Ditched ThunderbolT
The P47 Thunderbolt that crashed in the ditch between Rose Field and 5 Acre Field at Lindsey, in Suffolk in April 1944 was from the 56th Fighter Group based at Boxted near Colchester. This was the only American unit to fly solely Thunderbolts during their time in action. Using these machines they scored the second highest total number of kills in the Eighth Air Force and the highest number of air-to-air kills. In addition they had more ‘aces’ than any other group, including the two highest scoring men. The pilot of this aircraft though, had only joined the Group in April and had probably never flown a mission.
As a replacement pilot Lt George M Bracken would have had to fly several times with an experienced pilot to be ‘checked out’ before being tested in combat. Mr Rex Morley clearly remembered witnessing the accident that day as drilled linseed a couple of fields away from the crash. As he put it 'there were three or four of them messing about, when one of them started coming straight down. He was coming down absolutely straight at full throttle. Eventually the chap bailed out leaving the plane to crash right into the ditch. The pilot came down about 70yds away on the edge of a pond. He was quite badly hurt. Afterwards the Americans just came and picked up what was left laying on the surface, they never dug anything out'. Mr Morley was about 2 fields away drilling linseed at time.
From the official Report of Aircraft Accident
Since Captain Brooks, who was leading the flight, declares in his statement that he saw Lt Bracken's aircraft in a vertical dive at the time the pilot baled out, it would appear that Lt Bracken's recollection of what happened was somewhat confused. It is quite possible that when the pilot decided to bale out and released the controls, the aircraft recovered from the spin by itself. This would account for Capt. Brooks having seen it in a vertical dive.
Since no other evidence exists, the board attributes the accident to pilot error, and further attributes it to 100% faulty technique, in that the pilot blacked himself out and stalled the aircraft, allowed it to spin and could not recover.”
Although Lt Bracken, of Chicago, was able to give an account of what happened shortly afterwards he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries on 27th April 1944 and was laid to rest at Madingley American cemetery, near Cambridge.
The
excavation of P47D-11-RE serial no
42-75540 revealed the tailwheel strut and retracting mechanism at a depth of
around 5’ this was
on top of the mass of compressed wreckage which had been the rear fuselage. 
(above)
Within this was the remote mounted turbo-charger, intercooler and associated
ducting. (right) Below this laid the radio equipment and oxygen bottles. The seat
armour, seat harness and seat mounting frame were recovered in good condition.
The plywood seat had disintegrated. The gun-sight, undercarriage selector,
throttle levers, and a couple of instruments came out all in good condition.
One of which, the altimeter still indicates 300ft, as it
would not have been able to 'unwind' as fast as the Thunderbolt was diving
before impact. The
cockpit clock still had the hour hand attached and showing just after 9 o'clock. The time
of the crash was recorded as 9:15. The
instrument panel and several more instruments came out in a badly smashed state.
The rudder pedals both survived relatively intact. Much of the airframe between
the cockpit and the engine was burnt away, but sections of the engine mounting
ring and ancillaries were found. The engine was at around 16 feet below the
surface. As with most radials, the majority of cylinders were wrenched off as it
buried itself, but other than that it was in generally good condition. Three of
the four propeller blades were also found.
The gunsight as found and below after cleaning
One of the pair of rudder pedals
The throttle quadrant
The altimeter
Mr Morley with the remnants of the Thunderbolt he last saw heading towards his field.
© copyright Jeff Carless