1948 — Jan 27, USAF C-47 (dependents) crash, snowstorm, Cheval Blanc Mt., France–all 12
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 29, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–12-13 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bodies Removed From U.S. Plane.” 2-1-1948, p. 9.
— 12 Altoona Mirror, PA. “Third Plane is Believed Lost in Alps Tragedy.” 1-31-1948, p. 1.
— 12 Baugher. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-70255 to 44-83885). 11-6-2011 revision.
— 12 European Stars and Stripes, Germany. “C47…AF to Search Alps Today.” 1-30-1948, p.1.
— 12 European Stars and Stripes, Germany. “Ski Team Climbed 17 Hours…C47…” 2-3-‘48, 4.
— 12 Oakland Tribune, CA. “One US…Crewman’s Life Saved by Ex-German Flier.” 2-1-48, 9.
— 12 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Two Missing Crash Victims’ Bodies Found.” 2-2-1948, p. 6.
— 11 ASN. Accident description. USAF Douglas C-47, 27 Jan 1948, Montagne du Cheval-Blanc
Narrative Information
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1948 (USAF C-47, 1-27-1948):
….
“….Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11….
….
“Narrative: The USAF C-47 aircraft departed Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, France at 12:37 LT for a flight to Udine via Pisa, Italy. The pilot couldn’t find his route because of a heavy snowstorm. He decided to return to Istres but the wind caused the aircraft to deviate significantly off course. The airplane flew into the side of a mountain[1] 15:30 LT killing all occupants. The occupants, except the crew, were women and children that were going to meet their husbands at Udine. On 30th January, 1948 a B-17 Flying Fortress, searching for survivors, crashed at the same location. Nine occupants were killed and one survived.”[2] (Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. United States Air Force Douglas C-47, 27 Jan 1948, Montagne du Cheval-Blanc. 11-27-2011.)
Baugher: “Douglas C-47B-25-DK Skytrain….76443 (c/n 16027/32775) crashed Jan 27, 1948 on Cheval Blanc Mountain, southern France. 12 killed.” (Baugher. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-70255 to 44-83885). 11-6-2011 revision.)
Newspapers:
Jan 28, AP: “Frankfurt, Germany, Jan 28. (AP) A United States Air Forces C-47 transport plane is missing on a flight from Istres France, to Udine, Italy, Air Force headquarters at Wiesbaden, announced today. The number of crew or passengers aboard was not announced. The aircraft left Istres, near Marseille, yesterday at 10:37 a. m. and had not been heard from up to 2 p. m. today. A-B-17 rescue plane carrying a lifeboat was sent out to search the flight route.” (Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA. 1-28-1948, p. 1.)
Jan 28, AP: “Frankfurt, Germany, Jan. 28. – (AP) — United States Air Forces will begin a wide search tomorrow for a transport plane missing for more than 36 hours with three American wives and five children aboard. The Air Forces C-47 transport disappeared while flying from Istres, France, to Udine, Italy. Part of the route would carry it over the Mediterranean. Air Force headquarters said it had been unreported since the takeoff from Istres at 11:37 a. m. (5:37 a.m., EST), Tuesday.
“The women and children were dependents of American servicemen in the Trieste area. They arrived in Europe Saturday from the United States….The women and children were understood to have arrived at Bremerhaven, Germany, Saturday from the United States. They came by train to Frankfurt and flew from Frankfurt to Istres.
“With good prospects for fair weather tomorrow, the Air Forces tonight alerted all available planes to seek the missing transport. A specially equipped Flying Fortress searched over the transport’s planned route today and, reported it had not sighted the missing craft. The Air Forces said up to a dozen B-29 Superfortresses would fly to Istres tomorrow to join the hunt. Several C-47s flew tonight to the French base, which will be the search center.” (Titusville Herald, PA. “AAF Plane is Missing in Europe.” 1-29-1948, p. 1.)
