crashed and died.
On September 14, 1944, eight P-47 planes of the 526th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 86th Fighter-Bomber Group of the 12th Air Force, departed their base at Poretta, Corsica on a bombing mission of a strategic bridge crossing the Ticino river near Bernate Ticino and Boffalora. One of the pilots was 2LT Harry A. Partridge Jr. on his second combat mission. After dropping their bombs on the target, the planes spit into groups of two to search for and attack targets of opportunity”. During this part of the mission, Partridge’s plane was hit by enemy Anti- Aircraft fire. Per witnesses, after steering the plane from crashing into Boffalora, Partridge parachuted out, but the plane was too low for his chute to open and he died on impact. The town held a church service for him and buried him in the town cemetery where the plaque is placed today.
In 2013, at the inauguration of the marker memorial (See Partridge P-47 Crash Site Memorial this website) Partridge’s brother, James, also a US Air Force Pilot commented: “My brother was the only (American soldier) who was buried in the village, “They took care of him. They recorded his records and buried him.” Partridge’s body was repatriated back to his current resting place in Mobile, Alabama in the late 1940s.
Special thanks to the community of Boffalora su Ticino, and the Rotary Club-Magenta for placing the Partridge memorial; and, to Air Crash Po (Cremona, Italy) for assistance in identifying this crash site and researching the incident.
Monument Text:
The text on the plaque is written in Italian and reads:
IN MEMORIA
TENENTE PILOTA
HARRY A. PARTRIDGE JR
12TH UNITED STATES AIRFORCE
COLPITO IN MISSIONE DALLA CONTRAEREA
TEDESCA NEI CIELI DI BOFFALORA s. TICINO
14 SETTEMBRE 1944
A SETTANT’ ANNI DAL SACRAFICIO
PER L’UNITA PER LA LIBERTA
E PER QUANTI ASPIRANO ALLA PACE
L’AMMINISTRAZIONE COMUNALE
POSE
25 APRILE 2014
The translation in English:
IN MEMORY
LIEUTENANT PILOT
HARRY A. PARTRIDGE JR.
12TH UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
SHOT DOWN WHILE ON MISSION BY
GERMAN ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE
IN THE SKIES OVER BOFFALORA su TICINO
14 SEPTEMBER 1944
AFTER SEVENTY YEARS FROM THE SACRIFICE
FOR ITALY, FOR LIBERTY
AND FOR ALL THOSE DESIRING PEACE
THE COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT
REMEMBERS
25 APRIL 2014
