Pinnis Valley Memorial plaque for Priority Gal

Pinnis Valley memorial plaque dedicated to the crew of Priority Gal, Austria

Above: about to uncover the plaque

Above: plaque is uncovered

Above: viewing the plaque

Translation of the memorial plaque in Pinnistal - Neustift im Stubaital (1370m above sea level): English translation of the original German text

Memorial plaque

At about 13.15 hours on July 31st 1944 a 4-engine-Bomber Type B17G ( Flying Fortress ) of the USAAF crashed here only 80 m to the south after being hit by flak over Innsbruck .

Ander Haas and his aunt were hit by exploding ammunition, the alpine hut ( his birthplace ) was damaged.

The two pilots Henry W. Supchak and John S. Karlac could prevent in a heroic flight maneuvre that the damaged bomber crashed directly into the village. They saved the lives of many inhabitants. Many thanks to these pilots. All 8 ( or 9 ) crew-members could bail out and were captured by SS-troops and sent into POW-camps ( Stalag Luft ) in northern Germany after many questions about their mission, their Bomb Group, their crew etc. )

The bomber was part of a big fleet attacking Munich. This B17 came from the airfield of Bassingbourn, England ( 8th USAAF, 91st.Bomb Group, 323rd Squ.). The crew tried to escape to the neutral Switzerland, but flak hits also over Innsbruck made it impossible .

Ander Haas, 31st of July 2005-08-01

( Ander Haas, a famous tourism - pioneer in the Stubai - Valley has payed the costs for the unique plaque, casted in the world famous bronze - foundry GRASSMAYR in Innsbruck.

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This is the original German text on the memorial plaque :

Zum Gedenken

Am 31.Juli 1944 um 13.15 Uhr stürzte hier ca. 80 m links ein viermotoriger Bomber vom Typ B17G ( Fliegende Festung ) der USAAF nach Flakbeschuß über Innsbruck ab.

Ander Haas und seine Tante wurden durch Splitter verletzt, die Herzebenalm durch herabstürzende Trümmer beschädigt.

Die beiden Piloten Henry W. Supchak und John S. Karlac konnten in einer heldenhaften Reaktion den Absturz auf das Dorf Neustift verhindern und so ein großes Unglück verhindern, wofür ihnen großter Dank gebührt. Alle 8 Besatzungsmitglieder dieses Bombers konnten mit dem Fallschirm abspringen und wurden von SS-Mannschaften gefangengenommen und nach ersten Einvernahmen in Kriegsgefangenenlager (Stalag Luft) nach Norddeutschland gebracht.

Der Bomber war Teil eines großen Verbandes mit Angriffsziel München und war von der Basis Bassingbourn, England gestartet.
( 8.Luftflotte der USAAF, 91. Bomb Group, 323. Squadron ); die geplante Flucht in die rettende neutrale Schweiz wurde durch die Flak Innsbruck jäh unterbrochen.

Ander Haas, 31.Juli 2005

The story about the fate of this B17 was investigated first by Keith Bullock, Mils nr. Imst. The further details were found by Jakob Mayer of Innsbruck, who has written the text of the plaque.