On March 20th 1944, at about 4.45pm, a US bomber, a B17 Flying Fortress was seen over the countryside east of Looe.  The plane was badly damaged and off course.  The pilot forced the crew to parachute out over farmland near Bray, then ditched the plane in Looe Bay between Millendreath and Seaton.
The pilot, Lt. Robert Dennisen, was rescued by Sergeant George Love (a non-swimmer) and Mrs. Margaret Pearce, who rowed out in a leaking boat, the latter baling out with her shoe and George’s hat en-route.  All 10 crew members also survived.
Local divers found the crash site in the 1970s and brought up several artefacts.
Then in Autumn 2004 three divers (Dick Berrie and his sons Thomas and Sam) found two propellers and two engines near some rocks at Millendreath Beach.  These were later lifted off the rocks at low tide with the cooperation of some local people. Some of the wreckage can be viewed in Looe museum.


Activity
Write a newspaper article for the Cornish Times about the plane crash and rescue of the crew. Your article should report the facts in chronological order and include some quotations from the pilot and one of the rescuers. It needs a byline giving the name of the reporter (that’s you!) and an interesting first paragraph that summarises the story.  Don’t forget a short, snappy headline to attract attention!