US Navy Liberator crash site, Steeperton Tor

On 3 December 1943 a US Navy Liberator on a training flight flew into the Steeperton Tor ridge in cloud, about 100 ft below the top of the 1,739 ft ridge. All ten crew died. The wreck broke up and scattered about 800 yards down the steep west slope into Steeperton Gorge.

• Aircraft: Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator, Bureau No. 32014
• Unit: VB-103, US Navy, from Dunkeswell in Devon
• Date: 3 December 1943
• Crew: Ten, all killed
• Grid reference: SX 61800 88600 (the Devon HER's approximate point is SX 62000 89000)

What happened

It was an instrument training flight. The aircraft was in cloud when it struck the ridge. No. 67 Maintenance Unit of the RAF salvaged it over nine days in winter, borrowing US Army vehicles to cope with the bog.

What you can see

Only small fragments on the upper slopes were recorded in the 1990s. I found no memorial. The 2022 memorial stones were for the West Okement Liberator and the Tiger's Marsh B-17.

Access

The Devon HER says the site is in a danger area, because the area around the tor is an artillery range (Okehampton).

The site is in or beside a military danger area. Check the firing programme before you go and do not enter when the red flags are flying.

All military aircraft crash sites in the UK are protected by the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. It is an offence to dig, move or take anything from one without a licence from the Ministry of Defence, and many are war graves. Look, photograph, leave everything where it is.

Do not confuse

This is a different aircraft from the West Okement Liberator, which crashed on 28 December 1943. One website gives this one as 1948 with nine killed; the unit and loss records say 1943 and ten.