THE family of an American bomber pilot killed in a mid-air collision in thick fog 64 years ago have visited the crash scene for the first time.
Christina Crooks Dahmen, aged 63, was born just seven weeks after her 26-year-old father died when two B-17 bombers returning from Germany collided in thick fog above Greenham Common in 1944.
She only ever got to know her dad through the scrapbooks and photographs kept by her mother Elizabeth, now aged 88. They include 2nd Lieut Charles Crooks' last love-letter to his heavily pregnant wife written the day before the crash, and the official telegram sent a fortnight later curtly telling her that he had been killed in action.
Now the daughter he never knew has travelled to Newbury from Sacramento, California, for the première of a new documentary telling the story of the crash, accompanied by her daughter Carol, son Curtis and nine-year-old granddaughter Camille.
Dignitaries, serving US officers and members of the public packed Newbury's Royal British Legion club for Sunday's screening of Shadows, made by independent film maker Sean Caveille.
Sixteen airmen died in the accident, which went unreported at the height of the Second World War.
Only a Newbury Weekly News appeal for information in 2003 brought forward eyewitnesses, including the former schoolboys, now in their 70s, who discovered one of the bomber's engines sticking out of boggy land at Bishop's Green.
On Monday, the 64th anniversary of the crash, 2nd Lieut Crooks' family finally visited the site, which is virtually the same six decades later.
Mrs Crooks Dahmen said: “It's extraordinary that 64 years later, it is not changed. It's not a car-parking lot or apartment blocks or anything.
“I've had a picture in my mind of how it would look. To come here, and actually see it, it is somewhat like I pictured it. To me, it's very peaceful and pretty, and I'm sure it's prettier in the spring when it's green. It's very beautiful, actually.”
She added: “With that many aircraft in the air, accidents were the common thing, not the uncommon thing. I suppose it's less glamorous than being shot down by a German plane, but nonetheless the result is the same.”
She has kept her elderly mother up-to-date with their pilgrimage to the desolate site where the 16 young men died.
“We called her last night after the film and she got very broke up about it. I asked her, 'How did you survive this? You're eight months pregnant, and on New Year's Eve you get a telegram saying your husband has died.
“It was very hard for her, but she had great family support, and my mum was a great person as far as keeping his memory alive.
“He was a pretty good guy, from what everyone said. He was very friendly. He would have gone home and been something in sales, or something like that.”
Christina's son Curtis, who made the journey from Dallas, Texas, said: “When you imagine all the planes shot down over Germany, and all the families that will probably never know where their relatives died, we are quite lucky to have this opportunity to come to his final spot.”