Pinpointing the Past - The Moon Mountain Plane Crash

Readers of this blog will have read past entries from 2011 (April 29, May 30, June 1, and October 16) concerning a plane crash in the Bramley Mountain area of Bovina in April 1945. Though I haven't written about it in some time, I have continued efforts with filmmaker Chris Ingvordsen to locate some of the wreckage and had some success last fall in finally locating something, thanks to Bovina resident (and SUNY Geneseo student) Samantha Misa.

Because of her continuing interest in the crash and the fact that her grandfather was in World War II, part of the 100th Bomber Group flying missions in Europe, she joined The 8th Air Force Historical Society. When she put her age down as 18, staff from the society actually contacted her to confirm that this was the right age - they weren't used to 18 year olds joining the society. This started an e-mail conversation between Samantha and the editor of the society's magazine - essentially an interview about her grandfather and about the search for wreckage from the Moon Mountain crash. Her e-mail became an article in the society's June 2014 magazine, somewhat to Samantha's surprise. The article included some photos, some of which have been presented in this blog before. I am including a photo of Samantha in her 'detecting gear' and a photo I took of the pieces she helped us locate that are believed to come from the crash.

Pinpointing the Past: A Promising Life Cut Short by Samantha Misa

I am 18 years old, and I’ve always had a great interest in and love for history. I’m not quite sure where it comes from. Maybe it’s because my grandfather fought in WWII. My grandfather was Edward C. Rogers, a T/Sgt and top turret engineer on the B17 King Bee. He was part of the 100th Bomb Group during the war, and he and his crew flew 35 missions, 6 of which were to Berlin.

I learned this through research and family paperwork that I found. My grandfather, although alive for most of my life, died before I was mature enough to develop an interest in the past and ask him myself of his experiences during this amazing, interesting, and extremely important part of history. I will never forgive myself for not having talked to him when I had the chance.

At the end of high school, after working at a museum for the summer, I was told of a WWII plane crash that had happened in 1945 a block away from my house. I live in Bovina, a small farming community in upstate New York. The Bovina town historian, Ray LaFever, works with me at the local museum, the Delaware County Historical Association. LaFever, along with some other locals, had made a few expeditions to the spot in town where the plane went down. The army had been called once the crash happened, and most of the wreckage hauled away, but they went up trying to find the exact spot where it happened. No one seems to know the exact location, but it is known that the plane went down on what is called Moon Mountain.

The pilot was Robert Bragg Clark, who was flying an AT6 Texan trainer. He had left Bolling Field, Washington and was on a training trip to Stewart Field in Newburgh. It was 9 PM on April 29, 1945, and the weather conditions were getting progressively worse. There were showers and clouds at 3,000 feet. Around midnight, Clark, who barely had an hour of experience flying on instruments, realized that he had passed his target and began to circle the area known as Moon Mountain. According to the records, Clark, who was flying below the clouds at this time, got too low and his plane’s left wing struck a tree. The plane crashed into the east side of the mountain. Early the next morning, the wreckage of the plane was found. Clark had been killed instantly, and human error was ruled to be the cause of the accident.

Although the site soon was put under guard, it did not stop the townspeople from coming to see what had happened. The debris field was so large that not all of it could be watched. A 43 pound engine piece was taken away as a souvenir by a local man. Even groups of school children were brought up to the mountain to gawk at the crash site.

Robert Clark was a young man who was full of promise. He had been the class valedictorian, and was a member of the National Honor Society. Clark won state recognition for his debating talents, and had been appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point by a Nebraska state senator. At the time of his death, Clark had almost gained enough flying hours to earn his wings. What makes his achievements all the more remarkable is that, when he was in high school, his parents divorced. They later remarried other people, but his mother would later commit suicide. To me, the saddest part of all was the the war was nearing its end, and Clark would not live to see its completion.

