B-17G 44-8422 'Duffys Tavern ' station 107 8th airforce base Molesworth ,Cambridge , England, 303rd,"Hell's Angels," B-17 Bomb Group .

 From my trip out to Much Wenlock to find the site of the crash of
Which exploded above the town on the 11 November 1944 during a mission to bomb an oil installation at Gelsenkirchen Germany ,the bomber was climbing to 18.000ft and the crew had just removed the safety pins when waist gunner Sgt Robert Sorenson noticed a fire by engine number 1 before he could call the pilot the bomber flipped over and exploded at around 14.000ft remains were thrown over a radius of 4 miles but miraculously Sgt Sorenson and engineer Sgt Dwight Phillips survived though badly wounded,one large part of forward fuselage and wing landed in the street outside Wenlocks post office luckily no one was hurt , the center section fell onto the B4378 by Westwood farm Bourton

B-17G 44-8422 'Duffys Tavern ' station 107 8th airforce base Molesworth ,Cambridge , England, 303rd,"Hell's Angels," B-17 Bomb Group .

 In the guildhall Wenlock is this memorial clock to the airmen killed in local crashes during WW2 [sorry camera fault ]

Crew lost in Duffy Tavern =
Lt.Paul C Stephan [Pilot]
2 Lt John R. Clingler
F/O Harold G Lewis
Sgt.Thomas W. Tapley
T/Sgt.Raymond R. Ladurini
Sgt.Stanton W. Keyes and
S/Sgt.Edgar P. Harris, Jr.
Survived =
Sgt Robert J Sorensen
Sgt Dwiight A Phillips

Oxford MP299 flying from HMS Godwit , RNAS Hinstock , Shropshire on the 2nd Jan,1944 Lt Cdr J.C.V.K.Watson RNVR , Sub Lt R.C.Reeder RNVR

 Another Wrekin visit this time to the site of the crash of Oxford MP299 flying from HMS Godwit , RNAS Hinstock , Shropshire on the 2nd January , 1944 the crew of 2 Lt Cdr J.C.V.K.Watson RNVR , pilot instructor and student Sub Lt R.C.Reeder RNVR were on 'lorenz' beam approach training when it entered a spin from 2.000ft possibly due to turbulence from the nearby high ground and crashed into Limekiln woods , Steeraway with the loss of both crew .
the plane impacted in the area in the first picture but as its now in the grounds of a golf course i didn't have a nose for any parts that may remain i then went to Hinstock to find Lt Watsons grave

Spitfire IIa P7746 ' City of Bradford ' , the Wrekin , Shropshire Dec 7 1941

 The second site was at the other end of the Wrekin and was of the crash of Spitfire IIa P7746 ' City of Bradford 'which impacted in the center of this area in the woodland at Rushton Cottage at the east end of the Wrekin on Dec 7 1941 during one of the worst snow storms for local flyers as 7 other aircraft came down in the same weather the pilot only saw the hill at the last moment and taking evasive action the plane stalled sadly Sgt H.A.Metcalfe RAAF bailed out too low 150ft and was killed later his body was found by a search light detachment from Buildwas
Again private ground but there is a shallow cratered area at the given position ?

Avro Anson T21, VV987 the Wrekin Shropshire 12th of September 1952

 A couple of site visits around the Wrekin Shropshire the first was the crash of Avro Anson T21, VV987 which hit the slope on the 12th of September 1952 during a local flight from RAF Shawbury due to low cloud and the pilot becoming disorientated the pilot Sgt A.W.A.Gee was lost in the crash .
Even though I didn't find any remains of the plane due to being on private estate grounds just off a permissive path I did find signs of the damage the plane made hitting the trees and an area showing indications of a fire