Jan 29: “Wiesbaden, Jan. 29 (Special) – Air Force officials declared tonight that a series of radio fixes reported taken Tuesday on the C47 transport missing on a flight with 12 aboard from Istres, France, to Udine, Italy, are believed to have been reliable. The fixes, taken by British and French stations, placed the plane about 50 miles northeast of Marseille, on the southwest fringe of the French Alps. Tomorrow’s search will be concentrated in this area, officials said.
“(Earlier, the United Press relayed a Paris report that the plane had crashed near the French town of Barcelonnette. This town is in tomorrow’s search area. However police at Barcelonnette said they knew nothing of any crash in that area.)
“The last fix on the plane, which was carrying a crew of four and three U.S. dependent women and their five children, was made at 4:29 p.m. (German time) Tuesday, or 4 hours 52 minutes after the plane took off on what should have been a three-and-one-half-hour flight. The fix was made by a British air station at Sete, on the Mediterranean coast, and a French station on the northeast coast of the island of Corsica. Tonight, a high-frequency radio-control station began sending its first messages from Istres after being erected in record time by members of the 5th Wing, AACS. Men and equipment were flown to Istres from the air signal base at Kaufbeuren, near Munich.
“During the day about 40 U.S. planes took part in search activities….
“Istres, France, Jan 29 (S&S) – Bad weather today turned back search planes at the edges of the French Alps, frustrating operations in the area where Air Force officials believe the C47 missing on a flight from here to Udine, Italy, might be found….The air search today covered 1,500 square miles southwest of Grenoble, 2,000 square miles around St. Etienne, 800 square miles northwest of Cannes and about 750 square miles north of San Remo, Italy….
“USAFE officials here, after considering various reports of radio contacts made with the missing plane on Tuesday, believe the pilot turned back at a point near the Italian coast and apparently became lost.” (European Stars and Stripes, Germany. “C47…AF to Search Alps Today.” 1-30-1948, 1, p. 12.)
Jan 31, UP: “Marseille, Jan 31. – (UP) – A French search plane is missing and believed to have crashed in the Alps, making a possible triple tragedy among the snow-covered peaks which already have claimed two planes and 21 lives this week, authorities announced today. Ground rescue teams climbing the mountains near Digne, northeast of here, reached the crash scene of an American C-47 transport and Flying Fortress search plane today and confirmed that 21 persons were killed in the double disaster. All 12 persons aboard the transport, including three American army wives and their five children, and nine of the 10-man crew in the Flying Fortress were dead.
“The missing French plane, which joined in the search for the transport last Wednesday, has failed to return to its base at Istres airfield, near Marseille, and is presumed lost, officials said.
“The Fortress which flew to disaster searching for the transport, hit the same peak and crashed less than 100 yards from the transport, the ground rescue parties reported. “The only man in the crew of the fortress to survive was identified as Sgt. Angelo LaSalle of Des Moines, IA.
“Passengers killed in the wreck of the air transport have been identified as Mrs. Rosaline Noak, Worcester, N.Y., and her three children, Gifford, Jr., aged 6. Mary, aged 3, and Verna, aged 2; Mrs. Shirley G. Martin, Columbia. S. C., and her son Benjamin, Jr., and Mrs. Garnette B. Saunders, Memphis. Tenn., and her son, William, aged 3. Crew members were pilot, 1st Lt. Earl E. Baskin, Florence, S.C.; co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Terrell H. Trexler, Sr., Dunn, S.C.; crew chief, Sgt. Donald L. Cimmers, Dumont, La.; and the radio operator, Robert M. Hermanski, Nanticoke, Pa. Air force records listed an alternate address of the Martins as route 2, Princeton, N.C.
“The transport crashed last Tuesday on a flight from Istres airfield, near Marseille, to Udine, Italy, in the Trieste area, where the army wives were scheduled to join their husbands.
“The crash of the Flying Fortress was attributed to the pilot’s desire to come in as close as possible to view the wreck he had sighted after three days of air searches.” (Altoona Mirror, PA. “Third Plane is Believed Lost in Alps Tragedy.” 1-31-1948, p. 1.)