As I mentioned, there had been a few previous expeditions to Moon Mountain to attempt to locate the exact crash site and maybe find some debris. Treks up the mountain had so far been unsuccessful. Moon Mountain is 2,665 feet high, and the altimeter from Clark’s plane read 2,460 feet at the time of the crash. Using GPS technology, the right altitude was found, but the area was still too broad to do any real searching. The debris field was estimated to be 300 feet around from the actual impact, so we had a lot of ground to cover. In an effort to make our task easier, I brought out my trusty metal detector and swept the area. Along with historian Ray LaFever, I was joined by the property owner Donald Farley and videographer Chris Ingvordsen, who was there to document our search.

It was a cold, bitter fall day when we set out. I began sweeping the entire area, letting the guys point me in any direction they thought might be significant. The metal detector was silent. The landscape was peaceful and undisturbed. There had been many “ear” witnesses to the crash, people who had heard it but had not seen it. Some people remembered that they could see the wreckage from certain sides of the mountain, but these reports contradicted each other. One local claimed that he remembered playing in a cave that was on the mountain near where the crash had happened. We figured it was worth sweeping around any area that had been in these descriptions.

There was a cave on the property, and we eventually found it. I swept the area with the metal detector, and, for the first time since I had turned it on during that expedition, I got a hit. Cameras rolling, we gently moved the dead leaves and dirt away from the spot, carefully, until we unearthed something out of the ordinary: A pile of cut wires. More than 20 of them were found in the spot, all of them different lengths. Many had performed ends, some U shaped or circular. We know that they are steel, because the smaller pieces were picked up with a powerful magnet. Many were smooth and unbent, leading to the conclusion that we had found something that was not barbed wire or discarded farm refuse.

We sent photos of our findings to an aviation expert who reported back that he believed that they came from the plane. This was part of his report: “Control cables would be of steel or stainless steel. Main control cables would probably be 3/16" or 1/4". Trim tab cables would probably be 1/8"electrical wire ends that would connect to a terminal, a #8 or #10 machine screw. Generally, there would be a predrilled connector crimped on the end of the wire, but with war time production, the end may have been flattened, soldered and then drilled. The "U" shaped end may just be the wire untwisted, or if drilled, could be a control cable end that would be connected to a bellcrank with a pin.” At the end, he added “I would say you have pinpointed the crash site. Good work.” And that made it all worth it.

Even though Robert Clark did not die in combat, he was still a young man who gave his life for his country, and anyone who has done that has not died in vain. Clark’s death also embodies the sacrifices made by those on the home front, those who were not in combat but still gave so much. So maybe that’s why I love history so much; it gives me the opportunity to record andpreserve things like this for the people that didn’t leave anyone behind to do it for them.

I would not have known any of this if it were not for the help of Bovina Town Historian Ray LaFever, who knew the intimate details of the crash and where to start looking. It’s probably thanks to his efforts that material on this event are still around. We plan on making another trip to Moon Mountain this spring of 2014.

Plane Crash on Moon Mountain - Update

In my blog entries of April 29, May 30 and June 1, I reported on research I have been doing concerning the crash of a military training aircraft on Moon Mountain in the Bramley Mountain region of Bovina in April 1945.  On September 25 and October 14, I made two more trips up to the site where we think the crash happened.  The September 25th trek included Don Farley, who owns the land where the site is located; Chris Ingvordsen, who is making a film about the accident and my research into it; and Steve Burnett, who started this whole thing rolling by asking about it back in April.  Along with the four of us were two people who saw the site not long after the accident - my Uncle George LaFever and his friend Ray Kearns.  Ray's grandfather was the owner of the property at the time of the crash.  Thanks to Don and his 'mule' we were able to drive them up to the site.  Ray was able to pinpoint roughly where the fuselage came to rest.  With this key bit of new information, along with George's description of where he could still see the debris field in 1963, we now think we can identify the line of the debris field. 

