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Normality was the order of the day in Athenry the following day January 16th 1943. Those who knew of the incident from the previous day began to share their experience. Word spread quickly. This was not a tall story but one that would linger on in slightly differing forms for well over 50 years. Almost everyone in the surrounding hinterlands knew a little bit about it. Some knew a lot. Those who knew the most preserved the story as best they could but inevitably it began to fray a little at the edges. The detail began to blur and some of the folklore elements, which had become established from rumours, became the new facts. Three generations on only a handful of individuals can refer to what they saw, what they did and who else did the same.

Details of what happened next are quite hard to come by. Passengers passing on the Galway – Dublin train for instance became used to the unusual site of an intact American Heavy Bomber sitting serenely on its final runway adjacent to the railway just outside the town of Athenry. Others, with cars came from miles around to see the stricken plane before it was removed. The exhilaration however was not to be found, the noises, the smells and the American accents were not there and the sight of the inanimate plane would keep you focused only for a few minutes.

An amazing paper trail relating to this incident forms part of the Irish Army Archive; as you might expect everything was documented at the time under the shroud of secrecy. Remembering that the newspapers etc were censored from reporting the incident, only word of mouth or perhaps a letter to some friend was a means of sharing the tale.

Dealing with the latter first, it should be understood that mail from Ireland was opened and censored by the intelligence network belonging to the governments of Ireland and Britain. One such letter was written on the 26th January 1943 by a Dublin resident who had heard the breaking news firsthand from friends in Athenry. She wrote to a relative in Bath, England. Unknown to the author the letter had been intercepted. The letter drafted in an excited gleeful style told the wonderful news of how the plane had come to rest in Athenry and all the excitement that followed. The letter went on to naively detail how named individuals had received truly magnificent souvenirs, such as lifejackets and guns …apparently a wonderful time was had by all!

Well, as you might expect this sent alarm bells ringing from Whitehall to Washington. Dublin was informed…serious questions arose which had to be answered. How had this breach of security happened? Who are these named individuals? What else was missing…Last but not least who was in charge?

The file shows detail of the in-depth enquiry, which took place; it took a long time to track down all the weapons. The weapons were to be found amongst the Local Defence Force who had been the first at the scene and the Regular Army. During the resultant enquiry process, individuals of all ranks were admonished for the breaches of security and clear disregard for the expectation of duty and trust that had been bestowed upon them when they joined the security forces of their country. If the letter had not highlighted the fact that the guns had been handed over the problem now facing the security forces would not have arisen and everyone would have lived happy ever after with their gifts but fate intervened and it was not to be.

The inquiry led to a most embarrassing time for the Irish Army’s commanding officer at the crash site. Major James Timoney had along with three subordinates been accused of quote “souvenir acquisition”. Army headquarters held Major Timoney responsible for this breakdown in security and he had some difficulty explaining the retention of a Colt 45 Automatic in his possession. However taking into account his previous excellent service record and his bone fide explanation the matter was deemed to be over when the weapon was returned.

Major James Timoney...Renmore Barracks, Galway.

Colt 45 Automatic…Popular Souvenir on the Day

Eventually almost a year later all the known weapons and artefacts were rounded up. Members of the LDF were also called to answer for their indiscretion, but like their Army counterparts they too were shown leniency when their long years of previously impeccable service to the armed forces was taken into account. They received a severe castigation and were allowed to complete their service. In some cases this service had only a matter of months to run. It was deemed that to deny a man his pension after long service would be very harsh, however provisos were ordered that these personnel were not to be allowed access to any ordnance for the remainder of their service however short. Their indiscretion in the excitement of the incident had brought them to the brink of ruining their careers and losing everything they had worked for. As it turned out the passengers on ‘Stinky’ were not the only ones to come close to disaster on the 15th January 1943.

Thankfully common decency prevailed and the record of history shows that ‘all is well that ends well’.

Other items specifically mentioned in the infamous letter were also rounded up; the life jacket given to an LDF resident of Athenry by Sgt. Boland, an RAF NCO who had hitched a lift from Gibraltar with the Americans, was demanded back and promptly handed over. The same LDF member was then asked about the possession of the ‘grand revolver’ mentioned in the Dublin-Bath letter. Assuring his inquisitors, he replied, “I have not received a revolver or any other item of military importance from any member of the crew.”

The gloves given to my father, who was not connected to any of the security forces, were never missed. Neither had one round of heavy calibre machine gun ammunition, today this round can be seen in the Heritage Centre in Athenry. It was, shall we say, secreted during the “souvenir acquisition” phase of this unique occasion.

Christy Flynn, a member of the Athenry LDF, paid a few shillings to acquire it a few days after the crash and kept it for 60 years.

In recognition of its historical importance Christy posed for a photograph holding the round before kindly donating it to the Flying Fortress Athenry 1943 project for display shortly before he passed away.

Christy Flynn, Cross Street, Athenry, Co. Galway.

A member of the LDF contingent who secured the crash site in 1943.

He is seen here holding the 50mm heavy calibre round in 2003

It was manufactured by the Remmington Arms Company in 1942

 The plane was carrying the following equipment:

11... 50mm Browning Machine Guns.

1... 30mm Machine Gun.

9... Colt 45s’.

1... Thompson Machine-Gun.

10... of the heavy Brownings were removed and taken to Renmore Army Barracks in Galway.

Two of the weapons were permanently attached to the plane and were left in place, as they were secure. The 9 Colt 45s’ were checked and returned to the crew in a kit bag. When asked to check them, General Devers replied “No, I’m sure they’re alright.” Further inspection of the craft revealed a Verey Pistol for firing flares, and 16 Parachutes and Life Jackets for the crew and passengers.

The ammunition on-board consisted of:

3902 rounds of 50mm.

400 rounds of 30mm. (…Less the one that we know of…)

26 flare cartridges.

Other pieces of special equipment, which could be removed, namely:

Radio Receiver…recorded as being destroyed.

Radio Transmitter.

Radio Compass.

Navigational instruments.

Bomb Sight… recorded as being incomplete.

All the items were taken to Renmore Barracks Galway and then on to Baldonnell, Dublin on the 17th January 1943. Some of the heavy guns on the aircraft were permanently mounted so they were left in place. A permanent guard was mounted by the Army to protect the aircraft and the site was made secure.

The Irish speaking Army MP’s ‘An Céad Cath’ from 1st Battalion.

 Pictured here outside of the farmyard stables are the detachment

of the Irish Army security forces who were billeted at the

Agricultural College to guard the aircraft.

Officialdom meanwhile had swung into action. The plane had not found a permanent viewing platform. It too was destined to be repatriated. The B17 was a complex plane with an aluminium airframe and skin with tens of thousands of rivets, bolts and pins forming the bond between both. Advice was sought from Boeing as the special equipment required was unavailable. The dismantling would not be an easy task. Even though the plane was designed to be repairable, dismantlers would require both the aid of special equipment and workshop conditions. Only then and with a lot of care could the plane be taken apart. The plane clearly was much too large for transportation in one piece and so the members of the Irish Air Corps began a dismantling process. This process was not a pretty sight! Literally swinging into action a team of men wielding sledgehammers for the best part of a working week reduced the plane from being a magnificent piece of 20th century aero engineering into a pile of almost unidentifiable scrap which was hastily loaded onto lorries and drawn by road to ‘Langford Lodge,’ an American Air Base near Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Langford Lodge Air Base Northern Ireland 1943

Langford Lodge Air Base Northern Ireland 1945

According to Patrick Cloonan, the students at the Agricultural College had a great time after the crash-landing. The excitement served as a pleasant distraction from every day tasks. He remembers the crash site had almost become a Military Camp, as by now the Air Corps had a large contingent of dismantlers on-site along with the permanent presence of the ever-watchful MPs.

A field kitchen had to be set up, demanding a full compliment of staff to prepare the meals. The cook, Patrick remembers “was very generous, the kettle was always on the boil”. So generous in fact, that the rations had run out long before the expected time. Following a brief but thorough investigation the same generous cook was, “carted off back to barracks under escort.” It wasn’t funny at the time but you can only imagine the scene 60 years ago.

Not all of the plane made it back to base either…some of what was truly scrap had been acquired by a local family from the travelling community.

Travellers were adept at recycling and with great skill they crafted the discarded partial sheets of aluminium into useful utensils such as handsome aluminium buckets. These products in the war years were quickly purchased locally, as goods of this type would have been very scarce. A big plus as the sales enabled the craftsman to create a temporary, but at the time a much needed source of income.

STINKY, as previously mentioned was a complex aircraft. It yielded many reusable parts. The engines for instance were salvaged and reused in the repair of other USAAF B17 aircraft at Langford Lodge, but sadly, needless to say, the plane itself was beyond repair and never flew again.

After the War, an Irish Delegation was in Washington, amongst them was the then Secretary for the Department of External Affairs in Ireland, Mr. Frederick H. Boland. He was heading up a committee of national leaders examining the workings and implementation of the ‘Marshall Plan’ designed to quickly respond to the needs of the European post war society. General Devers who was by now the Chief of Staff of the US Ground Forces took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the Irish official in person for the kindness his office had shown to him in 1943.

Mr. F. H. Boland visits Washington and is met by General Devers.

Mr. Frederick H. Boland

Assistant Secretary Department of External Affairs 1943

Irish Ambassador to Britain 1950;

First Irish Permanent Representative at UN, 1956;

President of General Assembly at UN, 1960-63

On the day of 15th January 1943, Mr. David Gray had been General Devers American contact in Ireland. He had been working at the United States Embassy in Ireland since February 16th 1940 as an ‘Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary;’ he had been presented with his credentials on 15th April 1940 and left this overseas posting on 28th June 1947.

…Courtesy US Department of State

One can only imagine the political pressure that the Irish Government would have been under to ensure the safety and release of such a distinguished party of U.S. Army Personnel along with their documents and militarily sensitive report from the Mediterranean Theatre from which they were returning. It is reported that the documents were burnt and destroyed at the crash-site. This can be taken as accurate, the documents could only have been codes necessary for radio communication and maybe maps relating to the flight plan. We know from the comprehensive mission report contained on this website that such a document could not have been destroyed and recompiled from memory… therefore it was probably retained in the possession of General Devers at the discretion of the Irish Government.

Belleek historians, Joe O’Loughlin and Breege McCusker were able to confirm that it was as a direst result of the crash-landing in Athenry on 15^th January 1943, that the U.S. radio station was built in Belleek in the same year. This important facility enabled incoming flights from the direction of the Atlantic to track their way in on a radio beam which marked the safe way home for crews. The flights were vulnerable to the ‘unseen mountains’ namely the Donegal Mountains which in bad weather accounted for many planes and their unfortunate crews.

De Valera, once again bent the rules, in order for this radio beam to be of assistance to the planes, he and his government allowed them to overfly Eire territory en route to the safety of the awaiting in airbases Northern Ireland.

This allocated route became know as the ‘Erne Corridor’ or the ‘Donegal Corridor’, probably dependant on which side of the border you lived. Its path over land heading out to the Atlantic was approximately a straight line between Belleek and Ballyshannon.

The U.S. radio station built in Belleek 1943.