Mapleton, Maine – July 3, 1943
B-26G Bomber
U.S. Air Force Photo
At about 5 p.m. on July 3, 1943, a U. S. Army B-26C bomber aircraft, (Ser. # 41-35181), took off from the Presque Isle, Maine, Air Base, for a routine training flight when it lost an engine shortly after take off and went down and exploded in a wooded area of Mapleton, about five miles west of the airfield.
There were five men aboard at the time, three of whom perished.
The dead were identified as:
The pilot: 1st Lt. Walter M. Cochran of Wilmington, Del.
The co-pilot: 1st Lt. Walter H. Peoples of Wilmington, Del.
Flight Engineer: Corporal Albert O. Williams of Central, New Mexico.
The injured survivors were identified as:
Corporal Richard P. Hamilton of Pasadena, Cal.
1st Lt. Norman F. Smith, of Sandena, Cal.
Both were brought to Presque Isle Air Base Hospital.
Sources:
Evening Star, (Wash. D.C.), “Three Army Fliers Die In Maine Plane Crash”, July 4, 1943m, page C-7
Aviation Safety Network
