42-73194         MACR 1109

 

On 14 November 1943 a B-24J, # 42-73194, assigned to 10th Air Force, 7th Bomb Group, 493rd Bomb Squadron, Pandaveswar, India, departed the airfield and joined a formation of other B-24s on a mission to bomb Pokokku, Magway, Burma; west of and very near the Irrawady River. The crew was:

                                   Pilot                             1stLt Willis J. McLoughlin                   0-726805

                                   Co-Pilot                       2ndLt Theodore F. Smith Jr.                0-799485

                                   Navigator                    1stLt James E. Rogers                          0-700180

                                   Bombardier                  1stLt Kenneth E. Kinney                     0-727638

                                   Crew Chief                  TSgt Floyd Funderburg                        18084703

                                   Radio Operator            SSgt William E. Higgs                          16042147

                                   CC Gunner                  SSgt Uhel F. Whitsell                           38059093

                                   RO Gunner                 SSgt Herman Litz                                17035785

                                   Armorer Gunner          SSgt Sidney S. Tronic                           11021108

                                   “               “                SSgt Howard B. Swope Jr.                   13136859

Witnesses to the crash were 1stLt Leland G. Berlette, 0-661915, 2ndLt Glenn F. Stephens, 0-797631, and 1stLt William G. Clark, 0-662023. 1stLt Berlette reported that he saw that 1stLt McLoughlin’s B-24 was hit in one engine. The tail gunner saw 1stLt McLoughlin trying to make a crash landing. His left wing dropped and the B-24 hit nose down, bursting into flame immediately. It disintegrated on impact. No one saw any parachutes or survivors. The next-of-kin listed were:

McLoughlin     Virginia McLoughlin, W, 2211 Tenth St., Seattle, WA

                                    Smith               Theodore F. Smith, F, 250 Park Terrace, Mobile, Alabama

                                    Rogers             William R. Rogers, F, Rte 3, Concord, NC

                                                            Frances E.L. Rogers, W, 908 N. Road St., Elizabeth City, NC

                                    Kinney             Lovell J. Kinney, F, Rte 5, Governeur, NY

                                   Funderburg      John H. Funderburg, F, Wilburton, OK

                                   Higgs               Leona Higgs, M, 400 Alleyan St., Plainville, Mich.

                                   Whitsell           Wilber R. Whitsell, F, Box 15, Pampa, TX

                                   Litz                  Emma Litz, M, South St. Paul, Minn.

                                  Tronic              Max Tronic, F, 26 Etham St., Worcester, Mass.

                                  Swope              Howard B. Swope, F, McConnellsburg, PA