USAAF B-17 42-31322 ‘Mi Amigo’, Endcliffe Park, Sheffield
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USAAF B-17 42-31322 ‘Mi Amigo’, Endcliffe Park, Sheffield
On 22 February 1944 Flying Fortress ‘Mi Amigo’ crashed in this public park in Sheffield with the loss of all 10 crew men on board.
The B-17 had been on a raid on the German airfield at Ålborg in occupied Denmark (apparently Ålborg has the unwanted distinction of being the first city in the world to be taken by paratroopers). The airfield was home to Fw 190s and Bf 109s.
These attacked the B-17s overhead, and pursued ‘Mi Amigo’ as bombardier Second Lt Hernandez, aware of the Danish civilians below, was unable to release the bombs due to cloud cover obscuring the target.
Pilot First Lt Krieghauser’s aircraft was badly damaged by the attacking fighters. The bombs were released harmlessly over the North Sea as the B-17 limped back towards base in Northamptonshire.
It is probable the navigation and communication equipment was out of service, and that some of the crew were dead or wounded from the attack. For whatever reasons, ‘Mi Amigo’ ended up 80 miles off course and circling low over the city of Sheffield.
In Endcliffe Park, kids playing football watched as an engine finally cut, a wing dipped and the aircraft spiralled down into a wooded knoll next to the playing field. It is possible First Lieutenant Krieghauser was considering a crash landing on the playing field. This might also account for why some of the crew at least didn’t bail out. Eye witness accounts at the time (and there were many) are extremely harrowing and there seems no point in repeating them here.
The memorial is surrounded by 10 American oaks planted in 1969, one for each crew member.
Cunningham notes that the ten men added to the “total of American aircrew lost over Europe that day to 430, and with ‘Mi Amigo’ bringing the day’s toll of American bombers downed to 43.”
(Peakland Air Crashes – The Central Area, Pat Cunningham DFM, 2006)
Crew;
First Lieutenant John Glennon Krieghauser, pilot.
Second Lieutenant Lyle J Curtis, co-pilot
Second Lieutenant John W Humphrey, navigator
Second Lieutenant Melchor Hernandez, bombardier
Staff Sergeant Robert E Mayfield, radio operator
Staff Sergeant Harry W Estabrooks, engineer / top turret gunner
Sergeant Charles H Tuttle, ball-turret gunner
Sergeant Maurice O Robbins, tail gunner
Sergeant Vito R Ambrosio, right waist gunner
Muster Sergeant George U Williams, left waist gunner
For other American air crash sites, please go to USAAF air crash sites main page
Detail on the memorial.
Nice memorial Ian – I was also straining to see the plaques … until I scrolled down :))
The usual great background info Ian .
The losses of the allied airforces were far larger than most people realise.
LOOKING FOR THE PAINTING OF THE MI AMIGO B-17 BY ARTISTS Dale Rockwood, ON DISPLAY AT ST AGUSTINE CHURCH UK?
Hi George, the painting is on display at St Augustine’s but I have no contact info. for the artist. However, Paul Rowland – a highly renowned professional aviation artist – has produced an excellent painting of the last seconds of Mi-Amigo (a copy of which is displayed in the US Military Cemetery at Madingley, Cambs.). His details: https://poshoneposh.wixsite.com/artwork
Thanks for posting Ian, I’m reading Kevin Wilson’s Bomber Boys at the moment; the rate those lads were dying at is staggering.
Makes me so sad and angry that their sacrifice was never recognised officially.
Very sad story Ian although its good to see the crew are not forgotton.
Today I came across the photostream of davydutchy`s which you might find of interest ?
Lot of men in those machines, seeing inside of a B17 makes you realise just how small and compact these things are, especially when you are kitted out with all the high altitude gear, masks, flak jackets and helmets, not forgetting the parachutes that they would have had to have donned in a bale out situation. Not for the claustraphobic.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/nostalgia/retro-the-10-amigos-who-fell-from-the-sky-1-6448835
A guy who I worked with in the early 60’s recalls seeing the crash from his bedroom in Banner Cross, he was aged 4 at the time.
Hi how do I get to contact any relatives of the fallan. As my dad was there when the crash happened.
Hi Wayne, a good source might be the American air museum in Britain, if you had a query about a crew member they might have the records and might be able to forward a leter or email from you?
aamwebsite@iwm.org.uk
or you could also try the Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force
Ian
Hi Wayne, I’m in touch with most families so if you wish to contact me please e-mail me at miamigoresearch@gmail.com
Thanks,
Paul Allonby – author ”Courage Above the Clouds – the true story of ‘Mi-Amigo’ and her crew” (UK print edition available via lulu.com)
My dad was one of the kids playing foot ball when it came down
Hi Wayne. I regularly speak to your father and have created a military playlist on Spotify for this year’s anniversary as a tribute to the airmen…
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1OCexTnCPYxAhFm5EPETw6?si=H4eAVGB7QIu_K5AKNAd9kA&utm_source=copy-link
We are also holding a commemorative Parkrun on Sat 26-Feb.
