Plane: Twin-engine C-47 Dakota transport 43-15153
Nationality: U.S.A.
Precipitate: July 31, 1944
Location: 35 km north-east of Salerno
Remarks: Identification confirmed.
As previous research has proven, a very valuable help provided by Mario Dello Russo who collected the information of those who were aware of such an event. The details in the book by Vincenzo Cannaviello AVELLINO IRPINIA AND THE TRAGEDY OF 1943-44 there seemed to be quite detailed. The author wrote: "On July 31, at 10 AM a powerful twin-engine transport direct to the war front in Normandy, with 19 people on board, and valuable materials (because the wreckage were seen bundles of banknotes burned), rushed to the base of the mountains near CAMPO SUMMONTE at Bosco SAN GIOVANNI . The disaster was perhaps originated from the thick fog that forced the unit to fly down. In the heat of impact the plane caught fire on the fuel depot that spreaded the fire to the cabin. Some farmers and pastors would have liked to bring aid to poor people burning live in closed cockpit and shouting in despair, but how was it possible to save them in that deserted place, with no way to tame the violent flames, with bullets shooting around? Nine were the immediate victims, two or three more were added later, some survivors was burned in a serious way. Some soldiers called to the crash site could not help but picked up in bags 9 human bodies, which had funerals in SUMMONTE with the impressive participation of people with high and commemorative words of prof. Vacca. The injured were transported by horses provided by our pastors to the Allied hospital of Mercogliano"
The indications of Cannaviello, were related to a confined area but very wide. The informations collected by Mario showed an area somewhat more precise. Unfortunately, a first inspection was unsuccessful except for a couple of pieces of aluminum that made us suppose, however, we wereon the right way. Two other trips have had the same effect. On the way back from the third excursion, however, Daniele Gioiello, found a piece of aluminum that was certainly part of the plane as the rivets and the color olive drab are typical of American aircrafts of World War II. The area of the finding was in a totally different place than we had been told. The fourth excursion took us l to explore that area of the mountain and after the first few discoveries we arrived in an area where we found in plain view , small fragments belonging to the plane.
The high concentration of pieces made us realize that we had finally found the point of impact! We have collected several pieces in order to clean them and examine them with the hope of being able to give a number and a name to the aircraft and its crew. The decisive indications were received from two tiny pieces. The first is a metal plate 3 cm long and 1 wide. On it you can barely read "RADIO CALL 315153". As explained by friends of the website "Archeologi dell’Aria", it is a label that was applied to the radio transmitter of the aircraft and served as a reminder to the radio operator so that, in calls, quoting the number of the aircraft's serial number that is 43 -15153. In this way, we learned that the plane in question was a C-47 Dakota, a versatile transport plane. This same aircraft, just a few weeks earlier, had participated with other aircrafts of the 79th Troop Carrier Squadron at the launch of the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne units (made popular by the series Band of Brothers produced by Spielberg and Hanks) on the occasion of the Normandy landings . The crew was made up of the ten pilot. Howard B. Wank, the copilot ten. Marvin (NMI) Butz, the crew chief Sgt. Raymond H. Kelley and radio operator Sgt. Charles T. Taylor.
Why was it in Campania and who was carrying? The answer came from another small metal fragment. This time it is a piece of bracelet 4 cm long and 2 wide. On it the unfortunate owner had engraved his name and serial number, "James A. Wright 32070411 USA "With the help of Dave Berry who did a quick search stocked in the archives of the U.S. military came out that James A. Wright had died on July 31, 1944 and was buried in a mass grave along with 8 other comrades in the military cemetery at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri. In this way it was possible to know the identity of the 9 victims of this disaster. They are:
Dozier Walker of Carroll County, GA
Fairfield Morgan Jr. of Palm Beach County, FL
Gaston, James A Norfolk County, VA
Harrison, Theodore of Sussex County, VA
Wyatt, James C of Brunswick County, VA
Hill, Earnest of Surrey County, VA
Hill, William L Shelby County, TN
Portee, Loney in Washington, DC
Wright, James A of Atlantic County, NJ
These soldiers were part of the 366th Infantry Regiment, a unit made up of black soldiers (one of the formations in the U.S. military was nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers) whose job was to oversee security at Ramitelli airfield used in Molise from 332 Squadron of Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Even the aviators of this training were black and became known during the war as the Redtails. On the history of this unit, whose task was to escort U.S. bombers during the daylight bombing on the Third Reich, is based the movie by Anthony Hemingway: "Red Tails" with Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr, released in theaters in January 2012.
