Former Howell County Man Remembers a Military Plane Crash in West Plains 1945

Last week, we needed to take our taxes to the accountant in West Plains. I am useless in this line of work, so my wife and I agreed to go to the public library, where she could organize things, and I would hunt for history. She went inside before me. In a few minutes, she called me, suggesting I come to the genealogy room and see if I could help a couple of fellows with the microfilm machine.

 

The West Plains Library has one of the best local history and genealogical libraries in South Central Missouri, the result of decades of collecting by the South Central Missouri Genealogical and Historical Society and the public library's collections. When I arrived in the genealogical room, I remembered they had a new-fangled digital scanning microfilm reader versus the old reel film machines I've used for fifty years. Together, with a bit of tenacity, we limped through the process and found what we were looking for: an obscure event from eighty years ago, witnessed by a five-year-old.

 

All I can recall when I was five was being chased around our car by my father in our driveway- go figure. Randel Butler, however, recalled in detail being taken in his father's pickup to a field in today's downtown West Plains near First Street, seeing a wrecked military aircraft on its top, and seeing the pilot who was moments before hanging upside down by his seat harness. Randel remembered a group surrounding the pilot, who calmly talked to them in front of the smashed-up plane, with his only visible injury being an abrasion on his neck where the seat belt harness chafed him. I asked Randel, now eighty-four, where the accident happened, and he pointed out the library window and said, "Right over there." 

 

Once we figured out the microfilm thing, everything fell into place, and we found the story. Lightly reported at the time, plane crashes were in the news a lot during war-weary 1945, and the West Plains Journal Gazette only devoted a small article on the fifth page of its December 13, 1945 edition. On the other hand, the superb Williams sisters gave a detailed report in their Quill. The accident occurred on December 6, 1945. 

 

On the front page under the title, "Army Flier Makes a Crash Landing Here," they reported, "Second Lieutenant James D. Miller, 27, of Shreveport, Louisiana, flying with a flight of five AT-6 army trainer planes from Randolph Field, Texas, to Independence, Missouri, had a narrow escape from death when he made a crash landing in the former Moore field here shortly after five o'clock last night."

 

"The five planes were being ferried to Independence to be salvaged, and were thrown off their course late yesterday, when the radio in the plane piloted by Captain James Stynes of Buffalo, New York, went out. Captain Stynes, who was leading the formation, was flying a radio beam, and without his radio, he soon was entirely off the course. The other planes were not in extra good condition and did not have radios."

 

"All the planes were running out of gas, and when they reached West Plains, Captain Stynes and Lieutenant Miller were forced to land immediately. Captain Stynes brought his plane down nicely in the Jim Porter field, about 200 yards from the north end of Missouri Avenue, near the Durham Iron Foundry, although the field was far from an ideal landing spot."

 

"Lieutenant Miller, still circling in search of room for his landing, chose the former Moore field, recently purchased for the new International Shoe Factory addition to West Plains on the northwest, and unable to see in the heavy dusk that the terrain was unusually rough, attempted to land. Mowing down scores of stakes set to mark building lots in the new addition and crashing through a fence only a few yards north of the rear yard of Fred LeFever's home on West First Street, the young Lieutenant's plane plowed into the north bank of a small creek, stood up on its nose for a second or two and then fell over on its back across the ditch, with its wheels in the air." Note: Many readers will recall Fred LaFever who lived his life in West Plains. The Fred mentioned here was his father Fred Senior, and Fred Junior was fourteen at the time the plane crashed near his yard.

 

"Fred Lefever and John Barr, who witnessed the crash from LeFever's yard, rushed to the flier's aid, fearing that he was killed or badly injured and that the plane might burst into flames. However, when they reached the plane they found to their astonishment, that Lieutenant Miller was crawling out into the ditch from the cockpit and that he had suffered only minor scratches and bruises. The narrow but deep ditch had probably saved his life, as the plane's nose was resting on one side of the ditch and the tail on the other side, which left the cockpit suspended over the ditch and not touching the ground."

