In the woods near the hotel. Plaque A bronze plaque with black background inscribed in English text, mounted on a large boulder. The plaque honors the crews of the B-24 #42-94913 “Pregnant Peggy” and B-24 #42-94903 “Bomber’s Moon” who died during a bombing run in 1944. On Oct. 19, 1944, the crews of Pregnant Peggy and Bomber’s Moon, from the 844th Bomb Squadron, 489th Bomb Group, 8th Army Air Corps, were sent with their squadron to Mainz to bomb a railroad yard. In the weeks prior to the attack, the 844th had hit Germany hard, bombing industrial areas in 10 cities and striking Cologne three times. At 12:56 p.m., according to eyewitness reports, Pregnant Peggy got caught up in the prop wash of another bomber and the pilots lost control in the ensuing turbulence. As they struggled to maintain control of the 33,000-pound plane packed with thousands of pounds of bombs, the Pregnant Peggy slipped back, banked left and dipped down over the Bomber’s Moon. It continued losing altitude and struck Bomber’s Moon’s tail section with its left wing tip. The wing disintegrated and the engine and prop fell off the Pregnant Peggy. The Pregnant Peggy, now overpowered on one side, went into a lateral spin some 20,000 feet straight to the ground and crashed into the woods near Forsthaus Heldenstein at Edenkoben, Germany. Source of information: https://www.stripes.com

IN LOVING MEMORY

AT THIS SITE ON OCTOBER 19, 1944 TWO AMERICAN B-24

LIBERATOR BOMBERS COLLIDED MIDAIR AND FELL 26,400 FEET. "PREGNANT PEGGY" AND "BOMBER'S MOON"

OF THE 8TH ARMY AIR CORPS/489 BOMB GROUP/844 BOMB SQUADRON WERE FLYING IN CLOSE FORMATION

WITH OVER THREE HUNDRED BOMBERS WHEN SEVERE TURBULENCE AND HIGH CLOUD COVERAGE CAUSED THE

TWO FULLY LOADED PLANES TO COLLIDE.

ONLY TWO MEN FROM EACH PLANE WERE ABLE TO PARACHUTE TO SAFETY, BUT WERE CAPTURED

AND BECAME PRISONERS UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR. WITH THE HELP OF THE CEMETERY CARETAKER, CIVILIAN

POLICE, AND GERMAN RED CROSS, THE REMAINS OF THE DEAD WERE BURIED IN A COMMON GRAVE IN A

CIVILIAN CEMETERY. UPON THE WAR'S END, THEY WERE EXHUMED AND REINTERRED WITH FULL MILITARY

HONORS IN LORRAINE MILITARY CEMETERY IN FRANCE AS WELL AS THE UNITED STATES.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS WISH TO THANK THE GERMAN PEOPLE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS MEMORIAL POSSIBLE.

MAY THESE YOUNG MEN NEVER BE FORGOTTEN FOR THEIR HONOR, COURAGE, AND SACRIFICE.

EX TENEBRIS LUX VERITATES

"OUT OF DARKNESS, THE LIGHT OF TRUTH"

PREGNANT PEGGY CREW:

BOMBER'S MOON CREW:

Dedicated 2017