AJN Steelstock donates steel to Flying Fortress ‘Mission Mistress’ Memorial
On a frozen 6th January 1945, ‘Mission Mistress’ a B-17G Flying Fortress 42-97082 of the 410th bomb squadron, 94th bomb group (H), crashed shortly after take-off from RAF Bury St Edmunds (Rougham Airfield). The crash and subsequent explosion claimed the lives of five of the nine-man crew, injuring the remaining four.
Eighty-one years later to the day, with snow once again covering in the ground as it did in 1945, the Mission Mistress Memorial was unveiled in front of a large crowd next to the crash site, in what is now Moreton Hall in Bury St Edmunds.
It was a day of remembrance for not only the local community but also the families of the crew members who had flown over from the United States. Those at the event also remembered Chris Argent, a founding member of the trust, who passed away in 2019.
AJN Steelstock was honoured to have donated hollow sections for the guard posts around the perimeter, as well as flat bars for the national star and bar insignia, which sits at the base of the memorial.
Thank you to Derek Wilson and the Mission Mistress Memorial trust for organising such a meaningful ceremony. We will remember them.
