Commemorations are being held this evening to mark the 77th anniversary of the catastrophic air accident at Endcliffe Park.
The ‘Mi Amigo memorial’ stands to remember the brave pilots of the plane that crashed almost 80 years ago.
On the 22nd February 1944, the American air force B-17 Flying Fortress ‘Mi Amigo’ was flying back from Denmark and crash-landed in Endcliffe park. The crew sacrificed their lives to prevent the deaths of a group of children playing nearby.
Mi Amigo Memorial, Endcliffe Park, Sheffield
The Mi Amigo’s pilot, John Kriegshauser, was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross for his service.
To this day, Sheffield residents local to Endcliffe Park keep the memory of the Mi Amigo alive.
Barry Darwin, who has been going to the Mi Amigo memorial for years, usually attends an event on the anniversary, but this year, COVID-19 has made the tradition more difficult.
Despite that, he plans to spend an evening at the memorial, during which he will read a poem by Rupert Brooke, who is most famous for writing war sonnets.
Mi Amigo Memorial, Endcliffe Park, Sheffield
In a regular year, Mr Darwin would attend a service at at St Augustine’s Church with fifteen to twenty American expat soldiers who served out of the local Menwith Hill RAF air base.
But Mr Darwin and his friends aren’t the only ones who commemorate the occasion. Today, several wreaths have been placed at the base of the memorial, and many local Sheffield residents visit the memorial all-year round, enjoying the scenery and drinks from the local cafe.
What people remember most is the heroism of the pilots involved.
The memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day and is located in the Broomhill area of Sheffield.
