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Lieutenant John D. Ellis

Liberator bomber memorial

From the B-24 website - see link in text

Plane crash in Cheshunt

By Nicholas Blatchley

A Wartime Crash

On the 12th August 1944, a US Air Force B24 Liberator bomber crashed on farmland near Cheshunt, killing all ten airmen on board, an incident commemorated in the name of a nearby road, Lieutenant Ellis Way.

The plane, commanded by 2/Lieutenant John D. Ellis, was based at Wending, Norfolk, and was part of 577th Squadron, 392nd Bomb Group, scheduled to carry out a bombing raid against Juvicort Airfield in France. Ellis’s plane was one a six forced to turn back, due to adverse weather.

Beliefs about the Crash

Like most facts of this case, what happened to the B24 is subject to debate. It was widely believed to have suffered a mid-air collision with a B17 Fortress of 398th Bomb Group based at Nuthampstead, Herts, which crashed at Loudwater, near High Wycombe. This, however, has been disputed by some investigators.

For whatever reason, the bomber suffered catastrophic damage, probably with the loss of all four engines. It emerged from the low cloud-cover near Cheshunt and crashed into a field belonging to Maxwells Farm. The plane caught fire and exploded, killing all ten crewmen.

In the days that followed, it was widely believed that Lieutenant Ellis and his crew had deliberately steered their plane away from the built-up areas of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross, sacrificing their chance to bale out in order to safeguard the civilian population. This too has been disputed by some experts, who believe that Ellis could not have been in control of the B24 at that stage, but the belief became too rooted in Cheshunt to be shaken, and the truth will probably never be known.

The Aftermath

Whatever the circumstances, the crash resulted in no civilian fatalities, although a girl was hit by debris and spent several days in a coma. The Cheshunt Fire Brigade attended the crash and, since they had travelled a mile to reach the site before the plane exploded, there must have been a considerable gap between the crash and the explosion.

A collection was made in Cheshunt and Waltham Cross, partly for the dead airmen’s families and partly to create two memorials, one of which (pictured) hangs in Cheshunt Library, the other in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Madingley, Cambridgeshire.

Memorials

On the 50th anniversary of VE Day, 1995, the nearby Flamstead End Relief Road was renamed Lieutenant Ellis Way, in honour of the men who died that day, and a memorial at the site is planned.

The following men died in the crash:

Pilot           2nd Lt Ellis, John D.
Co-Pilot        F/O     Stalsby, Samuel C.
Navigator       2nd Lt  Cox, Robert B.
Engineer        T/Sgt   Jankowski, Stanley F.
Radio Operator  T/Sgt   Holling, John H.
Gunner          S/Sgt   Hultengren, Clare W.
Gunner          S/Sgt   Minick, Frank Jr.
Gunner          S/Sgt   Cable, Jay V.
Gunner          S/Sgt   Shaeffer, Jack D.
Gunner          S/Sgt   McGinley, William C.

Comments about this page

Thank you for posting this. I am one of John Dudley Ellis' granddaughters. He is survived by my mother, ne Mary Lee Ellis, his only daughter, my sister Annette Todaro, and me. He died a week before my mother turned one year old. I recently had the honor of visiting the Cheshunt library to see the plaque hung there as well as a turn about Lt Ellis Way. I look forward to my next visit to England when I plan to visit Cambridge and his grave. Our family is honored that Hertfordshire's communities chose to honor our ancestor and his airmen. Best, Michelle Hatata

By Michelle Hatata
On 24/09/2010

I have only recently started to learn about computers hence I have not been able to join in on this subject. I am amazed at the research that has been carried out by interested parties in trying to solve the mystery and have read all that I can find, I only wish I could have come in sooner.

My father and I were eye witnesses to this event, it was simple, tragic and was all over in about three minutes, it occurred right over our heads, we stood in silence unable to speak for some minutes. I was 15yrs old.

This was a time of incredible armada's of aircraft passing over us hundreds at a time but this particular morning the weather was not good and the cloud base was rather low. It was not long before the drone of engines was heard then coming from approx the S/W came a group of Liberators just scimming below the clouds, they were very low and seem to be following the railway line towards Theobalds Grove station which was just behind our house in Hedworth Ave. To our horror at the same time appeared a group of twin engined bombers possibly Marauders coming from the opposite direction also just under the clouds, we held our breath, all seem to go well but at the last minute a Marauder clipped the tail of a Liberator which immediately broke away to the left losing height. This slow turn to the left must have taken it close to the marshes soon to be heading directly back to the centre of Cheshunt. With its engines now at full revs the pilot tried desperately to pull the nose up at least three times only to lose the battle in a farmers field. Thats all it took THREE MINUTES, how sad.

During the afternoon three american fighters circled the crash site, they went into a dive towards the still smoking wreck climbing steeply and splitting into a prince of wales feather pattern, a touching and fitting salute. I left Waltham Cross in 1947 but whenever I visit the area I never fail to salute those young men

By Ron Bennett
On 18/01/2011

A memorial to the men on the Liberator Bomber was unveiled on 22 January 2011. You can see video clips and a report by following this link.

By Daphne Knott
On 24/01/2011