A Mysterious WWII Plane Crash Haunted Our Visits to Marietta National Cemetery

A deadly plane crash. A cryptic epitaph. And mysteries that endured for 82 years.

Their story ended with a cryptic epitaph on a Marietta National Cemetery headstone: Died in a plane crash WWII April 29, 1942. And our interest in this story began there several Memorial Days past.

A fiery collision between a WWII B-17 bomber and P-40 fighter in 1942 killed seven fliers caught our attention at Marietta National CemeteryPhoto byhttps://www.worldwarphotos.info

General William T. Sherman once proclaimed, “War is hell.” And in a story hidden behind a mysterious memorial at Marietta National Cemetery, we learned that even training for war holds its own dangerous risks and gruesome outcomes.

Our Journey Begins

Walking in Section A near the Greek Revival style rostrum during one of our first visits to Marietta National Cemetery, we found a large headstone listing the names of five Army fliers. Under the names, ranks, birth dates and birth places of the fliers, an inscription reveals, “Died in plane crash WWII April 29 1942.” At the time, we were writing a post about the group memorials at the cemetery, but we didn’t include this one.

On a return Marietta National visit, working on a post about decorated veterans and notable figures, we were seeking the Section A burial locations of Lt. Col. Wilford Phelps and Col. Blake Van Leer. We spotted the fliers’ headstone again. Once more, we were intrigued, but it didn’t work with the focus of our article.

As this Memorial Day approached, we were haunted by that mysterious headstone at Marietta National Cemetery with its cryptic inscription. Now seemed the perfect opportunity to dig up the details and honor the memories of the fliers by researching and telling their story. As we explored the story and the circumstance of their deaths, we encountered a few mysteries that proved difficult to explain. But we perservered, and believe we now have a much better understanding of the story and the mysteries.

As Memorial Day 2024 approached, we remembered the cryptic epitaph and set out to tell the story and solve a few mysteries.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

The Importance of Air Power

In the early days of World War II, the US rushed desperately to arm itself for a multi-front war. And with advances in aviation since the end of World War I, military strategy demanded a strong, expansive, and deadly air power capability that could strike almost anywhere, anytime.

That reality exploded on the US with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, as the Japanese used hundreds of carrier-based airplanes to cripple America’s Pacific Fleet. And the British also learned the necessity of a defensive air force as London faced deadly daily bombing raids by the German Lufwafte.

A vintage postcard depicts McDill Field near Tampa, FL, home to B-17 and B-26 bomb squads training for WWII deployment.Photo byFlorida State Archives and Library

Thus, in the birth country of aviation, the US sought thousands of new recruits to become members of its flying forces. Here in Marietta, a new bomber plant was started and finished quickly, producing Liberator bombers that would prove essential to the offensive bombing capabilities of the US and its allies. That plant would go from groundbreaking to production within 52 weeks, testimony to America's military might and the determination to build a powerful air force.

Planes Everywhere

Across the country, airfields sprouted from cornfields, with runways pointing in virtually every direction. McDill Army Air Base near Tampa, Florida, became home to the four-engine Boeing B-17 heavy bombers and the twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Combining the size, weight, engine power and quirky handling of these new war machines with inexperienced crews often led to disastrous consequences.

In fact, according to published reports in military history journals, the B-26 Marauder proved especially problematic. The plane earned its nicknames "Widowmaker" and "Flying Coffin” from the numerous training accidents. And while the B-17s eventually proved to be incredibly durable and powerful war birds, the new pilots often struggled to control the huge beasts. Reports in local newspapers in Tampa noted frequent training flight crashes. They even quoted a new Army Air Force colloquialism for the frequent accidents at the base located on a peninsula south of Tampa: “One a day in Tampa Bay.”

New Planes and Flyers Arrive

Each day brought new arrivals to McDill. On Feb. 6, 1942, a new Boeing B-17E, registration number 41-2566, was delivered to the airfield from the main Boeing assembly plant in Everett, Washington, according to records in the American Air Museum.

New planes and recruits arrived in a steady flow to McDill Field in 1942. This photos from March 1942 shows an unknown plane and crew.Photo byArmy Archives

New recruits arrived, too. After marrying his college sweetheart on Feb. 20, 1942, in his native Oregon, Lt. Ernest W. Robertson and his new wife transferred to Tampa, FL. Robertson, a guard on the University of Oregon football team and its captain his senior year, had been assigned as a pilot to advanced bomber training at McDill, this reported by a local Oregon newspaper.