Chris, Steve, George (half hidden), Ray and Don on Moon Mountain

Ray, George and Steve

Chris and Ray

Shortly after the September trek, Ray Kearns expressed concern as to whether or not that was the right cave.  On a trek I made with Chris on October 14, we agree that the cave may not be the right one.  The elevation of the cave is too high by about 200 feet.  We worked our way back down from the cave site, noting an area of rock ledges as a promising place for a future trek.  There was brief excitement when we found some metal, but turns out it was a collapsed metal tree stand, used for hunting.  

Thanks to Don for providing the transport and to George and Ray for making the trek to the crash site in September.  And thanks to Chris for his continuing interest. Stay tuned for further developments.

Note:  1) This entry was mostly written right after the September trek and I thought I had posted it that day.  I only discovered this week that it never made it on-line, so I updated it a bit before posting to reflect the second trek.  2) In studying old and new maps of the Moon Mountain area, it appears that the town lines have shifted a bit over time.  The peak of Moon Mountain, once in Delhi, now appears to be in Kortright.  It also means that at least some parts of the crash site that were considered to be in Bovina in 1945 are probably now part of Delhi.  Not a big deal, but interesting to see how the lines have shifted.

Bramley Mountain Plane Crash - Quick update

This is a quick note, mostly of excitement, as I continue to research the 1945 plane crash near Bramley Mountain that took the life of a West Point cadet (see my April 29 and May 30 blog postings).  I've established contact with someone in Cadet Clark's hometown of Holdrege, Nebraska and tonight spoke with his sister-in-law - the first person I've had any contact with who actually knew him.  She recalled him being a very nice young man who did well in spite of coming from what was then known as a broken home.  When he came home on leave from West Point, it amused her that he was not very neat during his leave - his clothes were all over the furniture in his room.  It probably was a nice change from what he had to do when at the Academy.  I'm now working to establish contact with some of his high school and West Point classmates. 

So from a simple question in Russell's Store about a plane crash this has grown into quite the enterprise.  More to come. 

1945 Plane Crash in Bovina - Update

In my April 29 blog, I reported on the crash of a military training airplane in the area of Bramley Mountain that took place just days before the end of World War II in Europe.  Since that entry, I have found further information on the pilot - and an error that needs to be noted.

Robert Bragg Clark was born August 9, 1923 in Holdrege, Nebraska, the son of Charles M. and his wife Frances.  He grew up in Nebraska and graduated from Holdrege High School in June 1941, where he had been a member of the National Honor Society, the Debate Team and was in the band.  Clark also was class valedictorian. He was not from a farming family - he was noted for doing small maintenance jobs to supplement the family income, including work on telephone and telegraph lines. Clark's high school classmates, during their 50th reunion in 1991, remembered him as a hard worker with a positive outlook on life.  They expected great things from him.

After winning state recognition for his debating talents, Robert Clark came to the attention of Nebraska's U.S. Senator, George Norris, who appointed him to the United States Military Academy at West Point.  At the time of his entrance on July 15, 1942, he was tall and slim (6 feet, 2 inches and 162 pounds).  Assigned to Company A-1, he became a corporal in October 1943 and was promoted to sergeant in September 1944.  While at the Military Academy, Clark participated in intramural soccer, swimming, lacrosse and squash.  In the spring of 1944, he began training as a student pilot, training in Texas for two months then completing his basic training at Stewart Field in Newburgh in March 1945.  To prepare for graduation, Air Cadets had to accelerate their academic schedule and undergo 60 days of intensive flying to receive their wings on graduation day.  At the time of the plane crash, Clark had 141 hours of flight experience and was close to having enough hours to get his wings.  His training had included 14 hours of flying at night, but he seems to have had barely an hour of experience flying on instruments.  This, along with the very poor weather conditions on April 29, may explain why the accident happened.

