— 14 Blanchard tally based on breakouts below.

— 11 Mireles. Fatal [AAF] Aviation Accidents...[US]…V1: 1941–June 1943. 2006, pp. 84-85.

IL, Springfield area. Private plane, flight lesson:

— 2 Daily Independent, Murphysboro, IL. “Two Killed…as Plane Collapses.” 5-13-1942, 1.

OK, Blanchard area. Two USAAF Douglas A-20C’s collide mid-air, 10:35 a.m.

— 4 Denton Record-Chronicle, TX. “Four Army Fliers Killed in Crash.” 5-12-1942, p. 4, col. 2.

— 4 Mireles. Fatal [AAF] Aviation Accidents...[US]…V1: 1941–June 1943. 2006, pp. 84-85.

OK, Enid area, Breckenridge Auxiliary Airfield. USAAF Vultee BT-13A, 8:35 a.m.

— 2 Denton Record-Chronicle, TX. “Three Men Killed.” 5-12-1942, p. 4, col. 2.

— 2 Mireles. Fatal [AAF] Aviation Accidents...[US]…V1: 1941–June 1943. 2006, p. 84.

OK, Waukomis vicinity. USAAF training flight.

— 1 Denton Record-Chronicle, TX. “Three Men Killed.” 5-12-1942, p. 4, col. 2.

— 1 Mireles, Vol. 1, p. 84.[1]

WA, Everett. USAAF Lockheed C-40A landing gear fails, Paine Field, Everett, WA, 3:45 p.m.

— 5 Daily Independent, Murphysboro, IL. “Five Killed in Crash of Bomber.” 5-13-1942, 1.

— 5 Lubbock Morning Avalanche, TX. “Three Graduates…Killed…Crash.” 5-14-1942.

— 5 Mireles. Fatal [AAF] Aviation Accidents...[US]…V1: 1941–June 1943. 2006, p. 85.

Springfield, IL

May 13, UP: “Springfield, Ill., May 13 – (UP) – A structural failure was blamed today for the collapse of a wing on a. small plane which fell from a height of 2,000 feet into a field several miles southwest of here yesterday [May 12] and brought instant death to its two occupants. Col. George C. Roberts, secretary of the Illinois Aeronautics Commission, investigated the accident and attributed the folding of the wing to a structural failure, but said he had not determined whether it was due to faulty construction or undue strain. The two men killed were J. E. Dresseudorfer, 33, executive secretary to State Treasurer Warren Wright, and Henry Weber, 23, a flying instructor. The plane was engaged in maneuvering spins and was coming out of a roll as the wing folded, eyewitnesses said.” (Daily Independent, Murphysboro, IL. “Two Killed Near Springfield as Plane Collapses.” 5-13-1942, 1.)

Blanchard, OK

May 12, AP: “Blanchard, Ok., May 12. – (AP) – Four Army fliers from Will Rogers air base at Oklahoma City were killed and two were injured today in a mid-air collision of two bombers four miles northeast of here. The planes were part of a formation of three which was on a routine flight….One of the injured was taken to a Norman hospital, the other to the base hospital. Both parachuted after the collision. Only witness to the accident, Wilber said, was a farmer plowing in a nearby field, but he could furnish few details. Both planes crashed in a field and burned, scattering wreckage over an area of about a quarter of a mile.” (Denton Record-Chronicle, TX. “Four Army Fliers Killed in Crash.” 5-12-1942, p. 4, col. 2.)

Breckenridge Auxiliary Airfield, near Enid, OK and Waukomis, OK

May 12, AP: “Enid, Ok., May 12. – (AP) — An instructor and aviation cadet were killed today while on a routine training flight, bringing to three the fatalities in the day’s two crashes involving personnel from the Army flying school here. The dead:

Lieut. Odie B. Fox Jr., of Purcell, Ok.

Aviation cadet William E. Halstead, 24, of Denver, Colo.

Aviation Cadet Robert F. Shoup, 26, of Butler, Pa.

“Fox and Halstead were flying together and apparently were attempting to make a landing on an emergency field at Breckenridge, nine miles east of here, when their plane crashed…

“Shoup was killed while on a routine night training flight in a crash near Waukomis.” (Denton Record-Chronicle, TX. “Three Men Killed.” 5-12-1942, p. 4, col. 2.)

Paine Field, Everett, WA

May 13, UP: Everett, Wash., May 13. – (UP) – An army board was named today to ‘investigate a bombing plane crash in which five men were killed at Paine Field. On a routine training flight, the plane fell in a woods 2,000 feet northwest of the Paine Field control tower late yesterday [May 12]. A crash crew was called to extinguish flames from the wreckage. The dead included: Second Lieut. John P. Lynch, of Carlinville, Ill.

“The crash brought to 25 the number of men killed in five army plane crashes in the northwest since May 3.” (Daily Independent, Murphysboro, IL. “Five Killed in Crash of Bomber.” 5-13-1942, 1.)

May 14: “Three airmen who less than two weeks ago were commissioned second lieutenants and received their wings from Lubbock Army Flying school were killed late Tuesday in a crash of a heavy airplane near Everett, Wash., the Associated Press reported. The three from the Lubbock field were among five killed when a two-motored bomber crashed in a wooded area just off the Paine field air base near Everett. The demolished plane burned. Those from the Lubbock field…were:

John P. Lynch, 24, of Carlinville, Ill.,…

Howard F. Porter, 23, of Indiana, Pa.,

William H. Robinson, Jr., 26…Coral Gables, Fla.;

“The two others, not from the Lubbock field, who were killed were Second Lieut. Bailey B. Smelling…Altus, Okla., and Corp. John L. Zurcher, survived by his widow in Everett and his mother, Mrs. Alma Zurcher of Salem, Ore.” (Lubbock Morning Avalanche, TX. “Three Graduates of Lubbock Army Flying School are Killed in Washington Crash.” 5-14-1942, 3.)

Mireles: “…Investigators stated, ‘Lt. Smalling was flying the plane from the right side and giving transition training to Lt. Porter in the pilot’s seat. Upon contact with the runway, the left landing gear gave way allowing the left propeller to strike the runway. The airplane then veered to the left and the pilot took off in a left turn and continued to climb until at an altitude of 400 to 500 feet. Just west of the field the airplane fell off on the left wing making about one-half turn of a spin. It is believed that when the propeller struck the runway, the left engine was made ineffective and with this reduced amount of thrust, too steep a climb was attempted with a spin resulting.’ The pilot had made five landings and was attempting a sixth with the crash occurred. The airplane hit the ground in a near vertical dive…” (Mireles. Fatal [AAF] Aviation Accidents...[US]…Vol. 1: 1941–June 1943. 2006, p. 85.)

[1] Mireles has the date as May 11, probably because the plane took off at 2330 (11:30 pm) on the 11^th and was not heard from afterwards. Was found at 8:00 am the morning of the 12^th. The Denton Record-Herald article we cite notes that Shoup’s death was the first of three “fatalities in the day’s two crashes involving personnel from the Army flying school here.”

1942 — May 12, 6 Planes Crash/Collide, IL (2), OK (4 planes, 7 dead), WA (5 dead)– 14