Perham, ME Army Plane Crash, Sep 1942

ARMY PLANE CRASHES INTO HILLSIDE.

Perham, Me., Sept. 22. -- (AP) -- An army plane crashed on the side of a wooded hill in this tiny Aroostock county community today, killing all seven of its occupants.
After a difficult trek through six miles of woodlands, soldiers from the Presque Isle Air Base, 20 miles southeast of here, found the wreckage and base headquarters identified the victims as:
Second Lt. JOHN F. WATSON, pilot.
Second Lt. JOHN W. RIVER, JR., co-pilot.
Staff Sergt. JOHN S. DELANO.
Staff Sergt. JAMES A. KVIZ (CQ).
Staff Sergt. EUGENE J. CROZIER.
Staff Sergt. RICHARD K. RIDDLE.
Staff Sergt. FREDRICK W. ROWBOTTOM.
The plane, on a routine flight, "crashed in limited visibility," base headquarters announced, adding that a special inquiry board would be established to determine the cause.
Residents of Perham who notified the base of the crash said it was accompanied by an explosion that could be heard several miles.
Townsmen guided soilder searchers to the scene, about six miles west of Perham village and helped recover the bodies trom the wreckage.
Searchers found the plane's wings nearly a quarter of a mile from the rest of the wreckage, which was scattered over an area about 100 yards in diameter.
Trees were blasted and burned over a dike area and there was a deep crater about 25 feet in diameter, where the ship had plowed apparently almost straight down into the wooded earth.

Daily Kennebec Journal Maine 1942-09-23
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!