On January 4, 1946, a B24 Liberator bomber from the Royal Air Force on a training expedition in the North Sea, crashed into a mountain wall at Flereheia(850 moh) in Sirdal, southeast of Stavanger Norway. The aircraft (KK331) belonged to the 111th Operational Training Unit Coastal Command (OTU), stationed at a flight base in Lossiemouth, Scotland. It left the base at 1300, and according to Major Kaldager at Sola Airport, there was no communication with the plane, but based on statements from locals, the engines struggled in the severe storm, so the crash could have occurred during attempted emergency landing. All eight English soldiers aboard died, one on the way down to the village after the rescue crews had arrived. They are buried at the Eiganes graveyard in Stavanger. At Lunde Church there is a memorial plaque (1991). Bombs and ammunition from the burned plane were immediately thrown into the water. Much of the wreckage were moved to the Fly History Museum, Sola, in 2003, but apart from the tail and a engine, all of the wreckage was returned to the scene a while after, so you can still find the remains of the aircraft scattered around Flerehei.
22 авг 2024
