The US Airman Who Sacrificed His Life to Save a Small English Town

Maureen watched it all happen from her bedroom window

Clyde W. Cosper Picture CREDIT Texas General Land Office (used with permission)

13 November 1943. It was around 8 am in the sleepy town of Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England, when 11-year-old Maureen was awakened by the roaring engines of a B-17 bomber which came uncomfortably close to the roof of her house.

The pilot had lost control. She watched in horror as he tried to steer the huge plane away from buildings. The flaming B-17 narrowly missed a bungalow over the road before crashing into a field and exploding, sending shrapnel flying in all directions.

Maureen ran downstairs, jumped on her bike, and went off to see what had happened, with her mother calling after her, ‘Don’t go into the field!’ Maureen’s father set off in hot pursuit, terrified that she would be exposed to a dead body or something worse.

Maureen didn’t enter the field, but she saw from the road crowds of people, police, firefighters, emergency ambulance crews, and local people trying to help.

When in 2011 I decided to become a freelance writer, I was searching for stories. Inspired by a memorial to an American hero, ‘Sparky,’ in my hometown of Princes Risborough, England, I started looking into the story. I tracked down Maureen Knopp, now 79…