The Freckleton Air Disaster. August 23, 1944.

Image: B-24 Classy Chassis II, pictured in March 1944 with its operational crew before being sent to Warton for refurbishment.

The Freckleton Air Disaster. August 23, 1944.

At 10:30 a.m., two newly refurbished B-24 Liberators took off for an air test from the USAAF Base Air Depot 2 at Warton, near Preston in Lancashire. A few minutes later, a violent thunderstorm approached, and the aircraft were ordered to land immediately. But by the time the B-24s returned, visibility was already extremely poor as the area was plunged into darkness. Gusty, unpredictable winds were accompanied by lightning, thunder, and heavy rain.

The pilot of one of the Liberators opted to fly out of the storm and wait until it had passed; he landed safely shortly afterwards. The other B-24, ‘Classy Chassis II’, was under the command of 1st Lt John Bloemendal. He aborted his landing, though it’s unclear precisely what happened to his aircraft next as he only issued two short radio transmissions, and the Liberator wasn’t visible from the airfield. Warton control tower now sent a heading to both aircraft to clear the weather, but it came too late.

The village of Freckleton lies immediately next to the airfield at Warton. Witnesses there reported seeing the B-24 flying extremely low, its wings near vertical. One wingtip took the top off a tree and clipped a building before ripping through a hedge. The remainder of the bomber then began to break up, ploughing through three houses, fuel tanks igniting as it did so. Debris hit the Sad Sack Snack Bar, a cafe set up by locals to welcome US servicemen. There were a number of people inside, sheltering from the storm; most were killed or injured.