The Disaster of the 445th Bomb Group of the 8th USAAF

Hello all together

Unsure if this is the right place in the VAF-Forum ... but I think maybe a RV-Builder had a contact to people that where involved or know the story about ... but it is long time ago.

I was on a business trip to Germany ... Bebra was the name of the city where I had to visit a customer. This was in November 2018. Short before we finally got there, I have seen a sign: Fliegerdenkmal
OK, I thought, there must be something happen with a plane or so. But we do not had the time to go there, where working late into the evening. Weather was cold, dark ... not pleasing to go onto a hill, into the woods and look for something.

Today, we made this trip again, finished early with work and the weather was good. So my coworker Phillipe came with me to the place, where the sign was pointing:



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If you are interested to read more about that highest loss that any American bomber group ever suffered on a single mission, here is a link to the hole story:
https://www.ludwigsau.de/texte/seite.php?id=144422%20

All the photos I made you can find here (including all the name plates):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ooWm7VCJ92aeDfeG7

The story tells really a sad story what happen here ... RIP Airmen´s!

Still thinking how frightening this was ...

60 planes crashed on a single day over this area ...
136 airmen had fallen to their deaths ...
7 person in a hospital came to death ...

For the hole war, this is not a high number ... but for this area and when you not where expecting such a drama ... it's frightening ...

I was once in Duxford GB at the airshow Flying legends, there in the museum you could read the story's about the young pilots, how they aged with every flight when they had enemy contact ... hard time for the hole population of Europe. I was surprised about the age of the pilots ... until I recognized that these young men where children of the survives from the first world war.

I will try to fly this summer to Duxford in my RV, this to enjoy the airshow. From Switzerland a 6 hour trip via Germany or France, over the channel.

Will for sure place pictures here.