1943 – Sep 1, USAAF B-17F mid-air explosion and crash 6M E of Fort Benton, MT  –all 10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-27-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–10  AP. “Ten Army Airmen Killed At Ft. Benton.” Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, MT. 9-2-1943, 1.

–10  Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 500.

–10  Murray. “Death of a B-17 bomber crew: Fort Benton remembers…” Great Falls Tribune, 5-24-2015.

Narrative Information

Mireles: “At 2350 MWT, a Boeing B-17F blew up in mid-air and crashed six miles east of Fort Benton, Montana, killing the crew of ten. The airplane had taken off from Great Falls, Montana, and was on an instrument-navigation flight. The airplane was flying in a southeasterly direction at a low altitude when fumes from the bomb bay fuel tank ignited and caused an explosion. “Thousands” of pieces of the B-17 were hurled over the countryside and the airplane entered a vertical dive toward the ground. The airplane drove into the ground and exploded into flames upon impact.  There were no witnesses to the accident.”  (Mireles 2006, Vol. 2, July 1943-July 1944, p. 500.)

Murray (Great Falls Tribune, MT, 5-24-2015): “Seventy-two years ago, 10 U.S. Airmen died in a fiery crash six miles outside Fort Benton. The crew of Flight 42-5128 were all members of the 2nd Bombardment Command at Great Falls Army Air Base (later renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base), training to serve aboard B-17 Flying Fortresses to fight in the war against Nazi occupied Europe….

“The crash occurred shortly after midnight on Sept. 2, 1943, during a night bombing exercise out of the Great Falls Air Base. The crew was instructed to fly to a bombing target field outside of Big Sandy, but they never made it. For a still-undetermined reason, the B-17 exploded in mid-air, then plummeted to the ground just a few miles outside Fort Benton.

“There were no recorded witnesses to the crash, and Army officials remained quiet about the incident for as long as they could [There were newspaper reports on Sep 2 noting the fact of the crash]. It more than a month later before any public report on the crash appeared in local newspapers. A vague acknowledgment of Flight 42-5128 was announced on Oct. 9, 1943, in the middle of a story focusing upon a second B-17 crash that occurred in full public view on the morning of Oct. 1, 1943, just two-miles outside Big Sandy….

“The Army’s crash report was classified for decades. It’s analysis of the incident was only recently uncovered by research volunteers investigating the crash of Flight 42-5128. ‘When the accident occurred … the airplane in question was apparently flying in a northeasterly direction six-miles east of Fort Benton at a fairly low altitude,’ the crash report states. ‘The pattern of the wreckage indicates the direction of flight, and several stop watches indicated the time of the accident. The dispersal of the wreckage and the absence of craters or furrows indicate the plane exploded before striking the ground; that the angle of contact was nearly vertical.’ ‘Ten bodies were found dispersed around the wreckage,’ the crash report goes on to say. ‘The co-pilot was found in the wreckage, in the flight deck. All others were thrown clear. The co-pilot was burned with 3rd-degree burns all over, but still strapped in the flight deck. There are no eye-witnesses, and there is nothing to learn from examination of the wreckage that would lead to a determination of the immediate cause of the explosion. There was no apparent pilot error involved.’

“While the crash report was not precise in its analysis of a probable cause for the crash, the recommendations included within the report indicate the investigators believed the catastrophe had something to do with auxiliary fuel tanks that had been installed in the B-17’s bomb bay area.

1.) Inspect gasoline cells and lines more often and more carefully,” the report recommendations state.

2.) If bomb bay tanks are installed, always keep them full.

3.) Prohibit smoking in airplane.”

“….An often overlooked statistic from WWII is the number of U.S. servicemen who died before they ever got to war. According to the “American Battle Casualties Final Report” published in the U.S. National Archives, more than 88,000 U.S. airmen lost their lives during World War II. ‘Only the army ground forces suffered more battle deaths,’ the report states. However, nearly 36,000 of those 88,000 Army Air Corps fatalities did not occur on the battlefield. They came as the result of nearly 26,000 aircraft accidents, ‘more than half of which occurred within the continental United States.’

“In short, for every 11 American airmen who died in combat during WWII, another three — roughly 14,000 men — died in training before they ever left the United States. The sacrifice of those men has gone largely unrecognized and unheralded. Concerns for war time secrecy prevented any lasting tributes.

“The men who were killed in the training crashes were definitely treated differently…A man who was killed in action may have had medals, he may have had a narrative of his actions in battle, and an officer would go in person to the family’s home with his condolences and tell them what they wanted to know. All the families got in a training accident was a telegram saying their son was killed. Then the body was sent home, but the men accompanying the body either did not know or did not say anything about the crash, so the families got nothing….

“Monday at 11:30 a.m., nearly 72-years since the tragic crash outside Fort Benton, the men of Flight 42-5128 will finally be honored….

“Ten United States airmen lost their lives in a B-17 bomber crash outside Fort Benton on September 2, 1943. Their names are as follows:

2nd Lt. Harold L. Wonders                Sgt. John T. Hough

2nd Lt. Warren H. Maginn                 Sgt. Carl E. Lower

2nd Lt. Jack Y. Fish                            Sgt. Chester W. Peko

2nd Lt. Arnold J. Gardiner                 Sgt. Curio C. Thremonti

Sgt. Robert H. Hall                             Pfc. Paul M. Peterson

….” (Murray. David. “Death of a B-17 bomber crew: Fort Benton remembers the 1943 crash.” Great Falls Tribune, MT. 5-24-2015.)

Newspaper

Sep 2, AP: “Great Falls, Mont., Sept. 2 – (AP) – A four-engined bomber from the Great Falls army air base smashed to the ground last mid-night five miles east of Fort Benton, killing all 10 crewmen. Capt. John C. Lloyd, public relations officer, said the accident occurred during a routine training flight. Wreckage was strewn over a wide area. The victims’ names were withheld pending notification of next of kin.” (Associated Press. “Ten Army Airmen Killed At Ft. Benton.” Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, MT. 9-2-1943, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Ten Army Airmen Killed At Ft. Benton.” Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, MT. 9-2-1943, p. 1. Accessed 4-27-2024 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/kalispell-daily-inter-lake-sep-02-1943-p-1/

Mireles, Anthony J.  Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 2:  July 1943 – July 1944).  Jefferson, NC:  McFarland and Co., 2006.

Murray. David. “Death of a B-17 bomber crew: Fort Benton remembers the 1943 crash.” Great Falls Tribune, MT. 5-24-2015. Accessed 4-27-2024 at: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2015/05/24/death-bomber-crew-fort-benton-remembers-crash/27897857/