Robertson would join five others in a new bomber crew. Second Lieutenant Joseph S. Smith was a Texas native. Fellow officer Richard R. Carnevale joined the cockpit crew from Lockbourne, OH. Privates Marvin C. Brown and William C. Wimf hailed most recently from Michigan, though Wimf was an Arkansas native. The crew was rounded out by Private William C. Gearhart of Pennsylvania.

A similar situation existed at nearby Orlando Army Air Field, home to P-40 fighters. There, Second Lieut. Robert S. Boyce, of Chillicothe, OH, piloted one of the single-crew fighters that often were to escort and protect bombers on their deadly missions. An unmarried graduate of Washington and Lee University and the army's advance flying school at Kelly field, TX, he was transferred to Orlando Air Base from Key Field, Meridian, MS., on March 25, according to a report in the Portsmouth (OH) Times.

Rigorous and Realistic Training

While the day-to-day routines of these specific B-17 and P-40 fliers are unknown, the training they received was well documented and consistently implemented. It’s likely that the crews had completed ground and simulator training before arriving at their Florida bases, an observation largely based on historical documents and archives from World War II training programs and manuals.

Once in Florida, the crews homed in on turning their assigned planes into precise weapons. They had graduated from simulators to real cockpits, often taking their first turns inside the powerful – and finicky – aircraft.

In training flights, Curtis P-40 pilots practiced their flying skills, including aerial acrobatics, dogfights and bomber escort.Photo byArmy Archives

The bomber crews progressed from basic flying to more advanced skills such as formation flying, aerial gunnery, bombing runs, and navigational exercises. For the fighter pilots, training included aerobatics, dogfighting maneuvers, aerial gunnery, and tactical formations.

And, in anticipation of forming the combined bomber and fighter groups that would form aerial convoys to assigned target, the crews from different backgrounds, training and background would practice essential rendezvous and pursuit maneuvers.

A Fateful Event

As with many World War 2 domestic training crashes, details of what occurred on April 29, 1942, are sketchy. The emergency nature of war preparedness and need for military secrecy often combined to limit available public information on catastrophic events. But here’s what we do know, according to accounts published in the Orlando Sentinal on April 30, 1942, and other subsequent press and official accounts.

“A multi-engined bomber from MacDill Field, Tampa, and a pursuit ship from Orlando Air Base yesterday collided in mid-air about nine miles west of Orlando and killed all occupants: four second lieutenants and three privates. Colonel Thomas S. Voss, commandant, Orlando Air Base, announced.

“Those listed as dead were Second Lieutenants Ernest W. Robertson, 25, Eugene, Ore., who leaves his widow, Virginia, at Tampa; Joseph S. Smith, Yoakum, Texas; and Richard R. Carnevale, Columbus, Ohio; three privates, M.C. Brown, 2136 Antoinette Avenue, Detroit, Mich.; L.A. Gerhart, Wernersville, Pa.; and E. Wimf, Holland, Mich., all aboard the bomber; and Second Lieutenant Robert S. Boyce, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Boyce of Chillicothe, Ohio, who piloted the pursuit plane.

“Colonel Voss immediately named a board of inquiry into the crash composed of Major W.E. Baker and Captains Griffin Davis and W.R. Yancey.

“The bomber, following the crash, plunged into the middle of an orange grove at the United States Department of Agriculture Sub-Tropical Fruit Research Station just off the Hiawassee Road.

“The pursuit plane crashed near Hoequist Field, two miles away, about six miles south of Orlando. Both planes burned."

The Gruesome Aftermath

The fact that the planes collided in midair, crashed and then burned led to gruesome realities for those who were flying and those who worked on the recovery. For those of us who have covered or worked at air crash scenes, the tragic outcome and horrible sights are among memories we hope to erase, but that never go away.

The remains of Lieut. Robert S. Boyce, 23, of Chillicothe, Ohio, were recovered individually from the crash of his P-40. His remains were sent to his family in Ohio. Records at findagrave.com show he was buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery, Withamsville, Clermont County, Ohio.

