[paulwebber]

Here are some details from the USAAF accident report regarding B-17G 42-38085, 711th Bomb Squadron, 447th Bomb Group:
Pilot 1/Lt Wesley G. Hudson took off from Rattlesden (Station 126) at 1012 hours on 27 March 1944 in heavy fog. For reasons unknown, his right wing caught fire after takeoff. He lost control and crashed a few minutes after takeoff near Thorpe Morieux in Scarfe Ley (field). All ten crewmen perished.

Local resident John Poole remembers the crash. He provided these coordinates for the crash site:
52 deg 08 min 55 sec North; 0 deg 48 min 53 sec East
This is just west of Thorpe Morieux, England.

On 30 June 2006 I visited the crash site with John Poole and Ivo de Jong, a USAAF researcher. Ivo detected something protruding through the surface of the ground. He unearthed a crumpled piece of aluminum that measures about 3 1/4 by 4 1/4 inches. It is a stout piece of heavy-gauge aluminum, definitely thicker than aircraft skin. It appears to be some kind support structure. It has two lines of information etched on one side. I took a closeup digital photo of the object. The two lines appear to read:
ET
SG 1697

It could be:
ET
SC 1697

I have attached two photos of the piece, and a cropped closeup of the two lines of information.

This may be a piece of the B-17 from Rattlesden. Can anyone identify it?

Regards,
Paul Webber