Off Cape Cod – July 19, 1944

Off Cape Cod – July 19, 1944

    

U.S. Navy TBM Avengers  National Archives Photo

U.S. Navy TBM Avengers
National Archives Photo

     At about 10:45 p.m., on the night of July 19, 1944, an unspecified number of navy airplanes were conducting night training maneuvers off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, when two aircraft, both TBM-1C Avengers, were involved in a mid-air collision. 

     One plane, (Bu. No. 45716), was able to make it back safely to Otis Air Field in Falmouth, Massachusetts; the other, (Bu. No. 45706), plunged into the sea and both men aboard were lost and never recovered.  They were identified as:

     (Pilot) Ensign Leo Henry Reimers, 22, of Yamhill, Oregon.  There is a memorial to Ensign Reimers in Willamette National Cemetery, in Portland, Oregon.  To see a photo, and learn more information about Ensign Reimers, see www.findagrave.com, Memorial, # 36351469.)  

     Aviation Radioman 3/c Herbert W. Burke, of Milton, Oregon. 

     Sources:

     The Register-Guard, (Eugene, Ore.), “Two Oregon Fliers Lost Off Cape Cod.”  

     www.findagrave.com

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