A Sheffield man has said that maintaining the Mi Amigo memorial is the purpose of his life.
Tony Foulds, the last surviving witness of the crash, has looked after the memorial at Endcliffe Park for 72 years now. He sees it as his responsibility to look after the memorial daily due to survivors’ guilt.
Mr Foulds said: “They could have very easily killed six of us but they cost their own lives for mine. I have sworn that this is now all I’ll live for.”
The crash happened in 1944 and the memorial was erected in the 1970s to honour the airmen who risked their lives to prevent further damage and casualties.
The dedicated Sheffielder spends 4 hours a day looking after the memorial.
Dave, who goes by the Steel City Snapper on X, said: “Tony Foulds was one of the children playing in the park when the plane crashed. He talks movingly about the pilot John Kriegshauser waving to those below to evacuate the area just before it crashed and Tony has carried survivors guilt for the rest of his life.”
“He has looked after the Mi Amigo memorial for several years and tells people who stop by the story of the airmen and he helps to keep their memories alive.”
The crash happened back in 1944 and the memorial was erected in the 1970s to honour the airmen who risked their lives to prevent further damage and casualties.
Steve Rackham, a photographer, said: “The fatalities could have been so much worse, involving small children but the crew managed to avoid them, potentially sacrificing their own lives when they might have survived if they didn’t take the course of action they did.”
Tony is forever grateful to the crew who risked their lives to save him and has dedicated his whole life, since the incident, to look after the crew.
He said: “When I go, there’s a plot just behind the grave. I’m staying with them. They’re a part of my family, as far as I’m concerned.”
The crew had been dubbed as the Heroes of Endcliffe Park, and are also known as #TonysTen, which has been engraved on a park bench at the memorial that looks fairly different from the other benches around the park.
The memorial occupies a small part of the park which has been well-maintained by Tony throughout the years.