Cadets from 1414 Squadron attended a short but important memorial service in Crowborough on the 28th January 2024.
The service was in remembrance of the B-26B Marauder Bomber named ‘Hell’s Belle’ which came down on what was then farmland behind The Bricklayers Arms on 26 January 1944.
The aircraft formed part of the US Army Air Force’s 386th Bomb Group, which was based at Great Dunmow in Essex and was returning from an aborted mission to destroy one of the launch sites of the German Luftwaffe’s flying bombs in France.
The aircraft was piloted by Lt Homer R McClure with 1st Lt Jeff L Pearson as Co-Pilot, 2nd Lt Charles Carrigan as Bombardier, T/Sgt Albert V Strauss as Radioman, S/Sgt Arthur C Depew as Engineer and S/Sgt Charles M Morris as Tail Gunner. Sadly there were no survivors.
Cdt Angel was selected to lay a wreath on behalf of the US Air Attache, with other wreaths being laid by local veterans and the mayor.