AT6 Monument The AT6 Monument is a granite memorial to Royal Air Force cadets who were killed while on a training flight during World War II . It stands on Big Mountain , north of Moyers , Oklahoma , in the United States , and was dedicated on February 20 , 2000 — the 58th anniversary of the deadly crashes . Background . The United Kingdom was hard - pressed to train Royal Air Force cadets during World War II , since the skies over Britain were an aerial battleground . British student pilots were sent to Australia , Canada , South Africa and the United States for training . In the U . S . they were sent to a number of states — among them Oklahoma and Texas . In Oklahoma they established RAF training schools at Miami and Norman , and in Texas they established one at Terrell . Courses of instruction included navigation , meteorology , aero engines , and principles of flight . Aviation cadets at Terrell superimposed a map of Europe over Texas , Oklahoma , Arkansas , New Mexico and Mississippi . As their " zero milestone " they chose Terrell to serve as " London , England " . Radiating outward from Terrell , at precise mileages , were the following stand - in cities : An important part of training included frequent flight time in the cockpit . Training flights served this purpose , to acquaint the student fliers with real - life conditions in flight . Training flights often flew in formations of aircraft , to mimic real - world conditions during war . Crashes . On February 20 , 1943 a British training flight departed its airbase at Terrell , Texas — known as the No . 1 British Flying Training School — en route for the No . 3 British Flying Training School at Miami , Oklahoma . The students were flying a formation of twelve training aircraft known as AT - 6s . The AT - 6 — an acronym for " Advanced Trainer " — was first manufactured in 1930 . It was a two - seater , one - engine trainer plane . Their objective was to complete a low - level , cross - country training flight . Poor weather hampered the flight , however , particularly as they approached the Kiamichi Mountains of Pushmataha County , Oklahoma . According to local residents the weather was unfavorable . One , Lee Stone , described ground conditions as very foggy , with a rainy mist . Another , Calvin Moyer , who was attempting to hunt hogs , stopped due to the fog , which made it hard to see . The pilots encountered similar conditions in the air — and had not been briefed to expect them , or what to do if encountering them . Several planes turned back to Terrell , but others continued . Twelve pilots eventually landed at Miami as planned , but three planes encountered serious difficulties . " I found myself in the classic situation — trapped in a valley with no confident idea of where we were nor where the high ground might be , " said John Wall , one of the three beleaguered pilots . By this point the three troubled pilots found themselves over the Kiamichi Mountains , which rise progressively in elevation from south to north . The valley to which Wall referred is the Impson Valley , which is framed by steep mountains to its east and west . Pilot Wall and his navigator , " Wilbur " Wright , made the difficult decision to land on the floor of Impson Valley , rather than risk themselves and their plane in unknown territory . " I decided to make a wheels - down precautionary landing , " Wall later recalled . He landed successfully in a field known as Bedford ' s meadow belonging to farmer and rancher Bill Perrin , outside the isolated mountain community of Jumbo . " We were shortly surrounded by the local folk who looked after us extremely well , " Wall said . A young family , Mr . and Mrs . E . F . Jordan , gave them overnight accommodations . Things took a tragic turn for the worse regarding the other two planes , which found themselves on a path several miles to the east , taking them over the rural community of Moyers , Oklahoma , behind which the mountains rise precipitously . The pilots successfully cleared Rodney Mountain ( 764 feet ) , then passing over Moyers . Immediately behind Moyers is White Rock Mountain ( 1 , 023 feet ) , and one AT - 6 crashed into its steep southern slope . The plane slid into a tree , killing its crew . W . E . McMahan and other local would - be rescuers who ascended the mountain believed the fliers would have lived had the plane not impacted the tree . They also believed the pilot , Vincent Henry Cockman , 20 , of Ilford , England , had lived for a short time after the crash as his head was turned to face the body of his navigator , Frank Frostick , 21 , of North Walsham , England . The third missing plane managed to pass above White Rock Mountain but apparently lost control , spiraling down into the face of Big Mountain ( 1 , 145 feet ) . Big Mountain , which marks the southern end of the rugged and geologically significant Johns Valley , is between the rural communities of Moyers and Kosoma . The third wreck took longer to locate , and was not found until the next day . Piloted by Mike Hosier , 19 , of Swindon , England and navigated by Maurice Jenson , 19 , of Bournemouth , England , the plane came straight down into the