Italy, PIEDMONT, District Cuneo, Ostana, SAAF Memorial KG874

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Cemetery information:- Album complete. eGGSA captions by: Riana le Roux The GGSA Cemetery DVD only has information on the cemetery location. Cemetery ID: 6483 Google Earth Cemetery Initiative Information:- GPSID: 7754 GPS: 44 41.752, 07 12.083 The Alpine 44 Story Background: On 12 October 1944, six SAAF Liberator bombers with 48 airmen were lost during a mission in Northern Italy to drop supplies to partisans behind enemy lines; this remains the largest loss of aircraft and men for a single SAAF mission to date. The flights encountered persistent heavy rain, low cloud, and frequent flashes of lightning. Eleven aircraft turned around, only three found their target, and six aircraft failed to return, with the loss of 48 men. The meteorologists had forecast a westerly wind, but, unbeknown to all, the wind was now blowing from the east, resulting in the aircraft being roughly 60 km west of where they should have been, with disastrous consequences. Five aircraft crashed into the Alps and one, KH158, is missing to this day, presumed to have ditched in the Ligurian Sea off Genoa. This research, initiated by Beppe Barbero and undertaken by Nick and Catherine Madina with the help of many concerned inhabitants in the villages in Italy and relatives from the UK and South Africa, covered all aspects of the incident: military background and reports, archive records, site reports from local villagers, photos of memorials and graves, photographs and family backgrounds of the airmen, family information, personal correspondence, newspaper articles, etc. This work was published on a CD in 2001, intended as a historical record and teaching aid for schools in the area of Bra. In 2001 a large commemoration was held in the city involving many representatives from South Africa, Australia and the UK, with many links and friendships being formed at that time. The deep emotional involvement of all participants is captured in the book written by Catherine Madina, “Bernardi La Rua”: Our other life in the Alps. This folder contains information related to Liberator KG874 which crashed near Ostana. Liberator KG874 crashed into the hillside about a mile above the village of Ostana, in the Upper Po Valley, killing all the crew. The bodies were originally buried in the little cemetery in Ostana, then moved to the Military Cemetery at Trenno, Milan. The local villagers had always known of the aircraft that had crashed nearby, and in 1999 the Mayor of Ostana, below the crash site of flight KG874, decided to honour the airmen who had died that night. They first contacted the United States Air Force, but were told that the aircraft must have belonged to the Royal Air Force. Enquiries here led them to the South African Air Force, and notices were placed in our newspapers and on the internet looking for the families of the crew. Contact was made with Barbara Brownrigg, sister of Bobby Whitelaw, crew member on flight KG874 and many other crew members’ relatives using genealogical techniques. Barbara and her husband, Glenn, as well as many others attended the memorial service on 1 October, 2000, when a plaque was laid on the crash site and another was fixed to the wall of the Town Hall. KG874 Ostana Casualties: METELERKAMP Alexander Henry Rex THOMSON John SMILLIE John Robertson WHALLEY Leonard WHITELAW Robert Pender JONES Edward Albert ROGERS William Alexander PARKER Leslie Raeburn Contact: For further information contact Peter and Beverley Moss at cemadmin@genza.org.za or Martin Urry of the Alpine 44 Group at urry.martin@gmail.com Details of the all the Alpine 1944 incidents are contained in these albums: Italy, LIGURIA, District Genoa, Neirone, SAAF Memorial KH158 http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4206097 Italy, LOMBARDY, District Milan, Parco di Trenno, War cemetery http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4210284 Italy, PIEDMONT, District Cuneo, Ostana, SAAF Memorial KG874 http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4206095 Italy, PIEDMONT, District Turin, Ala di Stura, SAAF Memorial KG999 http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4206099 Italy, PIEDMONT, District Turin, Cantalupa, SAAF Memorial KH239 http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4206093 Italy, PIEDMONT, District Turin, Rora, SAAF Memorial KH154 http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4206098 Italy, PIEDMONT, District Turin, Valprato Soana, SAAF Memorial KG875 http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4206096 Malta, South Eastern Region, District Valletta, VALLETTA, Malta Memorial incl SAAF Register http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4206092