Monument

An upright stone bearing a square metal plaque that is written with a simple inscription in German and incised lettering. The memorial commemorates Cpt Tibbetts whose aircraft crashed in the area after aerial combat during World War II. 

On February 24, 1944, he was flying his 51st mission escorting B-24 bombers that were carrying experimental "non-defusable" bombs when he disappeared. His wingman later stated that he could not remember if they were engaged by enemy aircraft or experienced flak. Luftwaffe records, however, state that the P-38 (42-67752) was shot down by Stabsfelwebel (Sergeant Major) Krausse of 4/JG 11 on this date.

In a letter to Tibbetts' aunt in 1949, a German priest named Heber Kosak stated that he watched an American aircraft get cut-off by a German fighter. In the chase that followed, he said that the P-38 lost its tail rudder, a propeller, and then crashed on a farm near Sondra. Munitions on the plane exploded, and the aircraft took 2 days to completely burn.

Source of information: www.komoot.com, www.americanairmuseum.com

Source of photos: www.komoot.com, www.jalbrecht.ca

Am

24.02.1944

verlor an dieser Stelle

Capt. Wesley M. Tibbetts

geb 26.10.1916

beim Absturz mit seiner P38

sein Leben.

English translation:

On

24.02.1944

lost at this point

Capt. Wesley M. Tibbett

born 26.10.1916

When crashing with its P38

his life.