 

"Others who witnessed the accident, including Sergeant Ted Taylor of the State Patrol and Paul Evans, Public Service Commission officer, both from Willow Springs, who were on highway 63 in front of the home of the Reverend Earl Lamons, only a few yards from the scene of the crash, also went immediately to the plane to give aid."

 

"The other three planes, piloted by Second Lieutenant Robert Hayes of Cleveland, Ohio, Second Lieutenant C.W. Randolph of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Flight Officer L.F. Bonneau of Bancroft, Nebraska, all followed the railroad tracks along Howell Creek Valley down to Butler Field, two miles east of town, where they landed easily and safely."

 

"Lieutenant Miller said that when he brought his plane down and discovered the ditch just ahead of him, he was frightened and tried to turn the plane to avoid hitting the ditch but didn't have time." 

 

"Captain Stynes (leading the group) said that when he left Randolph Field, there were fifteen planes in the formation, but when they stopped at Perrin Field, between Dennison and Sherman, Texas, the formation was divided into three groups of five planes each, as they thought they could make better time that way. He does not know how the other formations made it through, as they seemingly did not come this way. They had expected to make it to Independence before dark last night but were delayed when they lost their course."

 

In most aircraft accidents, several factors or errors are at cause. That was the case here. The Quill article mentioned Captain Staynes was an overseas veteran wearing the Distinguished Flying Cross with three Oak Leaf Clusters. That meant Stynes received the DFC four times. The criteria for this medal was that the recipient "distinguished themselves by  single acts for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight."  Stynes flew a year in the Aleutian Islands and Italy in 1944 in fighter combat. The guy knew how to fly and run a navigational radio, which turned our attention to the reported radio failure. Here is what the Quill wrote:

 

"Some of the fliers at the Butler Field today advanced a theory concerning the radio in Captain Stynes' plane. Since various fliers passing over this region have found that their radios go out, and several, losing their courses, have been forced down in or near West Plains, the theory is advanced that certain minerals in the earth here have an effect on radios in automobiles. Frequently, as a motorist drives along the highways in certain sections here, the radio suddenly goes out, a fact which is said to be accounted for by the action of certain minerals in the earth. Whether there is any connection between the earth minerals and the airplane radios is not known here, but the fact remains that on several occasions, fliers have been forced down in or near West Plains in recent years after getting off their courses, and in almost every instance have credited their difficulties to the fact that their radios suddenly failed to function."

 

Interesting and weird. I've wondered the same thing. I've worked in radio for thirty-five years in low and high frequencies. There are some spots here where you cannot receive a thing. Back to the story and to conclude the Williams sister's report:

 

"All of the fliers in the ferry flight resumed their journey to Independence today, December 13, with the exception of Lieutenant Miller, who remained here with his plane awaiting the arrival of the accident investigation officer." I felt sorry for the Lieutenant. I'm sure crowds came for a look and asked lots of questions and I'm sure he would rather be flying off with his buddies. When the investigation officer arrived, the Quill reported, "Members of Company K, local State Guard unit, have been guarding the damaged plane in Moore field since it crashed. The plane is considerably damaged."

 

In a separate article, the Weekly Quill published a letter from Lieutenant Miller that read, "Dear West Plains, we would like to take the opportunity of thanking the people of West Plains for their grand hospitality and much-appreciated aid that they have given us during our brief stay in your fair city. We want to extend our gratitude further to Lieutenant Lamons, the Home Guard, and Mr. Sharp of the airport. Your kindness sent us on our way with warm hearts, and next time we visit your fair city, we hope to come in a more conventional way.

 

Sincerely yours, Lieutenant James D. Miller."

 

In December 1945, thousands of military aircraft were pouring into the United States with nowhere to go. These kinds of transport flights were routine and often flew over our area. Many of the planes were unsuitable for regular air travel and worn out. In this case, the Army sent them stripped down with only one navigational radio for the group and no communication between planes.

 

My thanks to Randel Butler of Mountain Home, Arkansas, formerly West Plains, and his brother Garry Butler of West Plains for sharing their story. You rarely get to talk to someone who witnessed and remembered something eighty years ago.