"27 September 1944 -
A Boeing B17G Flying Fortress of the 490th Bomb Group, 8th American Army Air Force, on a night navigation training flight, from Eye, in Suffolk, crashed at Nailstone, Leicestershire.
The aircraft, piloted by 1st Lt Michael H Primus, was completely destroyed, resulting in a loss of life of the crew of 9, plus 3 members of a mobile training unit.
A memorial to these men stands in the Memorial Garden in Nailstone.
The crash was apparently seen by three men cycling home from Nailstone Pit along Grange Lane. They saw the aeroplane in descend steeply, in flames, into a field on the other side of the main road to the village. The cause of the problem is not known.
Text of Memorial to American Airmen
In memory of our fallen comrades 490th bomb group flight crew on the B17 Flying Fortress aptly named Heavenly Body. On 27th September 1944 all crewmembers lost their lives in this tragic accident
Pilot 1st Lt Micheal H. Primus
Co-Pilot 1st Lt Louis G. Deputy
Navigator 2nd Lt Richard J. Hermann
Bombardier 2nd Lt Robert C. Simmons
Engineer T/Sgt Roy E. Griswold
Radio Op T/Sgt Claude Keele
Ball Turret S/Sgt Harry Stoever
Wing Gunner S/Sgt Lawrence Richter
Tail Turret S/Sgt Americo Vergili
Mobile Training Unit S/Sgt Ralph W. Franke
Mobile Training Unit S/Sgt John C. Barry
Mobile Training Unit S/Sgt Edward Shively
They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not want."
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The memorial was originally located at a site nearer to where the plane crashed, but has been moved for better access.