Fallen soldier's family sought for memorial
Residents of a small village in Suffolk in the United Kingdom have reached across the pond looking for relatives of 2nd Lt. Kenneth B. Rongstad in conjunction with a pilot and crew memorial they plan to have dedicated in May.
A resident of Kalispell, Rongstad was the pilot of a B-17 that crashed on takeoff from Horham Airfield near Green Farm in Redlingfield on Nov. 19, 1943. The airplane exploded, drastically damaging a nearby farmhouse and killing all 10 crew members.
Miraculously, a pregnant woman and her young baby occupying the farm house survived the blast from the airplane that was fully-loaded with bombs, ammunition and fuel. No villagers were hurt.
Janet Norman-Philips, chairwoman of the Redlingfield Parish Council, contacted the Inter Lake to obtain a picture of Rongstad and any information about family members who would like to know about their project.
Rongstad’s obituary said he graduated from Flathead High School in 1940, entered the Army in 1941 and was commissioned as a bomber pilot in March of 1943. He was buried at Conrad Memorial Cemetery.
His survivors were listed as his parents, Alfred M. and Grace Rongstad, now deceased, a brother Wallace of Kalispell, twin half-brothers Floyd W. Rongstad of Corning, Calif., and Milton C. Rongstad of Lakeside and half-sister Ruby Bostick of Vancouver, Wash.
His brother Wallace, also a WWII veteran, died in an auto accident in Deer Lodge in 1954. Wallace was survived by his wife, Betty, and daughter Janet, 2 at the time.
According to some sources in the village, a nephew of Rongstad’s visited Horham about 10 to 12 years ago. But no one knows his name or how to contact him about the dedication.
Norman-Philips said that, along with Rongstad, the memorial honors the crew: Warren M. Strawn, Richard E. Diete, Joseph F. Spicer, Gail A. Richmond Jr., Gordon V. Sorensen, Charles E. Phinney, Louis M. Mirabel, Julius W. Torok, and Kenneth Cosby.
According to Norman-Philips, no one knows why the B-17 crashed on that very cold morning in November of 1943. Witnesses said the plane appeared to bank too sharply on take-off, causing the plane to stall.
Rongstad’s piloting skills were never in question. Days earlier he had successfully ditched his damaged aircraft named “Spare Parts” in the English Channel in 12-foot waves with no loss of life. Norman-Philips described this as an extraordinary maneuver on par with Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger landing on the Hudson River.
Even before the accident, the Americans’ arrival at Horham Airfield had a huge impact on Redlingfield and other villages. The 95th Bombardment Group landed with their B-17 in June of 1943 then flew 321 missions until August 1945. Over 500 members of the 95th died in action.
Village committee member Edith Coe proposed the memorial. Her husband Eddie was among the villagers who remember the crash. His father, blacksmith and Special Constable Alfred Coe, was one of the first on the scene. He rode up just as a bomb exploded, blowing him off his bicycle.
With help from 95th Bomb Group Heritage Association in Horham and the 95th Bomb Group Memorials Foundation in the United States, the villagers planned and began raising about $3,100 to pay for the granite memorial.
Margaret Blagg, chairman of the American foundation, expressed the organization’s appreciation when informed of the project.
“It humbles me to think that 66 plus years later, our British friends still feel this loss so keenly that they are erecting this memorial,” Blagg said.
The granite plaque includes an etched drawing of the B-17, specially commissioned from Dick Bierton, an award-winning monumental mason.
The dedication is scheduled for May 15 to coincide with the 95th Bomb Group Heritage Association’s open weekend at Horham Airfield. A number of United States veterans and their family members are due to visit as well as members of the Royal Air Force and Britain-based veteran groups.
Norman-Philips said the residents of the village thinks it’s important to commemorate the loss of the young men in Redlingfield and want to make the day very special for the American veterans and their families.
“Redlingfield is a very small village, less than 60 houses. The arrival of Americans in WWII had quite an impact on the village and they were very well thought of,” she said. “They were all very young and far too many of them didn’t go home again.”
Anyone with information about descendants may contact Norman-Philips at pc@redlingfield.suffolk.gov.uk. For additional information about the village and the accident, click the history button at www.redlingfield.suffolk.gov.uk
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.