On 18 Aug 44, Lt Roger L Leister and crew #008-R1 of the 788th BS (new additions to the group from the 492nd BG), took off from Rackheath in B-24 42-50439 "BROAD AND HIGH" to attack the aero works at Woippy, France. Severely damaged on the mission, and low on fuel, Leister "heroically" avoided the village of Kirby Bedon and crash landed in a field just beyond the village. Sadly, four of the crew were killed in the crash. The others, including Leister, sustained varying degrees of injury.

The men KIA:

2nd Lt. William M. SHERRILL, Bombardier
T/Sgt George LIFSCHITZ, Radio Operator
T/Sgt Darlton W. PONTIUS, Engineer
S/Sgt Philip A. SNYDER, Gunner

The village and wanted to show their appreciation for the heroism of the efforts by Lt Leister that day. Some weeks later the Kirby Bedon minister contacted the chaplin at Rackheath and told him that the villagers had collected a sum of money and would like the names of the crewmen of the Liberator so that their names could be placed on a memorial plaque in the church of St Andrew's (where it remains to this day).

The inscription includes a quotation from Abraham Lincoln:

"Let us have faith that right makes might
and in that faith
let us, to the end, dare to do our duty."