26 November 2015

Salute

Have you heard of these men - John Kriegshauser, John Humphrey, Robert Mayfield, Charles Tuttle, Vito Ambrosio, George Williams, Lyle Curtis, Melchor Hernandez, Harry Estabrooks and Maurice Robbins?...  No? I thought not.

They lost their precious lives in Sheffield's Endcliffe Park on February 22nd 1944. They were the crew of the American "Mi-Amigo" Flying Fortress which attempted an emergency landing in my neighbourhood following an unsuccessful bombing mission to Aalborg, Denmark. The park is just down the hill from our house and it was there that they all burned to death after crashing into the trees behind the park's cafe. Here they are at their Northamptonshire base:-
Brave young men in their prime but they would never return to the land of chewing gum, nylon stockings and "Lucky Strike". Their war was over.

Every year a good number of Sheffielders still visit Endcliffe Park on the anniversary of the fatal crash. Thankfully the ten young men are not forgotten and there's a little memorial stone with bronze plaques screwed into it - at the very spot where the plane came down.

Wars cough up plenty of comic book heroes but many of the real heroes get forgotten. For example - John Kriegshauser, John Humphrey, Robert Mayfield, Charles Tuttle, Vito Ambrosio, George Williams, Lyle Curtis, Melchor Hernandez, Harry Estabrooks and Maurice Robbins. So let's hold hands and give them two minutes of our silence... For their lost horizons and for the ridiculous futility of war and for the loved ones they left behind.

Pictures taken yesterday morning:-

18 comments:

  1. You're doing your part to keep alive the sacrifice of these men.

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    1. "Per Ardua ad Astra" Red. I am proud to do my bit to honour them.

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  2. Such a tragedy and a terrible loss of beautiful young men. Very sad indeed.

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    1. You are right Leishy but of course it is a familiar story.

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  3. This post wiped the smile off my face.

    I always look at the smiling faces in these photos and think how fleeting life is for some people, particularly in war time.

    It's a tribute the people of Sheffield who still remember these men.

    Ms Soup

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    1. Yesterday I made you laugh. Today I made you glum - at least for a little while. Are you a string puppet Alphie?

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  4. How nice to think that they're still remembered all these years later.

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    1. Yes Jennifer. It has been nearly seventy two years since the "Mi-Amigo" came down.

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  5. The ridiculous futility of war, indeed.

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  6. I had never heard of this.
    I find it incredible that any of them found their way back safely. So young and so little training.

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    1. Various other American bombers were lost that same day. Pilot John Kriegshauser received a posthumous medal for avoiding nearby houses.

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  7. Well done YP, you're doing your bit to keep their memory alive.

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    1. At the going down of the sun and in the morning....

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  8. Those lads are not forgotten...you have made sure of that...and good on you for doing so, Yorkie.

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    1. Maybe Google will lead some of the boys' relatives to this blogpost. I hope so Lee.

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    2. I hope so, too, Yorkie. :)

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  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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