LT Harry A. Partridge P-47 Crash Site Memorial -86th Fighter Group
Details:
Off road adjacent to a tree line in an open field.
The marker is made of two field stones with inscribed plaques attached and a propeller. An information board is adjacent to the marker explaining the "Harry Partridge Trail"
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, Partridges 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 Partridges family from Alabama. The memorial was upgraded in June 2023 in the presence of Partridge's sister and family. Partridge's brother, James, also a US Air Force Pilot commented in 2013: 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.
The marker lies along the Harry Partridge trail, a nature trail that runs through the Ticino Park.
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 on the plaque attached to the memorial is written in Italian and reads:
A RICORDO DEL TENENTE
HARRY A. PARTRIDGE
20 GUIGNO 1923. - 14 Settembre 1944
PILOTA DEL VELEIVO P-47D
526 FIGHTER BOMBER SQUADRON
12TH AIR FORCE
ABBATTUTO dalla contraerea tedesca
IL 14 SETTEMBRE 1944
Virtus Perdurat
(Rotary Club International Symbol)
Il Rotary Club Magenta
Guigno 2023
Nel ricordo del centenario della nascita
The translation in English is:
IN REMEMBRANCE OF LIEUTENANT
HARRY A. PARTRIDGE
20 JUNE 1923 - 14 September 1944
P-47D PILOT
OF THE 526TH FIGHTER-BOMBER SQUADRON
12TH AIR FORCE
SHOT DOWN By GERMAN ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE
14 SEPTEMBER 1944
Virtus Perdurat
(Rotary Club International Symbol)
Rotary Club Magenta
June 2023
In remembrance of 100 years since his birth
Dalla base di Poretta in Corsica, cartirono n.8
aerei P47D
Thunderbolt per un'azione di mitragliamento e bombardamento a obbiettivi strategici
nella Pianura Padana.
Per Harry fu l'ultima missione.
Coloito dalla contraerea tedesca in prossimità del ponte sul Ticino località Boffalora, tenta di portarsi verso nord, ma precipita in località Bernate paracadutandosi prima dell'impatto. Non si salva in quanto troppo vidino al suolo.
Eight P-47D Thunderbolt aircraft took off from the Poretta base in Corsica for a strafing and bombing mission against strategic targets in the Po Valley.
It was Harry's final mission.
Hit by German anti-aircraft fire near the Ticino River bridge at Boffalora, he attempted to head north but crashed near Bernate, having bailed out just before impact. He did not survive, as he was too close to the ground.
