Signal Mount, TX Bomber Crashes, Feb 1944

BOMBER CREW KILLED IN CRASH NEAR HERE.

Scattered wreckage of a four-motored bomber and bodies of five crew members were found along the side of the mountains near Signal Mount, 11 miles east of Big Spring Monday.
A trapper, identified unofficially as Earl Brownrigg, Howard county trapper, found the wreckage and reported his discovery to Big Spring Bombardier School officials, who went to the scene of the crash.
Hundreds of army and CAP planes had searched for the plane, missing since Sunday morning from its base in Fort Worth with fuel to last about eight hours, according to word from Fort Worth Army Air Field officers.
The mishap occurred during a routine training flight. The area around Big Spring was overcast Sunday afternoon.
Brownrigg presumably chanced on the wreckage while in search for a bob cat, which he had been trying to trap for several days. He told his wife early Monday that he intended to ride out the pasture for traces of the cat.
The dead included:
Second Lt. THOMAS M. COCKRELL, 24, pilot instructor, San Antonio, Texas.
GEORGE W. KNAPPEN, 23, officer student, Washington, D.C.
RAYMOND E. DAVIS, 22, officer student, Springfield, Mo.
GEORGE KERN, 21, Oskaloosa, Kans.
Staff Sergeant SIGNEY ARBEIG, aerial gunner, The Bronx, N.Y.
A board of officers from the Big Spring Bombardier School has been appointed for investigation.

Big Spring Daily Herald Texas 1944-02-15
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!