Jan 31, UP: “Chateau Garnier, France, Jan. 31. (UP) – The bodies of 10 American victims of a dual Alpine air disaster, which took at least 21 lives were taken today to the chapel of this tiny Alpine village to lie in state under the flags of two nations. The bodies of two Army wives, five children and three U.S. fliers who died Tuesday night in the crash of a two-engined U.S. transport plane were enshrined briefly here under the banners of France and America before removal to the nearby town of Digne.
“At Digne are the bodies of nine American bomber crewmen who died in the search for the lost C-47 transport. The sole survivor of the two crashes, T-Sgt, Anthony LaSalle of Des Moines, Ia., was reported in “fair” condition today in the hospital at Digne. He was a member of the bomber’s crew.
“Rescue workers who toiled all night through deep snow to reach the wrecked transport at the rugged peak of White Horse Mountain said they had been unable to find the bodies of another woman, a child and a fourth crewman – indicating for the first time that there may have been 13 persons on the ill-fated C-47, rather than 12 as earlier reported.
FRENCH PLANE MISSING
“Meanwhile, French authorities reported that French plane from the base at Istres, 25 miles northwest of Marseille, had failed to return from the search for the wrecked C-47, and it was feared that the Alpine peaks had claimed a third victim.
“Skiers’ reports that a wrecked plane had been sighted near Barcelonnet, about 30 miles northeast of here, had not been confirmed.
“A rescue worker said that the wreckage of the C-47 was strewn over a 100-yard radius near the crest of the mountain, in snow 10 feet deep, the plane’s two engines were buried in the snow 30 yards from each other, he reported.
“The rescue teams — U.S. Army patrols, aided by a special detail of French Alpine troops and volunteer villagers — reached the wreckage of the four-engined B-17 bomber yesterday and rescued La Salle.
VICTIMS IDENTIFIED
“U.S. Air Force authorities in Frankfort today identified the passengers of the transport as
Mrs. Rosaline Moak, Worcester, N.Y., wife of Chief Warrant Officer Gifford Moak, and their three children, Gifford Jr., 5, Mary, 2, and Verna, 1;
Mrs. Garnette B. Sanders, Memphis, Tenn., wife of S-Sgt. Welch Sanders, and their son, William;
Mrs. Shirley G. Martin, Princeton, N.C., wife of T-Sgt. Benjamin Martin and their son, Benjamin, 1.
“The dependent wives and children were on their way to Trieste to join their husbands.
“The transport was manned by
1st Lt. Earl E. Baskin, Florence, S.C., pilot;
2nd Lt. Terrell H. Trexler, Dunn, N.C., co-pilot;
S-Sgt. Donald L. Cimmers, Dumont, La., crew chief, and
Sgt. Robert M. Hermanski, Nanticoke. Pa., radio operator.”
(Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bodies Removed From U.S. Plane.” 2-1-1948, p. 9.)
Jan 31, AP: “Digne, France, Jan. 31. – (AP) – A German prisoner of war was credited today with saving an Iowa flier, Sgt. Angelo LaSalle, only survivor of 22 Americans on two U.S. planes that crashed high in the Alps. “Flung clear when his plane hit and burned, LaSalle was freezing in the snow. He was found by Horst Kupski, former German Air Force pilot, working for a French farmer on the mountain. ‘The German wrapped a blanket around me’, LaSalle said at a hospital. ‘My shoes were torn. He took off his own shoes and put them on me.’ The German also took off his overcoat and hat and put them on LaSalle, and helped carry the American down the mountainside.
