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LOCAL HISTORY Granby, Massachusetts, USA

1944 - WESTOVER FIELD BOMBER CRASH KILLS SEVEN.

DateSeptember 18, 1944 PlacePittsfield, Massachusetts PublicationBerkshire Evening Eagle
Newspaper article NEWSPAPER & ARCHIVE

PLANE DEMOLISHED, WRECKAGE STREWN OVER GRANBY AREA.

Granby - Seven Westover Field heavy bomber crewmen were killed early yesterday morning here when their plane, in which they were training for night combat flight, crashed and burned in a swampy wooded area two miles north of the field.

Wreckage from the ship was spread over a wide area and second growth trees were sheared clean to the ground at the point where the bomber crashed. Parts of the motor were found up to several hundred feet away from the point of impact.

The motors themselves, charred and damaged beyond repair were hurled about 75 feet. The fuselage was completely disintegrated and after the bodies had been removed, Westover salvage crews were assigned to the scene.

Those killed in the crash were:
2d Lt. GENE R. ASAY, 28, of Lodi, Cal., pilot.
2d Lt. JOHN W. WOODROW, 22, of Huntington, Ind., co-pilot.
Sgt. NEAL W. JOHNSON, 22, of Ashland, Kan., engineer.
Pfc. JACK W. HARISTON, 18, of Atlanta, Ga., assistant engineer.
Cpl. JOHN A. PERRY, 24, of West Warwick, R.I., radio operator.
Pfc. CLIFFORD K. NORDBY, 18, of Walhalla, N.D.,
assistant radio operator.
Sgt. WILLIAM D. HAYNES, 26, of Parsons, Kan., aerial gunner.
SOURCE DETAILS
Publication
Berkshire Evening Eagle
Place
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Date
September 18, 1944
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