Athenry News & Views Winter 2025

Athenry News & Views

WW2 Bomber referred to as ‘Stinky” after it crash landed in Athenry

By: Jarlath Cloonan

On the 15th January 1943, during a flight from Gibraltar to Portreath in the UK, a United States B-17E Flying Fortress Bomber known as "Stinky" crash landed outside Athenry. The plane’s crew, according to reports, became disoriented over the Bay of Biscay, missed its navigation checkpoints, and flew significantly off course. With fuel nearly exhausted, it crash-landed at approximately 11:50 am in a field at the Athenry Agricultural College colliding with a stone wall. All 17 passengers and crew including high-ranking U.S. officers such as Lt. Gen. Jacob Devers escaped unharmed. They were promptly surrounded by civilians and the Local Defence Force. A well-known anecdote recounts that when an LDF member pointed a rifle at Devers, he responded, “Son, point that thing away. It might go off and hurt someone” While under the rules of neutrality Ireland was expected to intern “Stinky”’s occupants but it was 'determined' that they were not on an active combat mission but merely ferrying passengers. Consequently, after hospitality from the locals including whiskey, lunch and a warm welcome they were quietly transported via Northern Ireland back to the UK later that evening. Thanks to quick thinking by the crew and the kindness of Athenry civilians, what could have been a diplomatic or military incident became a uniquely warm wartime story of major signifience. What would have happened if General Devers and the other high ranking officers were detained and what was so important that the General ordered the co pilot eat the documents he was carrying. In her book published in 1989 local historian Aggie Qualter wrote: “In 1943, four Generals of the Allied Supreme Command made a forced landing at Athenry. They visited Cairo, refuelled at Gibraltar on the return journey, but lost their way over the Bay of Biscay. They asked for their exact position on radio, but were intercepted by a German fighter, who picked up the message. Due to the bitter encounter with the enemy plane, which they shot down, they found themselves completely off course, and finally landed at the farmyard (Mellows College). A plucky five-footer – Dinny ‘the Barber’ Madden – armed and in uniform, was one of the first to appear on the scene. He approached the plane with the words: ‘A

member of the Irish Defence Force.’ A tall uniformed officer stepped forward, stood to attention, and replied: ‘A General of the American Army.’ Was the interaction with a German fighter covered up to avoid a breach of the Geneva Convention on how a neutral country should deal with ‘prisoners’? Folklore sources can often blend oral tradition and local memory, which can reshape events. The mention of a German fighter may have been a later embellishment or misremembered detail. It is not supported in the U.S. Army Air Forces’ own records of the incident but Aggie Qualter would clearly have first hand knowledge from the local LDF members who engaged with the crew immediately after it crashed. The Irish Army discovered empty ammunition shells on aboard along with a note referring to “enemy action” suggesting the crew had been attacked en route. Why was there no official inquiry by the U.S. Army authorities into the incident that almost cost the lives of their highest ranking Officers. Neutral Ireland was obliged to intern all belligerent troops and aircraft that landed on its territory. In practice, however, Allied personnel were often quietly escorted across the border to Northern Ireland, while German crews were interned for the duration. If an aerial combat episode with a German aircraft had been acknowledged, it would have strengthened the case that the U.S. officers were 'combatants on active duty'. That would have made it much harder

The Crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber outside the Railway Hotel with local LDF man Frank Kilkelly on the left.