Extract from https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/last-fall-75th…



On 6 May 1945 " at 6pm, a C46 Curtiss Commando transport plane took off from RAF Membury in Berkshire loaded with stores, timber and mail bound for the Allied airbase A-73 Roye-Amy in France. The Commando belonged to the 314th Troop Carrier Squadron, 349th Troop Carrier Group of the US 9th Army Air Force. The crew flying Commando serial no. 44-77861 that day were pilot 1st Lieutenant Sydney J. Gibson from Newkirk Oklahoma (aged 22), co-pilot 2nd Lieutenant Victor L. Young from Muskegon County Michigan (aged 22), crew chief Staff Sergeant Daniel M. Campbell from Maiden North Carolina (aged 20) where he lived with his wife Laura, and radio operator S/Sgt James F. Maloney from Pleasantville New York where he lived with his wife Verna. By 6.35pm, they were flying due south over Sussex through the bad weather that had persisted throughout the day. Unknown to them, completely obscuring the South Downs as they headed toward Beachy Head (a well-known navigation point for Allied aircrew). At 6.40pm, Sgt Charles Hopkins (Hailsham/Polegate police) received a telephone call reporting a crashed aircraft near the Long Man of Wilmington. On arrival at the scene, surrounded by dense fog, Sgt Hopkins and Dr Shaw of Hailsham found a scene of devastation. The aircraft was a complete wreck with timber strewn all around and mail blowing in the wind. The four crew were found around 50 yards in front of the wreckage. Two were dead on the scene, and two died while attempts were made to convey them to the RAF ambulance which arrived on the scene from Friston. The unfortunate casualties were Gibson, Young, Campbell and Maloney."