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 Post subject: Bomber in Tn river?
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:24 pm 
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Surely someone knows?? I know this report is from 2006, but I'm having a hard time believing not one person involved had the first clue.

Quote:
Remains of WWII aircraft recovered from river
Shelbyville (Tenn.) Times-Gazette
Friday, September 8, 2006
By Brian Mosely

Air Force personnel measure a 37-foot section of a World War II era warplane. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)
Enormous sections of a World War II aircraft that has rested on the bottom of the Duck River in Normandy for over 60 years were uncovered and measured by Air Force and Navy personnel Thursday.

But after examining the vintage wreckage, there are now more questions than answers over exactly what type of warplane is sitting on the river bed.

Normandy Mayor Larry Nee first brought the mystery plane to the attention of the T-G in March of last year. At the time there were only two pieces of the craft visible, both of them on the shoreline.

The first section of the fuselage that was noticeable last year is embedded in the banks of the river under the bridge build by TVA in 1971. The piece was exposed after a flood in 1995 washed soil away from the 15 foot section. But more of the piece buried was being dug up on Thursday.

Air Force and Navy personnel worked Thursday to uncover a World War II aircraft which has been resting on the bottom of the Duck River in Normandy for over 60 years. They hope that the plane can be identified by aircraft museums in Tennessee. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)
Another section that was tangled in limbs some 100 yards up river was removed from the area sometime last year following the first article published by the Times-Gazette.

But now, three large sections of an aircraft fuselage have been revealed, along with brackets and pieces of cable recovered from the bottom of the river, which may help historians identify the plane.

Navy Commander Frank Moulds, who is stationed at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), says he's always been interested in aircraft. But when he heard about the crash site in Normandy along the river, he took the opportunity to come out and take a look at it.

He researched what few records there were of the time period and discovered there were as many as 50 military crash sites scattered all over Bedford, Coffee and Franklin counties. "William-Northern Field and the base at Arnold had a huge number of aircraft and there were many records of crashes," Moulds said.

It's the commander's theory that the plane resting on the river bottom is a B-25 Mitchell Bomber that went down in 1943. The problem is that when investigators of the time looked into the crashes, they weren't very specific about where the planes fell.

"Back during the war, they weren't careful about it ... it says the B-25 crashed 6.5 miles northwest of William-Northern Field, but it leaves you to figure out where it exactly happened. They didn't use latitude or longitude to pinpoint it."

That's why he and Air Force aircraft maintenance personnel from AEDC were working to clean off years of mud and muck to see if there is anything that could identify the craft. "We're looking for windows that a B-25 might have had, components that might help identify it."

Moulds said it's a big mystery right now to figure out what plane they are looking at. "We're finding too much metal for a B-25 ... it had a wingspan of over 67 feet and 55 feet long."

But other components discovered at least show the manufacturers name: Boeing, along with serial numbers. Some parts made by different companies were used on various aircraft and it is at least one piece of the puzzle.

The main task on Thursday was to take measurements of the pieces on the river bottom and find a characteristic to compare to World War II aircraft on display in museums.

Air Force personnel took to the river and began scrubbing and measuring the fuselage, with one section extending 37 feet long. Underwater photos were taken as well, and several pieces were brought up from the Duck River.

Tommy Allen of Tullahoma is a local historian that became interested in the crash site after speaking with Nee. The pair got together with Moulds to try to learn what the aircraft pieces went to. Allen's research centered around all the crashes from William-Northern Field during that time period and he uncovered some 150 incidents, some of which were in Bell Buckle and Shelbyville.

"If we can identify the plane, we can get the whole accident report," Allen said.

During the hectic days of World War II, Tullahoma and the surrounding area was abuzz with military activity, with hundreds of thousands of troops stationed at Camp Forrest [the current AEDC site].

From the period 1941 to 1946, Camp Forrest was one of the largest bases in the country, covering 85,000 acres. It was a training area for infantry, artillery, engineering, and signal organizations, also serving as a hospital center and temporary encampment area for troops during maneuvers.

Enemy prisoners of war from Germany and Italy was also kept at Camp Forrest. Maj. Gen. George S. Patton even brought his 2nd Armored "Hell on Wheels" Division from Fort Benning, Ga., for maneuvers to the area, which some in Bedford County still remember.

According to Nee, the aircraft came down one summer day in 1943 onto the farm of the late Martin Glodo as he and some German P.O.W's were working the fields.

Glodo told Nee that when the plane went down, it pushed up a lot of dirt in the field. According to the story, the military came out to the crash site, removed the engines and then pushed the rest of the aircraft into the Duck River and buried it. The fate of the pilot is unknown.

Nee said Thursday that it is likely that some of the plane could still be buried underneath stone laid down by TVA in later years when the bridge was constructed.

For the area skies to be filled with military aircraft was no oddity in those days: William-Northern Field, an air training base, was an addition to Camp Forrest for war preparation.

The field was used as a training site for crews of multi-engine B-24 bombers of the Army Air Corps, However, according to available records, a large number of fighter air squadrons, both American and British, were also stationed at one time or another at the field in Tullahoma, which is now the Tullahoma Municipal Airport.

P-39's and other fighters were stationed there and one Internet website lists Army serial numbers for a Bell P-39D-BE Airacobra and states that a pilot was killed at William-Northern Field on Nov. 4 1943. It is also known that a B-24 bomber once crashed in Tullahoma at the site of the current Kentucky Fried Chicken, killing the crew.

After about two hours of work, Moulds admitted that there was much more aircraft in the river than was first believed.

"There seems to be more aircraft components that we have for our theories," the Navy commander said. "We've got 93 feet of airplane ... it's definitely an aircraft. Every component we have found is easily identifiable ... but the type of aircraft, we still don't know."

Moulds says that the next step is to let aircraft museums examine the pieces recovered to help determine what kind of plane they belonged to.

"It's going to be interesting to see where this goes."

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 Post subject: Re: Bomber in Tn river?
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:03 pm 
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Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 4:23 pm
Posts: 582
There was a thread about it on here at the time. It turned out to be seven B-52 external fuel tanks.
https://www.t-g.com/story/1167910.html


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