On the north wall of the nave.

Plaque

A rectangular, light grey, marble slab on a slate back board, inscribed in English in engraved and black lettering.  The plaque lists the name and tells the fate of four American airmen of the 8^th Air Force followed by a quotation from Abraham Lincoln. The four American airmen are the crew members of the B24 42-50439 'Broad & High' that tragically crashed while returning from a mission in Germany.

On the 18th of August 1944, the crew was on their way home from a bombing mission to an aero-engine factory at Woippy in France. The Liberator had sustained battle damage and was low on fuel. Pilot, Lt. Roger Leister radioed in when he was a few minutes from their Rackheath base requesting a priority emergency landing. There was good reason to believe that he could not negotiate a safe landing. It was suggested that he head for the special emergency landing strip at Manston but figuring that he was closer to Rackheath so he continued in that direction. On his landing approach, all four engines locked, descending at a rapid rate he barely cleared the village of Kirby Bedon, and belly-landed in a field just beyond, hitting an embankment in the process which caused the top turret to cave in. The crash destroyed the plane and killed four of the crew. The others, including Leister, sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The crew members who died were:

Navigator: 2Lt., William M SHERRILL

Engineer: T/Sgt., Darlton W PONTIUS

Radio Op: T/Sgt., George LIFSCHITZ

Gunner: S/Sgt., Philip A SNYDER

The following survived:

Pilot: 1Lt. Frank BEATTY

Co-Pilot: 1Lt. John F. BALES

Waist Gunner: SSgt Ernest W. SCHREINER

Waist Gunner: Neil C. MATZEK

Tail Gunner: Jess A. DUFF

(There is no bombardier on board.)

Villagers who witnessed the final seconds of the flight said that Leister had heroically avoided the village and wanted to show their appreciation. Some weeks later the vicar at Kirby Bedon contacted the chaplain at Rackheath and arranged to go there. He told him that the villagers had collected a sum of money and would like the names of the deceased crewmen so that they could be remembered on a memorial plaque in St. Andrew's church, where it remains to this day. There is also another memorial to this crash that is erected near the crash site.

Source of information: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, geograph.co.uk, Happy Snapper of flickr.com

Source of photos:www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk, 492ndbombgroup.com

TO THE MEMORY OF FOUR GALLANT AMERICAN

AIRMEN OF THE 8TH AIR FORCE

2^ND L^T WILLIAM M SHERRILL, TENNESSEE, T/SGT DARLTON W PONTIUS, KANSAS

T/SGT GEORGE LIFSCHITZ, NEW YORK, S/SGT PHILLIP A SNYDER, PENNSYLVANIA

WHO LOST THEIR LIVES WHEN A LIBERATOR BOMBER RETURNING

FROM A RAID ON GERMANY CRASHED NEAR THIS CHURCH ON

THE 18^TH AUGUST 1944. THIS MEMORIAL WAS PLACED HERE

BY THE PARISHIONERS OF KIRBY BEDON.

"LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT

AND IN THAT FAITH LET US, TO THE END, DARE

TO DO OUR DUTY."            ABRAHAM LINCOLN