Farmington, CT – April 11, 1945

Farmington, Connecticut – April 11, 1945

P-47D Thunderbolt - U.S. Air Force Photo

P-47D Thunderbolt – U.S. Air Force Photo

     On April 11, 1945, two P-47 fighter aircraft took off from Bradley Field in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, for an instrument training flight.  One of the aircraft, a P-47D, (Ser. No. 42-22360), was piloted by 2nd Lt. Vincent Hugh Core, 20, of Brooklyn, New York.  While passing over the town of Framington, Lt. Core’s aircraft was observed to plunge straight down into a wooded swampy area and explode leaving a crater reported to be 12 to 15 feet deep, and 30 feet wide.  One source identifies the location as being on a farm belonging to John Lipski, and another as belonging to Leo Grouten.  

       In 1987, 41 years after the crash, David Tabol, a Farmington Boy Scout, erected a granite monument near the crash site as a memorial to Lt. Core.  (The site is now part of the Unionville State Forrest.)   Further back in the woods is a crude piles of rocks, which some believe was left by the military clean-up crew to serve as a marker for the site.  

     Sources:

     The Bristol Press, “Pilot Killed, Plane Blown To Pieces In Crash In Farmington”, April 11, 1945, pg. 1

     The Bristol Press, ” Army Investigating Crash Of Plane In Farmington; Brooklyn Flier Is Killed”, April 12, 1945

     The Bristol Press,”WWII Tragedy, Air Force Pilot Crashes, Dies In Unionville Forest In 1945″, by Ken Lipshez, October, 1995.

     Connecticut Department Of Health Death Certificate

 

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