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Tribute to US airmen 80 years after fatal crash

Carol Kyle-Sage Black and white photograph of the 303rd Bomb Group in front of a B17 Bomber, also known as the Flying Fortress. There are ten men in the photograph in two rows of five. Those on the back row are standing, while those in front a crouched in a squat position. Carol Kyle-Sage
The crew from the 303rd Bomb Group crashed in the Cheviots on 16 December 1944

Families of US airmen who served during World War Two have paid tribute to their relatives 80 years after their aircraft crashed, killing two crew.

On 16 December 1944, a B17 "Flying Fortress" Bomber, crashed in the Cheviot hills in Northumberland.

Sergeant Frank Turner and Flight Officer Fred Holcombe lost their lives in the crash, but remarkably the other seven airmen survived.

Pieces of the crashed bomber can still be found on the Cheviots, which is a popular walking site for those with an interest in the war.

Carol Kyle-Sage, the daughter of pilot George A Kyle, has taken multiple trips to the hills and wants her father's story to be ed.

She said: "My father suffered serious injuries, a broken jaw, and at one point after descending from the crash local farmers thought they were Germans."

Mr Kyle spent three months recovering in Newcastle General Hospital after the crash and the events stayed with him until his death in September 2005.

"Dad said he should have died that day and asked if me if I would scatter his ashes at the crash site and that's what we did."

Carol Kyle-Sage A woman kneels down at the Cheviots crash site. She is wearing a blue hat and a khaki green thick coat. Debris from the B17 Bomber can be seen scattered on the hills. Carol Kyle-Sage
Carol Kyle-Sage visited the crash site in the Cheviots in 2006.

Over the course of World War Two 19 allied planes crashed or were downed over the Cheviots, claiming the lives of 56 airmen.

J Hardy, son of Flight Officer James H Hardy who was on the B17, said: "We want to to tell the story for younger generations and we have regular meet ups in the States."

A permanent memorial was placed at the foot of the Cheviots in 2018.

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