Missing Army Bomber – December 13, 1943
In the early morning hours of Sunday, December 13, 1943, a B-24 Liberator bomber took off from Westover Air Field in Chicopee, Massachusetts, for a training flight in preparation for overseas duty. It was never seen again, and was presumed to have gone down in the waters off the New England coast.
There were eight men aboard the missing aircraft, two officers and six enlisted men. They were identified as:
2nd Lt. William P. Masters of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
2nd Lt. Robert Rollin Hansen, age 25, of Corcoran, California.
Sgt. Dean G. McAffery, age 19, of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Sgt. Stanley E. Zagae, of Detroit, Michigan.
Sgt. Bernard G. Stoeckley, of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Sgt. Cicel H. Conklin, of Kansas City, Mo.
Sgt. Anson G. Wiseman, of Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
Sgt. Anthony L. Greco, of Pittsburgh, Pa.
It is believed that the aircraft was assigned to the 759th Bombardment Squadron, which was stationed at Westover at the time before leaving for overseas duty in January of 1944.
Sources:
Unknown Newspaper, “Westover Bomber Missing; Air, Land Search Under Way”, December 13, 1943
The Fresno Bee Republican, (Fresno, CA.), “Corcoran Flier’s Plane Is Missing”, December 14, 1943, page 15.