Malta Leon Stepp, Jr. was born on October 30, 1919, in California. he served in the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, as a Captain during World War II and was piloting the P-51 #42-7872 at the time of his death. Captain Stepp had before being posted to the 2906th Ob. Grp. had been a member of No.121 Squadron, RAF, one of the Eagle Squadrons. After the Eagle Squadrons were disbanded, many of the personnel were transferred to the USAAF, he was posted to the 4th Fighter Group.

P-47D Thunderbolts, 42-7872 and 42-7898 of the 2906th Observation Group USAAF crashed on Cats Tor near Bollington on September 30, 1943. The two aircraft belonged to a unit which, together with the 6th Fighter Wing were responsible for the Operational Training at Atcham. They became the 495th Fighter Training Group in December 1943.

Captain Stepp was leading the flight to check S/Sgt Morrison's formation flying ability. They took off from Atcham at 12:40. The weather at that time was fairly typical for the region with clouds down to 1500 feet, but with good visibility below the cloud.

At around 14:30, the two aircraft were head to flying over the Bollington area, and shortly after a local farmer reported hearing an explosion. The two aircraft had flown directly into the side of the hill while in the cloud.

The investigation concluded that Captain Stepp had possibly suffered radio failure as he was never heard requesting any guidance to safely return to Atcham.

Captain Stepp is now buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, 4thfightergroupassociation.org