The 366th had been chosen for this task since the white regiments had refused to protect black aviators. Clearly, in those years the racial feelings were still strong in the U.S. Army.
The formation of some C-47 had departed from Capodichino airport that morning of July 31, 1944. After a few minutes he ran into a bank of fog that prevented the pilots to see the mountain toward which they were heading. Suddenly the steep slope with trees appeared in the eyes of pilots. Most managed to turn. A plane touched the top of the plants causing damage to the structure but the pilot was able to recover and reach the destination. Lieutenant Wank, however, after hitting some trees in the valley collided with his aircraft against the base of the mountain.
Surely the C-47 was overloaded and controls difficult to maneuver. In addition to the 18 men transported plus the 4 crew, the plane had full tanks of fuel and the cockpit was filled with all the necessary equipment to the troops. In fact the disaster site have been found fragments of camp cots, ammunitions for light and heavy weapons, boxes of food rations, personal effects, etc.. The impact did not have to be particularly violent as 13 men managed to escape death. Among them were:
Bowles, Marion W. SSgt 32109601
Garrick, Doctor Pfc 33097833
Gray, D. Everett Pfc 33097779
Hayes, William Pfc 33041298
Hobbs, W. Taft Pfc 33097754
But who was imprisoned in the Dakota did not reach to escape because of the violent fire which followed the fall. The large amount of fuel in the tanks turned the plane into a flashlight, ammunitions began to explode and in a short time. The traces of the violence of the fire can be seen in the fragments of glass and metal deformed by the huge heat. Rescuers remained very little to do but collect the poor remains of the victims that the fire had rendered unrecognizable, thereby preventing the burial in single graves.
Since then, the relatives of the victims have not got to know the circumstances of the death of their loved ones. In this respect, the U.S. Army records are sketchy. The grandson of James C. Wyatt believed that his uncle had fallen in Tuscany! We hope to return to the families of these poor soldiers some of the personal effects found. Among them stands out the handle of a dagger produced by Fratelli Scuotto of Naples. It depicts an eagle's head and was to serve as a prototype for the saber official M.V.S.N. The sword was never put into production, but after the liberation of Naples, were used to produce the handles of daggers that were similar to those supplied to the rulers of the fascist Militia and they might be sold to Allied soldiers in search of souvenirs of the Italian campaign to take home.
After, the locals collected the wreckage of the plane so they could sell them to smelters in those difficult years of war. Today the evidence of the disaster are virtually invisible to the untrained eye, and only our perseverance made it possible to find traces of the tragedy.
They have so far participated in this research:
Gerardo Capuano
Francesco De Cesare
Mario Dello Russo
Vittorio De Maio
Luigi Fortunato
Daniel Gioello
Gianluca Warrior
Pierpaolo Irpino
Angelo Martucciello
Matteo Pierro
Matthew Ragone
Alessandro Russo
Gigino Vitolo
Lo scopo di questo sito è quello di presentare le attività dell'Associazione Salerno 1943, un gruppo di volontari noti anche come Salerno Air Finders. L'Associazione si occupa di preservare la memoria degli aviatori che durante gli anni della seconda guerra mondiale precipitarono con i loro aerei in Campania e nelle regioni limitrofe rintracciando, identificando e ricostruendo la storia dei loro abbattimenti.