Inside the church. 

A paper scroll with lettering painted in blue, black, and red ink in a wooden and glass frame. The inscription is in English and includes the fallen of the parish in both world wars and the American crew of the B-24J Liberator #42-51241 'T'  which crashed nearby in 1945 narrowly missing the church.

At 6.55 am on 31 March 1945, nine young American airmen were killed when their bomber, plunged from the dawn skies over East Suffolk and exploded in a field near South Cove.

2nd Lt   Marvin L Tucker and crew from the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group at Hardwick, Norfolk were on only their 4th mission that day. The target was Brunswick and their B-24 carried 24 x 250 lb bombs. The war ended for Lt Tucker's crew before they had even crossed the Suffolk coast. As the formation was assembling,  their B-24 hit propeller turbulence from another bomber and was thrown over onto its back. Laden with fuel and bombs the Liberator went into an uncontrollable spin. The tragedy was caught by the camera of S/Sgt Edward T Sozesny, Waist Gunner aboard another 93rd Group bomber. Either jettisoned by the crew or more likely flung from the disintegrating B-24 as it broke up just before the crash, the 24 bombs all fell in fields adjacent to Brick Kiln Farm. One exploded, damaging windows at South Cove, Wrentham, and Reydon.

The main part of the B-24 hurtled down into a field beside the Cove Bottom - South Cove road and exploded in a blazing fireball from which there was no hope of survival for any of the 9 man crew. Such was the carnage at the crash site that only four of the crew could be positively identified. Five more were buried together in a collective grave. Despite post-war attempts to identify them, the remains were finally given a group burial at Arlington National Cemetery at Fort Myer, Virginia. Two others remain at Madingley in Cambridgeshire.

Local people were moved by the sacrifice of the "yanks" near their villages and added an inscription for them on the War Memorial Cross outside the South Cove Church.

The nine-man crew members were:

Pilot – 2nd Lieutenant Marvin L Tucker

Co-Pilot – 2nd Lieutenant Wade L Pitt

Navigator/Bomb Aimer – 2nd Lieutenant Haig Horasanian

Engineer/Gunner – Corp Edward F Johnson

Radio Operator – Corp Oliver C Jones, Jr.

Ball Gunner – Corp Leon L Gray

Waist Gunner – Corp Jay W Martin

Waist Gunner – Corp Ray H Stone

Tail Gunner – Corp Farris E Williams

Source of information: Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, Rural East Suffolk in Old Photographs Facebook page

Source of image:www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk

The Parish of South Cove

In memory of those, from this parish, who

gave their lives in both of the world wars

1914 - 1918

(Names)

1939 - 1945

(Names)

Also in memory of the American airman of 409 Bomber

squadron who lost their lives on the 31st of March

1945 when their B24 Liberator crashed narrowly missing

the church. They were :-

They are buried at the U.S. Cemetary,

Maddingley, Cambridge.

Lest we forget