Memorial B-17 44-6083 Betsy Ross Wichelen

On October 17, 1944, Lieutenant Perry Powell and his crew with co-pilot Sam Walker took off in England in the B-17 44-6083 Betsy Ross bomber to attack enemy Germany. On the return flight from their mission to Cologne, the Betsy Ross was hit by German anti-aircraft fire.
Lieutenant Powel ordered his crew to parachute to safety while he and co-pilot Walker sought a safe lane for an emergency landing. He managed to land the plane in the Paardeweide nature reserve, between Berlare and Wichelen, on the left bank of the Scheldt. There were no civilian casualties but several residents witnessed the event.
Pilot Perry Powell and co-pilot Samuel Walker survived the crash and stayed in a castle in Wieze afterwards.

On August 31, 2024, 80 years after their emergency landing, a memorial monument for the two pilots was unveiled on the banks of the Scheldt.
The life-size bronze statues took 5 years to create.
Sculptor Nadine De Meester from Merelbeke was commissioned to make realistic images of the pilots as they disembarked from the aircraft. Bronze caster Bart Dujardin from Lotenhulle gave the pilots "eternal life" in a statue.

The first memorial plaque tells the story of the crash landing.
The second plate lists the names of the crew of the Betsy Ross.
The third plate contains a QR code with which one can, as it were, relive the crash landing.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck