title	A B-17 Memorial, The Oaksmere Hotel, Brome, Suffolk - 10th November 2023
intro	It's the culmination of the project that Clive's been involved in for a while - to construct a memorial to the 13 aircrew, four civilians and a horse that were killed when a Pathfinder B-17F, on a secret mission from Alconbury via Thorpe Abbots, crashed in the field next to our house on the 10th November 1943 - 80 years ago. And it's quite the event too, with over 100 people in attendance, including Fred who's representing Hartismere School, alongside Amelia and several other Year 10s. There's also a turnout from local news outfits BBC East and ITV Anglia, both of which run a feature on the event on the evening news bulletin, which we watch one of at the Oaksmere. Most significant though are the relatives who have come over from the US for the occasion, and the relatives of the locals who were killed on the ground as they worked on clearing a ditch near Rectory Road, where the doomed aircraft ended up. During a two-minute silence, there's a special moment when a giant Suffolk Punch horse clops up the drive, providing a poignant and almost ghostly echo of the horse that was also killed alongside the 17 people, in what remains Mid Suffolk's worst wartime aviation disaster. After the memorial enveiling, Nosher tags along as Clive has arranged for the relatives to visit the museum at Thorpe Abbots itself - from where B-17 Finger M Mike, known as Stinky to its crew thanks to its H2S "Hydrogen Sulphide" radar - took off on its fateful last flight. After the chance to look around the museum, which has been opened especially, the relatives are presented with pieces of the original runway - the last ground the airmen would have touched.
imgp8851	Chairs are unstacked
imgp8857	Fred and Amelia watch the proceedings
imgp8859	Clive checks the running order
imgp8865	Grandad's old mobility scooter gets an outing
imgp8868	Royal British Legion dudes with flags
imgp8876	Fred's handing out service orders
imgp8890	Milling throngs outside the Oaksmere
imgp8893	A veteran sits and waits
imgp8900	Flag bearers march up the Oaksmere's avenue
imgp8908	The USAF march up to the memorial
imgp8923	One of the relatives does a reading
imgp8929	The memorial is unveiled
imgp8937	Isobel watches as the servicemen's names are read
imgp8939	Isobel reads the names of the civilian casualties
imgp8942	Old Glory is unfurled
imgp8945	An enormous Suffolk Punch clops up the avenue
imgp8957	Flags are lowered for a two-minute silence
imgp8959	A couple of re-renactors appear in uniform
imgp8966	The horse at the memorial
imgp8972	Fred looks up
imgp8978	Fred and the Hartismere posse
imgp8984	A selection of poppy wreaths
imgp8993	The RAF dude takes a photo of the memorial
imgp8999	The re-enactors talk someone through their gear
imgp9006	Isobel gets a coffee in the Oaksmere
imgp9007	In the Oaksmere's restaurant
imgp9008	The Brome village committee, and Ginny Maning, vicar
imgp9016	A view from the restaurant
imgp9022	Clive gets interviewed by Alex Dunlop of BBC East
imgp9023	More ex-military dudes by the memorial
imgp9037	The relations return with the folded flag
imgp9040	The POW-MIA guy meets the horse
imgp9042	A mostly-relative group by the memorial
imgp9050	Isobel and one of the relatives
imgp9054	A group photo with the Suffolk Punch
imgp9059	The horse tries to eat the tree
imgp9070	The awesome Suffolk Punch clops back up the avenue
imgp9079	Alex Dunlop chats to Clive
imgp9082	Another group photo
imgp9093	The MIA-POW flag is furled up
imgp9100	Clive chats to someone in the Oaksmere
imgp9102	Alex Dunlop is caught eating cake
imgp9109	Clive's in the middle of it all
imgp9119	US airmen on the control tower at Thorpe Abbots
imgp9120	Steve in a Thorpe Abbots Nissen hut
imgp9124	The visitors listen to an introduction
imgp9125	Podcast Dude interviews a relative
imgp9129	The two airmen look out from the control tower roof
imgp9130	The airmen chat to a museum volunteer
imgp9131	A view of the Thorpe Abbots museum site
imgp9133	More chatting in the control tower
imgp9136	A telephone exchange
imgp9139	There's a tea break in the museum
imgp9140	A Wright Cyclone engine restoration project
imgp9149	The airmen head to the Nissen hut
imgp9153	A Luftwaffe photo is matched up in a reference book
imgp9158	A 351st plaque made out of granite
imgp9162	One of the former airfield buildings
imgp9166	There's a podcast interview on the control tower
imgp9171	A view of the perimeter track, then and now
imgp9173	A nice collection of A-2 flying jackets
imgp9174	More of the museum collection at Thorpe Abbots
imgp9176	A re-enactor shows some old photos to a relative
imgp9182	The relatives pose for a photo in the museum
imgp9193	Pieces of the original runway are given to the family
imgp9198	Clive looks at some more books
imgp9199	Fred in the Oaksmere
imgp9205	Isobel and Suzanne chat