“LaSalle, whose home is in Des Moines, was one of 10 crewmen on a Flying Fortress that crashed near the summit of 6600-foot Mount Cheval Blanc. The Fortress had just found what it had been hunting for — the wreckage of a DC-3 which crashed January 27. Twelve Americans died aboard it. ‘We were circling the wreck,’ LaSalle said. ‘I told the pilot not to go too low. But just then our left wing tip scraped the mountain. I don’t know what happened, exactly. I was flung around; somehow I was thrown out. I had the feeling of sliding down the mountain for hundreds yards. I saw fires burning close around me from the plane’s gasoline. I tried to get up and run, but passed out. Then sometime later, the German found me.’ Doctors said LaSalle’s condition is fair. He will be flown to the American Army hospital in Frankfurt Germany, when his condition improves.
“Searchers said another Flying Fortress crewman, a major, lived through the crash, but died en route to the Digne Hospital.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “One U.S. Air Crewman’s Life Saved by Ex-German Flier.” 2-1-1948, p. 9.)
Feb 2, AP: “Digne, France, Feb. 2. – (AP) — French skiers today found the bodies of Mrs. Shirley G. Martin of Princeton, N.C., and her year-old son, Benjamin. They were killed with 10 others Tuesday when a U.S. Army C-47 transport crashed in the French Alps. Their bodies were in the snow near the wreckage. Two other women, four more children and 13 Army fliers were killed in crashes of the transport and a Flying Fortress that was hunting for it.
“The bodies of 16 of the victims were flown to Frankfurt this morning for removal to the United States. The women and children were dependents of U.S. troops in the Trieste occupation zone….
(Oakland Tribune CA. “Two Missing Crash Victims’ Bodies Found.” 2-2-‘48, 6.)
Feb 2, S&S: “Digne, France, Feb. 2 (S&S) – ‘The last thing I heard the pilot say was, ‘I’ve got to get some altitude’.’ The words are those of S/Sgt. Angelo A. LaSalle, lone survivor of two American plane crashes in the French Alps near here which claimed the lives of 21 persons. ‘We turned to the left,’ continued LaSalle, ‘but s we passed over the peak, a downdraft caught us and out left wingtip dragged. I saw it and tried to kick a hole in the plexiglass window so I could jump. Then the plane cartwheeled…’
“Nine men died in the crash of the B17, on which LaSalle had been assistant engineer. It smashed on the crest of White Horse Mountain…while on a rescue mission…it had just circled above the wreckage of the C47 it been hunting….LaSalle is in the hospital here with three broken ribs, a punctured lung, severe scalp cuts and bruises….” (European Stars and Stripes, Germany. “`I’ve Got to Get Altitude’.” 2-3-1948, p. 1.)
Sources
Altoona Mirror, PA. “Third Plane is Believed Lost in Alps Tragedy.” 1-31-1948, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=73992842
Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. United States Air Force Douglas C-47, 27 Jan 1948, Montagne du Cheval-Blanc. 11-27-2011. At: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19480127-1
Baugher, Joseph F. 1944 USAAF Serial Numbers (44-70255 to 44-83885). Nov 6, 2011 revision. Accessed 12-29-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_5.html
European Stars and Stripes, Darmstadt, Germany. “C47 Believed ‘Fixed’ AF to Search Alps Today.” 1-30-1948, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=133377774
European Stars and Stripes, Darmstadt, Germany. “`I’ve Got to Get Altitude’.” 2-3-1948, p.1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=133377733
European Stars and Stripes, Darmstadt, Germany. “Ski Team Climbed 17 Hours to Reach C47 Wreckage.” 2-3-1948, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=133377730
Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bodies Removed From U.S. Plane.” 2-1-1948, p. 9. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=46783856
Oakland Tribune, CA. “One U.S. Air Crewman’s Life Saved by Ex-German Flier.” 2-1-1948, 9. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=46783856
Oakland Tribune, CA. “Two Missing Crash Victims’ Bodies Found.” 2-2-1948, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=43151710
[1] About 50 feet below the mountain’s crest. (European Stars and Stripes, Darmstadt, Germany. “Ski Team Climbed 17 Hours to Reach C47 Wreckage.” 2-3-1948, p. 4.)
[2] Cites as source: Chroniques de Haute-Provence n° 354 (2005, 125e année), p 83-167.
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