On the 14th September 1943 the crew in this aircraft were undertaking a navigation training exercise, on board was a regular crew of six airmen and four passengers. The 813 Bomber Squadron were part of the newly formed 482 Bomber Group (Pathfinders) which had formed less than a month earlier. Whilst no direct evidence has yet been located in the records it seems likely that the flight was part of their Pathfinder training using the British H2S system. After taking off the crew were intending on flying north, up the centre of England, over York and Darlington and then to Turnhouse airfield near Edinburgh. Turnhouse airfield may have been their intended "target" to simulate their Pathfinding duries. The pilot of this aircraft was a very experienced B17 pilot with nearly 800 hours flying time to his name on the B17 type but he was not experienced on instrument flying; in the six months prior to the crash had had only two hours of instrument flying. In poor weather the aircraft flew too far west as it flew up England, due to a minor navigation error, with the pilot flying on instruments the crew believed that they were closer to Turnhouse than they actually were. The pilot began to let down through cloud believing they were nearer Turnhouse. The aircraft was infact over the Cockermouth / Keswick area and the aircraft let down through cloud with Skiddaw mountain range directly in front of the aircraft. At 11.30hrs it flew into the western side of the Skiddaw with visibility recorded as being down to just twenty yards at the time. The aircraft did not explode on impact but broke up on the scree and the wreckage then caught fire. All on board were sadly killed in this accident. This was the Bomber Group's first loss in the UK and at the time of this incident the unit was in the process of moving from Alconbury to Podington. All ten on board were initially buried at Brookwood Cemetery but some were later re-interred at Cambridge Cemetery with some being later re-buried in the USA.
Pilot - Cpt William C Anderson (O-432027). Of Los Angeles County, California, USA. Buried Madingley Cemetery, Cambridge, England (F/5/85). (813th B.S.Commanding Officer). Air Medal.
Co-Pilot - 1/Lt Robert J Sudbury (O-726503). Of McLennan County, Texas, USA. Buried Madingley Cemetery, Cambridge, England (D/3/17).
Navigator - Cpt Raymond R Oeftiger (O-405635). Of District of Columbia, USA (or New York?). Buried Madingley Cemetery, Cambridge, England (D/4/30).
Bomb Aimer - 2/Lt Raymond E Diltz (O-731036). Of Los Angeles, California, USA. Buried Golden Gate National Cemetery, California, USA.
Radio Operator - S/Sgt Robert L Jacobsen (37168383), aged 30. Of St.Paul, Minnesota, USA. Buried Madingley Cemetery, Cambridge, England (E/6/61). Air Medal with Two Oak Leaf Clusters.
Engineer - S/Sgt Bryson R Hills (19040312). Of Santa Clara County, California, USA. Buried Madingley Cemetery, Cambridge, England (F/4/90). Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Passenger (Group Gnd Exec) - Major Tom C Henderson Jnr (0-366456). Of Scott County, Tennessee, USA. Buried Madingley Cemetery, Cambridge, England (D/5/70).
Passenger (1st Bomb Div) - Major Henry B Williams (0-908213). Of District of Columbia, USA. Buried Arlington National Cemetery, USA.
Passenger? - 1/Lt Clarence Henry Ballagh (0-447194). Of San Luis, Obispo County, California. Buried Arroyo Grande Cemetery, San Luis, California, USA.
Passenger? - 1/Lt Theodore R Doe (0-464349). Of Alameda County, California, USA. Buried California, USA.
The graves of five members of this crew who were buried at Madingley Cemetery, Cambridge.
Robert Jacobsen was one of five sons of Mr and Mrs Charles Jacobsen who served in the U.S. forces during the Second World War. Robert had worked for the St.Paul Foundary Co. and the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant before enlisting for US Army service in March 1942. The family lost another son, S/Sgt Gerald L Jacobsen, to US Army service in France on 15th July 1944 with the 35th Infantry Division. He arrived in France on Omaho Beach on D-Day and was reported as missing in action nine days later during at attack on enemy positions outside St.Lo, Normandy. A third son, Donald Jacobsen, was lost to service in Vietnam. I thank their nephew Mr Brad Jacobsen for contacting me in April 2015 and for kindly supplying this extra information and the photograph of Robert Jacobsen shown above.
Various photographs have been located on the internet of 2/Lt Diltz, this is possibly the best one and is believed to be out of copyright. He was born in 1916 and in the 1930 US Census he is listed as living in Los Angeles City with his parents and siblings, it also states that he and all his siblings were born in Utah State.
Clarence Ballagh was born on 16th May 1921 in Santa Barbara, California and was the son of Leland and Bernice Ballagh. He attanded Arroyo Grande Union High School until 1938, and then studied at the University of California, Berkeley until May 1942 until joining the USAAF. He left the USA for service overseas on 23rd May 1942. His body was returned to California and buried in January 1948.
I located the crash site in October 2008 but with a fresh fall of snow on the steep scree it was not sensible to attempt a full search of the scree. On the first trip in 2008 I only found two pieces but one of these appeared to have small yellow stars painted on a grey background. The aircraft carried nose art and this small piece could well be part of this nose art "Flaming Mayme" and shows parts of some yellow stars.
I returned to Skiddaw in August 2010 with my wife, a number of small pieces of the aircraft are to be found on the scree and a lot must remain hidden beneath the rocks. I returned to the summit of Skiddaw in April 2011 to attempt to locate the site of a Piper Cherokee civilian aircraft that had crashed on the other side of the summit ridge in 1991. Pieces from the B17 have found their way onto the main path from Carlside to Skiddaw summit and were attracting attention from walkers as I passed them.
Part of either the aircraft clock or part of a pocket watch carried by one of the crew found by my wife.
The small piece of painted aircraft skinning section which I believe contains part of the aircraft's nose art.
B17 41-9051 was initially used in the UK by the 407th BS, 92nd BG. It had been involved in a mid-air collision on 9th October 1942 when it collided with 41-9020 outbound over the English Channel during an operational flight to bomb Lille. 41-9051 was piloted by Lt Eugene Wiley at the time. B17 41-9020 struck 41-9051 and the propellers of 41-9051 sliced a large section of the tail off the other B17. 41-9051 bent two propellers and had holes made in a wing and the fuselage. Lt Wiley landed 41-9051 safely at Detling RAF airfield while the pilot of 41-9020 was able to land at Bovingdon.