WO II memorial crash of the US bomber B17, Moerbeke, Belgium - World War II Memorials / Monuments on Waymarking.com

After the bombing of a railway near Ludwigshafen Germany, the US Bomber B17 of lieutenant pilot Roger W. Birkman was hit by ant-aircraft artillery and lost an engine. Flying with just one engine and losing height, they try to reach the independent Switzerland. But above Moerbeke-Waas Belgium, the second engine caught fire and Pilot Birkman let his crew of nine parachute out of the plane. He managed to fly the B17 over the houses and before the plane crashed in the field he also abandoned the bomber with the parachute. All of the crew members survived the crash (and the war) but five of them were captured by the German army. Birkman was hidden by some local civilians and the resistance movement brought him to Sint-Niklaas were he stayed hidden until the liberation at September, 5, 1944.

Date of Dedication: 05/07/1944 Property Permission: Public Website for Waymark: [Web Link] Location of waymark: Kruisstraat Moerbeke, Belgium 9180 Commemoration: Crash US Bomber B17 Access instructions: Not listed Access times: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/21/2011 ON5KL visited it