|
Aircraft Wrecks in the
Mountains and Deserts of the American West
P-47D
6/22/44
On the morning of June 22, 1944, a flight of three P-47D's took off from
Pocatello Army Air Base for a dive-bombing practice mission at the Aberdeen
Bombing and Gunnery Range north west of the base. All three were assigned
to the 265th Base Unit. Flying in string formation at 8500 ft., spaced
about 1000 ft. apart, they approached the range from the north. In the lead
was Lt. Orville J. Morrison at the controls of #42-28271, with Lt. Raymond
A. Jergensen in #42-28279 behind him. At the rear was Lt. Hyrum W. Kershaw
in the third Thunderbolt. For unexplained reasons, Lt. Jergensen's aircraft
dropped down out of the middle of the formation. As he attempted to climb
back into postion, Lt. Morrison headed downward to begin his dive bombing
run. The two aircraft collided in mid-air. Lt. Kershaw reported, "I
glanced down at my altimeter and glanced up, and saw two explosive
flashes." It was 9:05 a.m. Neither pilot was able to use his parachute,
and both Thunderbolts fell to the ground and burned. Lt. Morrison, age 26,
was from Ventura, California, and Lt. Jergensen, age 22, was from Lovelock,
Nevada. One of the crash sites has been located, and the search for the
second one continues. Site visited 10/26/15. Special thanks to Craig Peck
and Les Howell for help with locating this site.
|
