On this day 19th June Remembering a Plane Crash in the Abbey Ballyshannon

Crew of plane who crashed in the Abbey Ballyshannon on this day. (Billy Finn)

Ballyshannon was to witness a fatal crash on  Monday the 19th June,1944  when an American B24 Liberator Bomber plane of 422 Squadron crashed due to engine failure in a field at the Abbeylands. The plane on a ferry flight from Goose Bay, New Foundland to Nutt’s Corner Airfield in Antrim carried a crew of ten, of whom two were killed and six were injured.A local anecdote recalls that this plane had been searching for a place to land, and had been seen over the bridge at Ballyshannon. The ten man crew appeared to be searching for a landing place but ignored (or possibly didn’t see) the fishermen’s signal from the Goochers (a fishing spot in the Erne channel) indicating a safe landing place. The plane headed inland over St. Patrick’s Well, and  the scraping noise of the plane as it hit stone ditches, could be heard before it crashed. 

Eyewitnesses saw the plane in the Erne estuary

Eyewitnesses to the crash in the Abbey

Five Ballyshannon children witnessed the final flight of the American B24 Liberator bomber plane as it searched for a landing spot on a calm, sunny Monday evening seventy five years ago.  Dessie Drummond, Mary Bannigan, Marie, Eddie and Kathleen McIntyre were at McIntyre’s house on the Whitehill overlooking the Erne estuary and Kathleen describes what they saw: “It was a calm, sunny evening when the noise of the plane was heard overhead. The fishermen on the Goochers signed to the crew of the aeroplane that they could land there; but the aeroplane continued its journey, turned into the Abbey Bay and continued up over the fields until it crashed at the Upper Abbey”. 

Local people helped the Crash Victims

The crew were cared for at the site by Nurse Maureen Kelly , S.R.N. who lived nearby, and by  members of the Red Cross, the Local Defence Force, the Gardai and the Irish Military. Hundreds of  people from  the local areas arrived to help and it is recalled that the pilot, Arthur H. Dittmer, reassured the crowd that there were no bombs or explosives on board. Sean Gibbons recalls that his grandfather John Gibbons, a well-known taxi driver was present at the crash site. All the crew were taken to the Sheil Hospital in Ballyshannon where they were tended to by Dr. Daly, Dr. Gordon, Sister Fidelma, the Sisters of Mercy and lay staff. The armament  on the plane consisted of 8 machine guns.The names of the  crew were: Lieutenant Marvin J. Reddick, Lieutenant Arthur H. Dittmar, Lieutenant Arnold A.Grueber, Sgt. Edward J.Friedl, Sgt. George H. Smith,  Sgt. Lester M. Clarke, Cpl. James O.E.Harvey, 2nd Lieutenant Wayne R.  Davis, Cpl. Riley M. Cannon and Sgt. Carlos F. Maestas. Cannon and Maestas died in the crash and their remains along with the eight survivors were returned to Northern Ireland. 

Plaque at Abbeylands on road to Rossnowlagh

On the 19th June 2005,  Billy Finn and the members of  Historic Ballyshannon, unveiled a memorial stone at a gate pillar close to  the site of the crash and also presented a citation to the Sheil Hospital who cared for the victims of all crashes in the area. A subsequent ceremony in Coláiste Cholmcille was attended by representatives of the American Embassy, Minister Mary Coughlin, local clergy and people from the area, some of  whom were present on the day of the crash.

Plaque on Allingham Bridge Ballyshannon today.

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. Also available for postage from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

Topics include: How to go about Tracing your Roots/The first settlers in the area/ Newly researched history of the town of Ballyshannon and the townlands in Kilbarron and Mágh Éne parishes/ Records of the first travellers and tourists to Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Belleek, Rossnowlagh and Ballintra/An aerial guide to place names along the Erne from Ballyshannon to the Bar/Flora and Fauna of the area/ A history of buildings and housing estates in the locality/Graveyard Inscriptions from the Abbey graveyard, St. Joseph’s and St. Anne’s /Rolling back the years with many memories of the Great Famine, Independence struggle, hydro-electric scheme, Gaelic games, boxing, handball, Boy Scouts, soccer, mummers, characters, organisations, folklore and lots more.