jamie b
27th January 2003, 22:03
ABBOTSBURY, DORSET.
At 3.25 in the afternoon of the 5th of December, 1943, an American Fortress aeroplane crashed in the sea, two to three hundred yards from the beach, half a mile north-west of the Abbotsbury coastguard station, as she was returning
from an operational flight. A moderate north-north-west wind was blowing, with a
slight sea. Two Abbotsbury fishermen saw the crash and put out in their 12-feet rowing boat. They found three men in the water, two of them trying to keep the third man afloat. Another was drifting away in a rubber dinghy. Six were standing on the fuselage of the aeroplane. The two fishermen first rescued the man who was being supported in the water ; he was a man of over sixteen stone, and it was only with considerable difficulty that the rescuers hauled him on board. They then rescued the other two men in the sea and made for shore where they again had great difficulty, and shipped a lot of water in getting the big man out of the boat. They put out again at once to the six men on the rapidly sinking aeroplane, rescued and landed them, put out a third time and rescued the last man from the dinghy. Meanwhile, a doctor was trying to revive the big man, but failed. It was thought that shock, not drowning, caused his death.-
Rewards, £3.
I may be diving this at the weekend any info appreciated
thanks
jamie b
At 3.25 in the afternoon of the 5th of December, 1943, an American Fortress aeroplane crashed in the sea, two to three hundred yards from the beach, half a mile north-west of the Abbotsbury coastguard station, as she was returning
from an operational flight. A moderate north-north-west wind was blowing, with a
slight sea. Two Abbotsbury fishermen saw the crash and put out in their 12-feet rowing boat. They found three men in the water, two of them trying to keep the third man afloat. Another was drifting away in a rubber dinghy. Six were standing on the fuselage of the aeroplane. The two fishermen first rescued the man who was being supported in the water ; he was a man of over sixteen stone, and it was only with considerable difficulty that the rescuers hauled him on board. They then rescued the other two men in the sea and made for shore where they again had great difficulty, and shipped a lot of water in getting the big man out of the boat. They put out again at once to the six men on the rapidly sinking aeroplane, rescued and landed them, put out a third time and rescued the last man from the dinghy. Meanwhile, a doctor was trying to revive the big man, but failed. It was thought that shock, not drowning, caused his death.-
Rewards, £3.
I may be diving this at the weekend any info appreciated
thanks
jamie b