American airmen Howard Noland, Jake Crider and Warren Terrian killed in Second World War plane crash in Hatfield Heath are remembered 80 years on
Respectful villagers came together to remember three young American Second World War heroes who died in Hatfield Heath 80 years ago.
In 1944, pilot Howard Noland, 24, flight engineer Jake Crider, 27, and radio operator Warren Terrian, 23, were killed when their plane crashed into houses on Chelmsford Road.
The airmen were forgotten for decades until a special memorial was erected three years ago.
The memorial organiser Mark Ratcliff – who spent hundreds of hours researching the crash and the airmen – led recognition of the three men on the 80th anniversary of their death. Villagers laid a wreath in their memory.
Mr Ratcliff, who grew up living just 200 metres from the crash site, said: “It was an honour to pay our respects to these three young men who died so far away from their homes in the United States.”
His friend Steve Foster, who also helped with the memorial, said: “We must never forget the sacrifices these young people made. It’s lovely they’re being remembered 80 years later.”
The men died when their B-26 Marauder crashed into a house on 24 September 1944. The twin-engined bomber, nicknamed Miss Laid, from the 391st Bomb Group, came down in terrible weather as it tried to return from France to Matching airfield three miles away.
The crash is still vivid in the minds of some villagers.
David Brown’s aunt lived in the house which was hit by the plane – but she was in hospital giving birth.
Patrick Roberts’ grandfather lived in the house opposite and he recalled collecting parts of the fuselage from his garden until the late 1950s.