Memorial

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1st Lt Richard H. Sperry graduated from Norwalk High School in 1932 and graduated from Yale University in 1936. He was posthumously awarded his MBA from New York University.

He was working as a clerk at Irving Trust Company when he volunteered as an aviation cadet for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in New York City, New York, on 19 December 1941.

According to eyewitnesses, the plane was flying over the target with the #1 engine smoking. The pilot let down his landing gear after about 45 minutes over the target. He then flew in formation for a while and then peeled off to the right and kept his altitude. He then dropped down about 500 feet and flew that way for about ten minutes. Next, there was a flash of flame, and the plane exploded.

Two crew members, the co-pilot Lt Richard H. Sperry and the ball turret gunner S/Sgt James B. Farrel, were found dead in the wreckage of the plane.

Eight crew members bailed out before the plane disintegrated and parachuted safely down. Five crewmen were captured by the Germans shortly after they reached the ground. Lt Lock, Sgt Mullins and Sgt Pencek were found by the Dutch resistance and evaded capture.

A memorial stone can be found at the place of the crash.