The cadet corps was shocked by Clark's death, only five weeks before graduation. In his Cadet Service Record is the following order:

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY
West Point, NY, 1 May 1945

General orders, No. 10,

     It is the sad duty of the Superintendent to announce the death of the late AIR CADET ROBERT BRAGG CLARK, C-1867, a member of the First Class United States Military Academy, whose death occurred as the result of an aviation training accident near Bloomville, New York, on 29 April 1945 while engaged in an authorized aerial flight from Stewart Field, U.S.M.A., Newburgh, New York

     The late CADET CLARK, a resident of Holdrege, Nebraska, was born in that community on 9 August 1923.  Prior to his admission at the United States Military Academy on 15 July 1942, as a qualified candidate appointed by Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska, the late CADET CLARK had attended the Holdrege High School, Holdrege, Nebraska, from 1937 until 1941, graduating there from and receiving a high school diploma. 

     While at the United States Military Academy, CADET CLARK was an excellent student, standing well in his class and demonstrating a particular proficiency in the academic subjects of mathematics, physics, mechanics, chemistry, electricity, history and government.  He participated in lacrosse, soccer and swimming and was active in those sports while at the United States Military Academy.

     CADET CLARK was in all respects a most estimable young gentleman and a credit to the Corps of Cadets.  In his unfortunate and untimely death the United States Military Academy and the Army Air Forces have suffered a distinct loss.  His courageous death in line of duty and in time of war is most regrettable and is deeply mourned. 

     In conveying my sincere condolences to the bereaved next of kin and to the family and friends of the late CADET CLARK, I am joined by the Commandant of Cadets, by the Commanding Officer at Stewart Field, and by all officers, cadets and enlisted personnel of this command.

                                                                                 F.B. Wilby, Major General, U.S.A.,Superintendent

In an obituary written many years later by Clark's roommates and published in the USMA Alumni magazine, The Assembly, in 1993, they more simply stated "We lost a friend and roommate!"

The error I need to note is the statement in my previous blog that Clark was from Norton, Kansas.  Almost all the newspapers reporting the crash made this statement, but information from his cadet file that I received from the USMA archives and in the alumni magazine clearly state he was from Holdrege, Nebraska.  Some of the papers said that Clark's father, Charles M. Clark, was from Norton, which was true.  As the information circulated around, it appears some papers made the assumption that Cadet Clark also was from Norton.  Clark's father appears to have been moving around.  He was a grain dealer in Boone, Iowa when his son joined the academy in 1942.

I would like to close this entry with a photograph - this is Cadet Robert Bragg Clark from the 1945 Howitzer, the USMA yearbook.  And here is the brief bio that accompanied the picture: "West Point was like a new strange world to Bob when he first entered. He was never one to complain. He took things as they came, for to be disheartened was not part of his nature. His cheerfulness in everything he did won him many lifetime friends. Bob was a very conscientious worker but had no intentions of setting aflame the academic world. Cheerful, efficient, generous, loyal, Bob was a good wife [ie., roommate] and a better man. Good luck to you Bob, in your Army career."

Clark was buried in the cemetery at West Point on May 2, a bright spring day, with all of his cadet company in attendance.  Though he did not die in combat, his death was in the service of his country.  So it seems appropriate to remember him on Memorial Day.

1945 Plane Crash in Bovina

Sixty-six years ago this evening, at 9:00 P.M on April 29, 1945, Robert B. Clark, a young West Point cadet from Holdrege, Nebraska**, took off in an AT-6 Texan trainer from Bolling Field, Washington, DC on a regular training trick to Stewart Field in Newburgh, NY.  The weather conditions were poor as he progressed closer to New York State, with showers and clouds at 3000 feet near Newburgh.  Though the pilot was instructed to report his progress near Allentown, Pennsylvania, no such contact was made.