Dave Harvey,I and my wife Carol came to sheffield requested by Don Vogelsang to attend the memorial on Feb 22,2001 and at the Hunters Inn? WE asked for meeting with you at that time and discussed the book on Mi-Amigo.I did a painting of the Mi-Amigo and it was placed at St.Agustines church at the Mi-Amigo’s memorial.Don Vogelsang was our contact after Retired Activities Officer Charles Poyner Mildenhall RAF passed away.
Dave it has been some time since I heard from you,could you please get back to me.Dale ROCKWOOD
Your painting remains on display at St Augustine’s Church; it is very good. This year’s service there is on Sunday Feb 23rd at 2pm (it is always held on the Sunday nearest the anniversary) when the 10 airmen will again be remembered, as they have been since 1969, by the USAF, RAF, British Legion, emergency services and civic authorities.
I’m glad he’s now getting the recognition he deserves for tending the memorial for all of those years.
Good luck with the flypast. I arrived in Sheffield in 1978 and was always amazed at how well kept the memorial area was. Now I know who has been responsible, I would like you to thank him for me.
I will be there on February 22 for the 75th anniversary.
It’s council property. He’s tended it on a casual basis (sweeping up leaves) for about 5 years.
Hi Kevin, have just heard from the RAF Association who organise the event; the ceremony at the site will be on Sunday February 24th, though the RAF have offered a fly-past on the 22nd….watch local media for updates!
Hi
Can anyone tell what time the informal service on the 22nd Jan at the crash site is and the location at Endcliffe Park, as I’m coming from Doncaster by car and don’t know Sheffield that well.
Kind regards Mike
Hi Mark, the annual remembrance service is on Sunday Feb 24th – 1.15pm at the memorial in Endcliffe Park (behind the cafe)with a USAF Honour Guard, followed by a service at St Augustines Church at Brocco Bank (which is near the park’s main entrance) at 2pm. The park is located off Rustlings Road S11 7AB, there is plenty of on-street parking in the area, very little indeed within the park. Hope this helps! See also:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endcliffe_Park
https://sheffieldnewsroom.co.uk/news/mi_amigo_flypast/
Could anyone tell me which airfield in Northamptonshire the B17 was based at? I went to school in Northamptonshire and would be grateful to know!
Hi Andrew, MI-AMIGO was based at Chelveston. If you check out facebook.com/EndcliffeParkB17 I think you’ll find it interesting!
The B17 name, Mi Amigo (my friend) was truly befitting. They saved the lives of innocent children at the expense of their own. Only true friends would do that…….
Hi Jaime,
Your comment is true…and that was echoed yesterday in the annual commemoration church service during the sermon by the Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Dr Peter Wilcox.
Hi Paul,
Thank you for the kind words and I am glad the Rt. Rev Dr. Peter Wilcox echoed them to the crowd. It took a unique cut of man to be a fly boy back then. I have nothing but the greatest respect for all the Allied pilots and crews who took to the skies to battle for our present day freedoms……………….
My brother was there with 8th Air Force, missions in 1945, special guy!Prayers always to all who lost loved ones….
A nice write-up. Mi Amigo was attacked by Me 109 fighters and was badly damaged. The aircraft made its way back over the North Sea, across the Yorkshire coast, and was headed in the direction of its base when the crash happened. The aircraft was 85 miles from base and crashed at the same time other aircraft from the same unit (305BG) which had taken part in the mission were landing at base (Chelveston). The RAF Association put the memorial in place and there is now a descriptor board at the crash site telling the full story. The park belongs to Sheffield Council who are ultimately responsible for the memorial which has also received additional voluntary care from other groups including Air Training Corps cadets. According to a wikepdia article on the memorial, Mr Foulds has looked after the memorial on a casual basis since 2015. Three other B17s and two 109s were shot down over Denmark on that mission.
I have lived in Sheffield all of my life (so far !) and was a schoolboy in the 60s frequently walking through Endcliffe Park. We were aware of the crash site but there was no memorial and certainly nobody cleaning up etc on a regular basis … and this situation continued for many years. I have a particular interest as my father was a bomber pilot at the time of the crash and I fly a vintage aeroplane over Sheffield regularly and look down at the park. Even in a single engined aeroplane the park would not be considered for a possible emergency landing so I have no belief in the stories suggesting that the B17 was under control and considering landing there until the pilot saw children playing football and so was directed into the woodland. It just fell out of the sky and crashed there. Can anybody tell me from where the reports of crew incapacitation and aeroplane damage by German fighters originate ? This sort of information would not have been been broadcast on the radio by the captain in 1944.
Hello John,
The information on aircraft damage came from an assessment of the wreckage by USAAF recovery and investigation officers, crew incapacitation details were from the medical officer’s reports of injury. Thank-you for your comment, much appreciated.
It doesn’t matter if the aircraft was under control or out of control the bravery of those young men of the United States 8th Army Air Force bombing by day and of Royal Air Force Bomber Command bombing by night is not in question. Their bravery is uncerpased in the history of air warfare and it’s to young men such as these we owe the freedom we all enjoy today