mountain , and " struck the ground head on , " according to McMahan . What the local rescuers found on Big Mountain struck them as almost eerie : the force of the plane ' s impact " threw a big rock up out of the ground , making a natural tombstone . " This almost uncanny circumstance remained with the men for decades , causing them to recount it many years later . All four bodies were taken to Antlers , Oklahoma — the county seat and largest town in Pushmataha County , approximately eight miles from the crash sites — and then to Terrell , where they were interred in the British burial ground in Oakland Memorial Park cemetery . The monument . Many years later news of the crashes came to the attention of school students in Rattan , Oklahoma — a country hamlet 12 miles east of Antlers , and over the Kiamichi Mountains from the crash sites — who elected to pursue it as a research topic . Rattan , as a very small school , divided its boys and girls into separate reading classes — made necessary by the fact that its small , single - purpose gymnasium is not sufficiently large to accommodate both groups of students as a unisex physical education class . As a result it scheduled girls and boys to be in reading and P . E . classes on alternating classroom periods . It was the boys ’ sixth grade reading class , taught by Beth Lawless ( Mrs . Bruce Lawless ) , which initiated the research . After delving into the matter for several weeks the students came to believe the crash victims should be commemorated . They found it hard to believe local residents no longer remembered this unusual piece of their local World War II history , and considered it sad that four grieving families had been left in England during the war , with no sense of proper closure brought to the affair . The boys decided to erect a marker at the crash site on Big Mountain . The site , located in a level glade , is adjacent to an old logging road . In addition , it had the additional merit of being known — the crash site on White Rock Mountain is much less accessible , and the local rescuers , who were by then in their 70s and 80s , were unable to take the students to the location . A local craftsman who builds cemetery grave markers donated his time and labor . The students undertook a fund - raising campaign to raise the money necessary for materials . They were successful , and the resulting marker is made of granite , tall and perpendicular , and engraved with information about the crash . The students then undertook locating surviving family members in England , and again were successful . Families of all four fliers were found , in addition to John Wall and Wilbur Wright themselves . Wall had since the war moved to New Zealand . The AT6 Monument is a granite memorial to Royal Air Force cadets who were killed while on a training flight during World War II . It stands on Big Mountain , north of Moyers , Oklahoma , and was dedicated on February 20 , 2000 — the 58th anniversary of the deadly crashes . Word reached British Airways and Air New Zealand of the students ’ endeavor . British Airways donated 18 free tickets for the students ’ use , and Air New Zealand offered to fly John Wall to the ceremony , free of charge . The students used the British Airways tickets to fly all survivors , plus flier Wright , to Dallas , Texas — for later transportation to Oklahoma . Several members of the British press corps also accompanied the flights , including reporters from the British Broadcasting Corporation and the " Daily Telegraph " and " Daily Mail " newspapers , as well as a local newspaper from a county seat . The marker was dedicated on February 20 , 2000 — the 58th anniversary of the crash landings . According to guest registers and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol , over 1 , 000 people crowded onto the mountaintop for the ceremony . News of it was broadcast throughout England , and reported in many newspapers around the world after being carried on the Associated Press wire service . Special guests included the assistant air attaché s from the embassies of the United Kingdom and New Zealand , in Washington , D . C . , and also the British vice consul assigned to the American Southwest , from Houston . All three remarked that this was one of the most unusual and moving events of their diplomatic and military careers — the students , who were from a poor and rural area , had taken on an impossible task — and accomplished it themselves . The marker stands next to the " natural tombstone " in a quiet glade of pine trees . The site is easily reachable from Oklahoma State Highway 2 — a sign erected by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol ( originally intended for use on the day of commemoration , but also as a gift to the students by grateful troopers ) guides would - be visitors from the turn - off approximately two miles north of Moyers . Recalling that long - ago day in 1943 , John Wall drew his thoughts to a conclusion , telling the students , " Turning back sooner would have been the smart thing — but then , youth always presses on . " Killebrew , Tom . The Royal Air Force in Texas . University of North Texas Press , 2003 .