A little before midnight, Clark apparently realized that he had overshot Newburgh and was trying to get his bearings.  He circled over the Bramley Mountain area of Bovina and flew under the cloud ceiling in order to get some visual sighting.  Shortly after the plane's left wing tip struck a tree and then crashed into the side of Moon Mountain, just east of Bramley Mountain.  Perry Craft and Stanley Crank from Bloomville heard the crash, as did Howard LaFever (my uncle) who was on Bramley Mountain.  Craft and LaFever both contacted the State Police.  Trooper J.F. Taylor from the New York State Police received the call and immediately went to Stanley Cronk's home.  Taylor and Cronk, along with Craft and LaFever, set out in the fog and drizzle to search for the plane.  At 1:50 am on April 30th, LaFever and Taylor, using strong police flashlights and following the odor of airplane fuel, found the first signs of the craft and a few minutes later found the fuselage and the body of the pilot in the cockpit.  Clark had been killed instantly.  LaFever was sent to a near-by phone to call the authorities.  Sargent W.M. Waldron from Troop "C" in Sidney arrived to guard the plane until the Army authorities arrived. 

The army did send soldiers to secure the site.  Nonetheless, a number of Bovina people got souvenirs of the plane, including Dick Davidson and my dad, Charlie LaFever.  Dad was 13 when the crash happened.  He got one of the cylinders from the plane's Pratt Whitney radial engine.  I still have the piece - it weights 43 pounds.  George LaFever recalled hearing that some of the wreck was removed using horses. 

The accident was investigated by the Army.  Investigators noted that the pilot had both radios on and that the throttle was full forward when he crashed.  The altimeter read 2460 feet - Moon Mountain is 2665 feet high. The crash site was heavily wooded, with a debris field about 300 feet long from point of first impact to the final resting place of the cockpit. The investigators determined that pilot error was the main cause of the crash, noting that the he flew closer than 2000 feet laterally and 500 feet vertically to a cloud formation. 

I remember my dad mentioning the crash - the piece he retrieved from the plane was in our back yard for years - but I started actively pursuing this after inquires from Steve Burnett and Chris Ingvordsen.  I checked with some folks who were in Bovina in the 40s, including Ed and Dick Davidson and my uncle, George LaFever.  One of my early challenges was pinpointing the date so I could find something in the newspapers.  I submitted an inquiry to the Delaware County Genealogy listserv and within a half hour, I had a response from Rhonda, who had located the news article on the Old Fulton Postcards website.  She found it in the Binghamton Press.  None of the newspapers available on-line included any mention of Bovina, though they did mention Bramley Mountain.  That may explain why I was not successful in locating the article. Once I had that article, I had the pilot name.  That led me to reports of the crash in the New York Times, Poughkeepsie Journal and Gloversville Morning Herald.  Locally, I found a short article in the Delaware Republican and a more detailed article in Oneonta Daily Star, which accurately included Bovina and Moon Mountain as the site of the crash. I still need to check the Walton Reporter, Stamford Mirror and Catskill Mountain News. I hope one of these may include a photograph of the pilot.  With the date of the crash and some details in hand, I was able to request a copy of the army's investigation of the crash from Aviation Archaeological Investigation & Research, a California based organization studying and documenting airplane crash sites throughout the United States. 

Today, in conditions that may have resembled those 66 years ago, I attempted to more accurately locate the crash site.  I met up with my uncle, George LaFever, who pointed out about where he believed the site was.  George was 9 when the crash happened and in the 1960s recalls still being able to see some debris.  Chris Ingvordsen and I went to Don Farley's place off Reagan Road and the three of us set off with a metal detector, altimeter, and GPS to see if we could find any remnant of the crash.  We are pretty sure we were near or at the site, but had no success in finding any debris to confirm this.  But we will try again.  And I continue to seek more information - I'm hoping to do an exhibit at the Bovina Museum this summer that includes the cylinder that my dad recovered years ago, along with more information about the unfortunate victim, Cadet Clark.  So stay tuned for further developments.  And if you remember hearing about this crash and have some details to share, please let me know.

**The original entry said Norton, Kansas, but I have since learned this was not correct, so I updated this on the blog.  See the May 30 entry for further information about Cadet Clark.