On 6 April 1945 a Freight mission was flown between the base in Poix, France to Frankfurt, Germany. The flight mission encounterd bad weather with almost no visibility, and caused two C-47 to collide in flight and crashed.
A monument was at the crash site. It is a place called Gèyeté at the municipal boundary of Sart and Jalhay in the so called The High Fens (French: Hautes Fagnes; German: Hohes Venn; Dutch: Hoge Venen). The monument consists of a block of quartzite supporting a three-bladed propeller.
Nearby, stands a wooden cross bearing the inscription "For the American airmen."
The monument was inaugurated April 20, 1947, almost two years to the day after the tragic accident that claimed the lives of eight American airmen whose two aircraft had collided in the fog, on April 6, 1945.
The encryption of the stone plaque reads: (translated)
"This monument is dedicated to the memory of 8 members of the crew of two c-47 that collided in flight"
Pilot Hicks, Co-pilot Frazer, Crew Chief Bishop and Radio Operator Loughrey in one plane – and Pilot King, Co-Pilot Ferguson, Crew Chief Lewis and Radio Operator Belcastro in the other plane died.
Dutch:
Monument voor 2 C-47A’s van de 314 TCG 50 TCS die op 6 april 1945 in vlucht tegen mekaar gebotst zijn. Tegen een rotsblok staat een van de driebladige schroeven van een C-47. 8 bemanningsleden kwamen om het leven. Pil Cpt J.G. Hicks Jr., Copilot Lt C.L. Frazer, Crew Chief T/Sgt G.A. Bishop, Radio S/Sgt W.J. Loughrey, Pil Lt A.R. King Jr., Copilot Lt R.B. Ferguson, Crew Chief T/Sgt D.H.Lewis, Radio S/Sgt L.J. Belcastro. D
Dezelfde dag verloor het smaldeel 4 toestellen en 15 manschappen, het grootste verlies tijdens haar 36 oorlogsmaanden.
Het monument wordt onderhouden door het Centre ‘d archeologie militaire ‘d Ensival. Jaarlijks is eer een herdenkinsceremonie met oa de aanwezigheid van de verbroedering The White Bison van Bierset. De verongelukte C-47’s waren vertrokken in Bierset.
See also this French site:
(
visit link)