Litchfield, Connecticut – June 12, 1943
P-47C Thunderbolt
U.S. Air Force Photo
On the morning of June 12, 1943, a flight of three U.S. Army P-47 aircraft took off from Westover Field in Chicopee, Massachusetts for a training flight. While the airplanes were passing over the area of Litchfield, Connecticut, two of the aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision.
One of the aircraft, a P-47C, (Ser. No. 41-6081), piloted by Lieutenant Andrew Lemmens, crashed and burned in a wooded area off Norfolk Road in the town of Litchfield, near the Goshen/Litchfield town line. Lt. Lemmens was able to parachute safely, and landed in the woods about a mile from the crash site. Two local youths who’d witnesses the incident found the pilot and led him out of the woods.
The other aircraft involved was a P47C, (Ser. No. 41-6088). Further details are unknown as of this posting.
Both aircraft were assigned to the 320th Fighter Squadron.
Sources:
The Torrington Register, (Torrington, Ct.) “Plane Crash Reported Near Goshen”, June 12, 1943, page 1
The Torrington Register, (Torrington, Ct.), “Airplane Burns Following Crash In Litchfield”, June 14, 1943
