Families mark World War Two plane crash anniversary in Shropshire

The Flying Fortress, a B17 plane, had taken off from Stansted on that fateful day.

Inside were passengers Capt Priscilla Gotto, Lt Col Hartford H. Vereen, and Maj Kenneth T. Omley.

Its crew consisted of Staff Sgt Fancis O. Hull, Cpl John E. Bean, and its pilot, Lt George C. Johnson.

All five men were from the United States Army Air Force, while Cpt Gotto was in the British Mechanised Transport Corps.

The plane was on its way to RAF Langford Lodge in Northern Ireland and should have flown to the east of Clee Hill, but was 28 degrees off course.

The summit of Titterstone Clee Hill was in a sleet storm with zero visibility, and Mr Johnson would not have seen the quarry face until the last moment.

Witnesses said there was a “huge roar” from the engines as the crew tried to gain height, but the tip of the left wing hit the top edge of Dhustone quarry.

The aircraft cartwheeled over the common and on to the top of the hill.

People rushed to the scene, and laid the casualties against some of the stone walls.

All died in the crash, apart from Cpl Bean, who died in an ambulance on the way to Ludlow Cottage Hospital.