Princes Risborough,Buckinghamshire A B-17 crashed near the town of Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England on November 13, 1943. The only thing that prevented the plane from landing directly on the town, was the Herculean effort of the man at the controls who managed to pull the plane up high enough to clear the rooftops. Under one of the rooftops was an 11year-old girl who was awakened by the huge engines. They were only a few feet from her and their deafening roar has remained in her memory ever since. The plane crashed in a field well clear of the village, but the full bomb load exploded at impact and the plane was blown into so much shrapnel. One resident was pinned inside his milking shed by a piece of the airplane's tail, but was otherwise unharmed. "Miriam" had taken off earlier with its crew of 10 and was waiting for the other planes in the flight to join it. The mission was to bomb German U-boat berths at Bremen. The weather was bad, the take-off was dicey and the climb for altitude was worse. The plane flew into a thunderhead and the downdraft threw it into an abrupt dive. The Pilot, 26 year-old Lt. Clyde Cosper ordered the crew out using the intercom and they didn't need to be told twice. Nine parachutes opened and nine men came down bruised, but alive. Lt. Cosper stayed at the controls. Witnesses saw the plane in flames as it neared the town. One resident saw it pass inches from his very own roof. At first - older residents thought it might be a German plane - but the local schoolboys recognized it at once as a B17. For once schoolboys were useful. The crash was just one more to the Army Air Corps - and it was dully recorded by a mere few lines in the squadron logbook back at the base at Thurleigh, Bedfordshire. World War II hero, Lt. Clyde "Sparky" Cosper, B-17 Pilot, 367th Bomber Group.
A nice piece of work there Clive well done, what a brave and courages man Sparky was to save all his commrades and the towns people.
He and his memory is still very much remembered . Spoke to local folk and they all related the story.
