1948 — Nov 4, USN P2V2 crash, snow-filled canyon, Vancouver Isl. BC, Can. (found 1961)–9

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 19, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 9  Reuters. “Navy Airmen Buried; Plane Crashed in ’48.” The Oklahoman. 4-21-1990.

— 9  Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, Oak Harbor, WA. 

Narrative Information

Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial: “VP-1.  4 Nov 1948: LCDR Albert Hall and his crew of eight were lost when their P2V-2 crashed on Vancouver Island, B.C.” (Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, Oak Harbor, WA.)

Newspaper

 1990, Apr 21, Reuters: “Washington (Reuter). The remains of nine Navy airmen, including one from Oklahoma, were buried Friday in a single grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Among those buried was Wilbur Titsworth of Shawnee. The ceremony came more than 41 years after their plane crashed in a snow-filled Canadian canyon….

“The burial with full military honors ended a long episode that started when the nine died during a training flight Nov. 4, 1948, near Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Their twin-engine Neptune patrol plane smashed into the snow-covered base of a mountain near the island, where they had been stationed….

“After the Navy airmen crashed, 146 airplanes from the Coast Guard, Air Force, Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force searched for a year but failed to find the plane.

“Geologists discovered the wreckage in 1961. A Navy search team made its way through fierce weather to the site a year later. The team conducted a burial service and erected a memorial plaque….

“In addition to Titsworth, the airmen included: Albert Brown Hall of Dallas; Edward Swientek of Elgin, Ill.; George Cole of Portland, Maine; John Duval of Coffee, Ala.; Edwin Egeter of Middletown, Conn.; James Lytle of Sayville, N.Y.; Taz Rudd of Los Angeles; and John Wood of Buffalo, N.Y.” (Reuters. “Navy Airmen Buried; Plane Crashed in ’48.” The Oklahoman. 4-21-1990.)

Sources

Reuters. “Navy Airmen Buried; Plane Crashed in ’48.” The Oklahoman. 4-21-1990. Accessed 9-19-2023 at:

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1990/04/21/navy-airmen-buried-plane-crashed-in-48/62567994007/

Whidbey Patrol Squadron Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, Oak Harbor, WA. “Historical Background.” Accessed 11-13-2011 at:  http://patron2.com/files/wpsm_files/wpsm_22.html

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