In the woods just before a rise, several hundred meters form the road address.

B-26 (42-107566) and crew were part of the 441^st Bomber Squadron, 320^th Bomber Group, based at Decimomannu (Sardegna), Italy.  

On July 10, 1944 the 320^th was directed to bomb the north side of railroad bridge near Marzabotto, Italy, just south of Sasso Marconi.  20 B-26s of the 320^th Bomber Group departed the airbase at 14:50 along with B-26 (42-107566) with its crew with one substitute.  While enroute to the bombing target, B-26 (42-107566) was hit by antiaircraft fire. The direct hit blew the left wing and horizontal stabilizer off, sending the plane into an uncontrollable spin and trapping the crew inside. A photographer in a plane above, captured the monument just before the plane’s impending doom; an iconic photo depicting the great sacrifice of the United States Army Air Forces during the war.  (See the pictures for this iconic photograph).  The B-26, with bombs still aboard crashed into a hill just outside Lama di Reno.  (Reference:  Missing Aircraft Report {MACR} 6454)

The crew was declared missing in action. The unidentified remains were buried on site. In 1947 the remains were moved to the U.S. military cemetery at Castelfiorentino, Italy. On December 7, 1949 the remains of the six crew members, still unidentified, were buried in the U.S. at Jefferson Barracks. On Sept. 20, 1991 the six crewmen, now identified, received a full military burial; they are buried together in Section 79, Site 382A-B. 

The crew of B-26 (42-107566) included:

1st Lt. Murry B. Wiginton ,Jr. - Pilot (KIA)

2nd Lt. William E. Wigginton - CoPilot (KIA)

PFC Norford G. Meador - Bombadier (KIA)

Sgt. Ernest D. Casey - Engineer/Gunner (KIA)

S/Sgt. Wesley B. Hoffman - Radio Operator/Gunner (KIA)

S/Sgt. Philip A. Iannotta - Tail Gunner (KIA) (Substitute crew member)

Note: T/SGT Harvey Lias was a regular crewmember (Tail Gunner) with this aircraft. On this mission day, Lias was sick and was replaced by Philip Iannotta. 

T/SGT Harvey Lias returned several times to look for the site of the B-26 crash.  In the early 1990s, with the help of local Italians, they crash site was found and Lias left a plaque remembering his friends and fellow crewmates. 

In the 2000s, the Group Collezione Storica Quardri-Venturi conducted a more extensive search of the area and found numerous parts of the aircraft which are now on display.  One particular item found as an 1882 Silver dollar made into a necklace; this find and the story of this B-26 was front page news in Italy.

In 2015 Collezione Storica Quardri-Venturi and the Romagna Airfinders rededicated the plaque to remember the sacrifice of the crew.

Special thanks to Collezione Storica “ Quadri – Venturi “ of Quadri Gabriella e Venturi Pierpaolo and for use of photos from their historic collection (Collezione Storica) and for sharing this incredible story.

The plaque is divided into two sections; the top is written in English and Italian,  and the bottom in Italian.  The tops read in English:

B-26 BOMBER

IN MEMORY
OF MY FRIENDS 

WHO DIED HERE

July 10, 1944

HARVEY LIAS
AKRON,  IOWA, USA

The bottom portion is written in Italian and reads:

11 Luglio 2015

A 71 ANNI DEL TRAGICO EVENTO

DELL ABBATTIMENTO DEL AEREO

ALLEATO QUI CADUTO E DELLA PERDITA

DEL SOU EQUIPAGGIO, SE VOULE RICORDARE

LA MEMORIA  DA CHI HA COMBATTUTTO

LONTANO DALLA PROPRIO CASA

PER LA LIBERTA’

HANNO CONTRIBUITO ALLA RICERCA:

IL TESTIMONI OCCULARE: Sig GASTONE QUADRI

UN APPASSIONATA STORICO: Sig GIANCARLO PASSINI

E LA ASSOCIAZIONE STORICO ROMAGNA AIR FINDERS

TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH:

11 JULY 2015

71 YEARS AFTER THE TRAGIC EVENTS

OF THE SHOOTING DOWN OF THE ALLIED PLANE

THAT CRASHED HERE WITH THE LOSS OF THE ENTIRE

CREW, WE REMEMBER THOSE WHO FOUGHT LONG

 FROM THEIR HOMES

FOR LIBERTY

THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE RESEARCH:

EYEWITNESS:  MR. GASTONE QUADRI

A PASSIONATE HISTORIAN: MR. GIANCARLO PASSINI

AND THE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ROMAGNA AIR FINDERS