B-17 Crash, Crew Remembered

Thousands of spectators attended a ceremony on a small French island to commemorate an American bomber crew that crash landed there during World War II, reported Breaking Defense. On July 4, 1943, the B-17 went down in shallow water near the Atlantic island of Noirmoutier after an attack on a German airfield. The Germans captured the 10-member crew; these airmen remained prisoners of war for the rest of the war. The ceremony, held on June 30, featured a flyover from Sally B, the last remaining airworthy B-17 in Europe, as well as the unveiling of a monument erected on the beach near where the B-17 crashed, and where its wreckage still lies. “Even for the island’s youngest generation, [the wreckage] acts as a vivid reminder of the sacrifices made by France’s American allies toward the cause of liberating France, and Europe, from the scourge of Nazi occupation,” said Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) in a speech on the House floor on June 12. (For more on Sally B, see B-17 Preservation Limited’s website.)