Next to the chapel.

Monument

A rough-hewn stone bearing two gray plaques written in French in gold lettering. The upper plaque commemorates the eight American aviators who died on April 22, 1944. The lower plaque contains the names, ranks, ages, and nationalities of the eight American airmen, who had been evading capture in Belgium. Sgt. Reese was a crew member of the B-17 'Womans' Home Companion' which crashed in Cerfontaine, Lt. Eike, 2Lt. Benninger, and Sgt. Pindroch were crew members of the B-17 'Susan Ruth' which crashed in Macquenoise, Sgt. Owens, Sgt. Nichols, and Sgt. Gemborski crashed with their B-17 in the Netherlands. 2Lt. Huish was the navigator of B-17 'Skunkface' which crashed at Lens on February 20, 1944. The monument was erected in 1999 and was erected by the organization which was founded by Paul Delahaye. It was called the Belgo-Americain Foundation but after Paul died in 2013, the name was changed to Devoir de Mémoire de Momignies-Chimay.

On April 22, 1944, as the crewmen finished breakfast, they heard the sound of automatic weapons firing. They, along with the farmers who had assisted them, were captured by German soldiers, having been betrayed. At the same time, thirty Belgian citizens from Chimay were also arrested and sent to concentration camps. The airmen were stripped, searched, and identified by their dog tags, which revealed they were not considered Freedom Fighters.

That afternoon, with their hands tied behind their backs, the Americans were taken into the nearby woods by two armed German guards each. They were separated, and at a signal, each was shot multiple times in the back. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave at the military airfield near Gosselin Their remains were later moved to the military cemetery at Margraten in the Netherlands. The Belgian authorities prosecuted some of the perpetrators after the war. 

Source of information: libertyladybook.com, www.hangarflying.eu

Source of photos: Steve Snyder, www.hangarflying.eu

Upper Plaque:

PASSANT, N'OUBLIE PAS

QUE PRES D'ICI

LE 22 AVRIL 1944

HUIT AVIATEURS AMERICAINS

ONT ETE FUSILLES

ET DEUX PARTISANS BELGES

ONT DONNE LEUR VIE

POUR QUE TOI

TU VIVES LIBRE

English translation: 

BY PASSING, DON'T FORGET

THAT NEAR HERE

ON APRIL 22ND 1944

EIGHT AMERICAN AIRMEN

WERE SHOT

AND TWO BELGIAN PARTISANS

GAVE THEIR LIVES

SO THAT YOU

WOULD LIVE FREE

Lower Plaque:

IN MEMORIAM

English translation: 

IN MEMORY OF