Fallen American airmen honoured with memorial at Carlton Scroop
A C-109 (modified B-24 Liberator bomber), similar to the one that crashed at Carlton Scroop. (Rickard, J, https://www.historyofwar.org/
Pictures/C109/pictures_24_exterior_view.html)
Decorated American combat veterans killed in a tragic wartime mid-air collision a week before Christmas 1944 have their own memorial at Carlton Scroop.
The men who were killed had survived the dangers and challenges of D-Day and Operation MARKET GARDEN before taking off from Barkston Heath on a training flight on board a B-24 and C-109 aircraft.
The training flight accident above Carlton Scroop, just north of Grantham, also mortally wounded a Dalmatian dog - the squadron mascot on board one of the aircraft.
Owners of the Sudbrook Moor Golf Course, where some of the C-109 wreckage landed, generously sponsored the memorial. It is publicly accessible and has a café open to visitors.
The opening on 19 December 2024 – 80 years from the date of the crash - attracted 100 people for the unveiling ceremony. This was the final chapter for local author David Bristow, whose book What Happened to You Lazy Lou? was named after one of the aircraft. The book was prompted by the narrow escape of David's father and other pupils from Carlton Scroop primary school, which was nearly hit by wreckage from the C-109.
The memorial lists those who died in the crash, with mention of the dog – Major Jerry.