Partridge P-47 Crash Site Memorial
Details:
Off road adjacent to a tree line in an open field.
The marker is made of white marble with blue lettering about 3 feet high.
The Rotary Club -Magenta, placed the marker at the crash site location to remember the sacrifice of Second Lieutenant Harry A, Partridge when he was killed in the skies over Boffalora on September 14, 1944. The town of Boffalora and the Rotary Club-Magenta also placed a memorial plaque where Partridge was interred in the cemetery of Boffalora until being repatriated to the US in the late 1940s.
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 a memorial plaque is located (See Partridge P-47 Pilot Memorial Plaque). (Map note: Yellow circle: crash site; Blue circle: Target; Black circle: enemy anti-aircraft battery)
The marker is located at the plane crash site and was inaugurated in 2013 in the presence of Partridge’s family from Alabama. 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.”
“Virtus Perdurat” translates as "enduring courage," and is the 86th Fighter Group motto to this day.
Special thanks to the Rotary Club-Magenta for placing the marker to remember Partridge and, to Air Crash Po (Cremona, Italy) for assistance in identifying this crash site and researching the incident.
Monument Text:
The text is written in Italian and reads:
(Rotary Club International Symbol)
Rotary Club Magenta
14 MAGGIO 2013
A RICORDO DEL TENENTE
HARRY A. PARTRIDGE
(20 GUIGNO 1923)
PILOTA DEL VELEIVO P-47D
526 FIGHTER BOMBER SQUADRON
12TH AIR FORCE
ABBATTUTO
IL 14 SETTEMBRE 1944
Virtus Perdurat
The translation in English is:
(Rotary Club International Symbol)
Rotary Club Magenta
14 May 2013
IN REMEMBRANCE OF LIEUTENANT
HARRY A. PARTRIDGE
(20 JUNE 1923)
P-47D PILOT
OF THE 526TH FIGHTER-BOMBER SQUADRON
12TH AIR FORCE
SHOT DOWN
14 SEPTEMBER 1944
Virtus Perdurat