According to archived records of the Carey Hand Funeral Home in Orlando, FL, the fragmented remains of the bomber crew arrived there on April 29. The remains were cremated together on Sunday, May 3, then placed in one box as the funeral home awaited further instructions from the Army. The records indicate the Army paid $1,500 for one coffin, and all handling and arrangements for the deceased bomber crew were approved by Capt. Frank A. Perri of the Army Medical Corps.

Mystery at Marietta and Beyond

As we mentioned when we discovered the memorial to the bomber crew at Marietta National Cemetery, it includes a cryptic epitaph and the names of five Army fliers. The name of 2nd Lt. Richard R. Carnevale doesn’t appear on the Marietta Memorial. Instead, there is a headstone for Carnevale at Saint Joseph Cemetery in Lockbourne, OH.

But the funeral records indicate the bomber crew was cremated together and their remains placed in one coffin. So, who actually is buried at Marietta National Cemetery?

Then, there’s confusion about the actual type of plane in which the bomber crew flew and died.

The newspaper accounts reference only that it was a “multi-engined bomber from McDill Field,” and doesn’t reference the specific type of plane. A listing in the database of the Aviation Safety Network indicates that a B-17E Flying Fortress with registration 41-2566 crashed on April 29, 1942, just west of Orlando. And records of the American Air Museum list a B-17 registration listing for 41-2566. But the heavy, long-range, deadly-armed B-17s usually flew with a crew of 10, required for manning all the guns around the airship.

Records from the Aviation Safety Network identify a B-17E Flying Fortress with registration 41-2566 as crashing near Orlando in April 1942.Photo byAviation Safety Network Wikibase

The other primary multi-engined bomber assigned to McDill in 1942 was the B-26 Marauder. A lighter and shorter-range aircraft, it flew with a crew of six. Thus, with six crew members killed in the April 29 crash, which plane were they flying, the B-17 or the B-26?

Likely Answers from Observations

After more research, we believe we’ve resolved – if not formerly solved – those two remaining mysteries.

Most likely, the cremated remains of all six bomber crew members are interred at Marietta National Cemetery at plots A, 945-B-C. Since the funeral home recorded that all remains were placed in one box after cremation, it would have been impossible to seperate and bury the remains of 2nd Lt. Richard Carnevale in Ohio and five others at Marietta.

Instead, the memorial to Lt. Carnevale in Ohio likely is a cenotaph, or an empty grave and marker memorializing a missing or lost person. Carnevale’s Ohio grave marker appears to be standard issue for the time period for US Army veterans, a benefit offered to families of veterans then and now through the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

The headstone of Lt. Richard Carnevale in Ohio likely is a cenotaph, a memorial placed when a person is missing or not recovered.Photo byFindagrave.com

It’s also likely that, if the Carnevale family ordered a separate headstone for a memorial in Ohio, Department of Veteran’s Affairs regulations prohibited his listing on a second grave marker in Marietta. There's some very specific language -- and somewhat confusing -- language in Veterans Affairs regulations that govern the listing of a deceased veteran's name on a headstone and a memorial.

Also, the Marietta memorial includes the name "Eugene Wimp" as one of the crew. However, the crewman actually was Pvt. W. Eugene Wimf. This appears to be another of the spelling errors which appear on headstones from the days when records often were recorded in script handwriting.

As to the plane in which the bomber crew flew on that fateful day, we believe it mostly likely was a B-17E. We found two database references to the registration number of the aircraft, both of which reported the crash. But one listing was incomplete and the other included an incorrect date and the incorrect name of the fighter pilot. Still, all the other information matches the Orlando crash reports. We could find no specific references to a B-26 Marauder crash near Orlando. Instead, we think the 10-crew B-17E flew that day without some of its gunners. Whether gunners were assigned and left off the flight that day or – more likely – a full crew had not yet been assigned, we can’t ascertain fully.

More Profiles from Marietta National Cemetery

We're continuing to add to our series of articles about heroes at Marietta National Cemeteryon who served or died defending our country. You'll find others here:

Unearthing a Hero: Medal of Honor Recipient Hidden for 142 Years

Empty Grave Commemorates Georgia Medal of Honor Recipient

Civil War Army Nurse Sacrificed Her Life for Wounded

History, Travel and Adventures from DeanLand

We write about Georgia history, local excursions, regional travel and more at our blog. You’ll find more than 100 articles by DeanLand at OurTravelCafe.com