大象传媒

It was thick mist outside and we couldn't see far at all. My mother, brother and I were sitting around the fire and she was reading to us. We heard the aircraft coming louder and louder. It was obviously very low. It sounded like it was going to crash into the old lead lined chimneys over the road. (These were the chimneys of a disused lead and silver mine.) We stared at each other in horror as we knew that something was going to happen.

There was a dreadful crash and then another bang. We looked at each other and said 'It crashed!' It was terrifying as we thought it would come down on us. My mother jumped up, grabbed a coat, and said 'You two stay here. I'm going to see where it is.' We were scared. We could hear the bullets going off continually. It must have been full of amunition.

A farm hand who had been working in the field was the first there. He heard the crew screaming for help, but could not get near because of the hail of bullets.

It had hit the ground and bounced and broken in tow over a hedge. Mother came back to get us. We couldn't go anywhere near because of the bullets.

For a while the public weren't allowed near as they tried to get the situation under control. Clearing the debris went on for weeks. Some of it was there for years. There was only a small track up to the site, and it was difficult for fire engines etc to get there.

Some time after the accident my father told me that he had found a woman's foot from the acident. (It had nails through the toes.)

For years after this event, the smell of gorse brought it all back. About ten years ago my brother found a watch from the accident. He thought it belonged to one of the crew. He tried to find out whose it was to return it, but came up against a brick wall. More recently some of the families were trying to find out about the accident, and the watch finally was returned.

I got into conversation with a gentleman who came to live nearby. I was wearing a cap which he said reminded him of Vera Lynn. He mentioed that he was based near where the Flying Fortress came from. He said it was on an illegal run - going to Southern Ireland for drink and cigarettes. The mist meant they got lost.

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