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In 1944 a P47 Republic Thunderbolt had just taken off from an airfield in Britain but the plane lost control in flight and crashed into a field. The pilot was killed on impact of the plane crashing into the field. Many years later some wreckage of the plane was unearthed and consequently a plaque was placed up the commemorate the brave pilot who lost his life on that fateful day. The images further below are of the remains of a P-47 Republic Thunderbolt that a pilot by the name of Lieutenant Jay F Simpson was flying. He was test flying it when for unknown reasons he lost control and the plane crashed into fields near Moreton, Wirral, Merseyside, on January 9th 1944.
It flipped over in the air and burst into flames, but Jay didn't attempt to bale out or let it crash onto houses, instead the brave pilot righted it as best he could and steered it away crashing into fields just outside of the residential area. Jay could possibly have bailed
out, as to stay with the plane was certain death, he The photos below are primarily of the engine remains. That I took when I visited the museum. The fuselage would have disintegrated, blown up into thousands of tiny bits that could not be salvaged. Also any remainder of the plane on the surface would have been cleared up at the time or later scavenged by locals.
Picture 1 shows the side view, the damage to the engine is vividly apparent. There isn't a straight undamaged part to be seen, the force of the impact completely smashing the engine. 1. Picture 2 shows a view of the front of the engine and the propellers that were re-assembled and fixed back on after being dug up. The propellers were also straightened out before being re-assembled back on the engine. The smash would have buckled and mangled them up a lot worse than is depicted here. 2. Picture 3 shows some of the protruding pistons. With the way the pistons are sticking out of the cylinder block we can only assume that the engine blew up. It either blew up in flight or upon impact. 3. Picture 4 we can see a closer view of the pistons that hang hap-hazard out of the engine. The impact and ensuing explosion must have been quite terrific as Jays plane drilled its way into the ground when it crashed, the engine driving its way deep down into the soft earth. 4.
A hero and his plane.
Above is a photo of brave and heroic pilot Lieutenant Jay F Simpson, who was from a town called Gillett, in Wisconsin, USA. Rest In Peace Jay, Thank you for your efforts in WWII. Read more about this
pilot here
  
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chose to stay with the plane. His unopened parachute was found with the
wreckage in 1974. He had taken off from Burtonwood Airbase, Lancashire, earlier.
The final remains of this P-47 were dug up in 1994 and are now on display in
Fort Perch, New Brighton, Wallasey, England.
