Along the footpath on the opposite side of the canal from the famous Chambord chateau.
Monument
A monument to the B-24 Liberator (42-52759) that crashed on the lawn of the chateau.
The Bomber from the 862nd Bomber Squadron, 493rd Bomber Group, 8th Air Force, flying from Station 152 in the UK had just completed a bombing mission of a marshaling yard southeast of Paris it had engine problems and ws just down. The crew either elated capture with assistance of the French Resistance (Comete Network) or were taken POW.
Le 22 Juin 1944, pendant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, un B-24 "Liberator" de l'U.S. Army 8th Air force base en Angleterre, âpres avoir bombarde un terrain d'aviation au sud - ouest de Paris, a été atteint par des avions de chasse allemands et s'est écrasé a cet endroit. Le pi lote d l'appareil, le Lieutenant William Kalan, avait commande a son équipage de sauter en parachute tandis que lui et son copilote, le Lieutenant Kenneth Klemstine, sont restés aux commandes jusqu'au dernier moment. Le château abritait à cette époque d'inestimables chefs d'œuvre du patrimoine français provenant du Musée du Louvre.
Les deux pilotes ont été caches séparément par les habitants des villages environnants, Huisseau sur Cosson et Montlivault, pendant plusieurs mois au cours desquels le Lt. Kalan a participe a des parachutages d'armes des Allies et a d'autres actions locales de la Resistance, jusqu'a ce que les deux pilotes aient pu traverser la Loire pour rejoindre les troupes de l'armée américaine qui s'approchaient.
Pendant la Deuxieme Guerre Mondiale, 152 pilotes et membres d'equipages allies seront secourus par le reseau Comete, situe dans la foret de Freteval a la ferme de la Gaudiniere.
On June 22, 1944, during World War II, an American heavy bomber, a D-24 "Liberator" from the U.S. Army 8th Air Force based in England, crashed here after bombing an airport southwest of Paris and being crippled by antiaircraft fire and German fighter planes. The aircraft's pilot, Lt. William Kalan, had directed his crew to parachute earlier although he and co-pilot Lt. Kenneth Kemstine remained abord until shortly before the crash. At the time, priceless masterpieces from the Louvre Museum were hidden in the Chateau de Chambord.
The two pilots were hidden separately by residents of the nearby villages of Huisseau-su-Cosson and Montlivault for several months - during which time Lt. Kalan took part in Allied arms drops and other Resistance engagements - before both pilots crossed the Loire to join approaching U.S. troops.
During WW II, 152 pilots and crewmembers were rescued by the network Comete, based in the forest or Freteval on the Gaudiniere farm.
Lieutenant Kalan William Pilote
Lieutenant Klemstine Kenneth Copilote
Lieutenant Smith James Bombardier
Sergent Horrigan Roy Radio-navigant
Sergent Frontis Evins Mitrailleur
Sergent Shockey Robert Mitrailleur
Sergent Paxton Stanley Mitrailleur
Sergent Sexton Robert Mitrailleur
Sergent Craig Charles Mitrailleur
