Bomber Crash Between Tarkio and Burlington Jct 1944

On November 16, 1944, a bomber crashed midway between Burlington Jct. and Tarkio.  The crew of 13 parachuted out alive, although some cattle died.  The story is probably much bigger than the Army wanted to let people know, and the folks on the ground had heartbreaking stories of their own.

The army labeled this a 4-engine B-25.  However, it was more likely a four-engine B-29 (the plane used on Hiroshima); the B-25 had a maximum crew of 6 and only two engines.  The crashed plane had 13 people, which is the range for the bigger B29.   Further, the plane was departing from Herington Air Field in Kansas, where the B-29s were prepped. The Army treated the event super secret, cleaning up the ruins site in 3 days and demanding people return any souvenir pieces they found or face federal prosecution.  The B-29s were built at what today is Offutt Air Force Base, and the plane that crashed was flying in from Nebraska (with many of the parachutes floating into Nebraska)

The crash is generally considered to have occurred just across the Atchison County line, although the Burlington Junction fire department was first to respond.  Further, both farmers on both farms died in Burlington Jct. Christopher Columbus “Lum” Dunfee, on whose land the worst of the damage occurred, had just lost his son in 1943 in an accident at Stockton Air Field in California, and was the fourth son to die in World War II in the Dale Township of Atchison County (between Bilby Ranch and Fairfax).

BULLETIN
Bale Out of Plane In a Bomber Crash
The Maryville Daily Forum, November 16, 1944, Page 1. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-b-25-crash-nov/198551672/

A B-25 army bomber crashed about 2:15 o’clock this afternoon on the R. R. Staples farm, eight miles west of Burlingion Junction on Highway No. 4. Thirteen persons in the plane all baled out before the plane crashed and burst into flames.

Cause of the accident was unknown.

According to a report at 3:30 o’clock this afternoon, the plane was strewn out for a quarter of a mile. It killed six head of cattle when it crashed. The cattle belonged 10 Mr. Staples. A part of the plane crashed into the barn on the C. C. Dunfee farm. which is one-half mile west of the Staples farm. A new barn caught fire and was burned to the ground.

The accident is presumed to have happened after 2 o’clock. About 2:15 o’clock this afternoon, a two-engine bomber was noted flying over Maryville in the direction of Burlington Junction.

It was the first destructive airplane accident in the history of aviation in Nodaway county.

Previously, when the government had a flying school here, there were some forced landings, but no one was injured. An attempt was made to contact the public relations officer at Rosecrans Field in St. Joseph  this afternoon. to determine if the plane had been from that field but at press time no contact had been made. Mrs. Rudolph Staples was the first to report the accident to Burlington.

Wreckage Strewn For Half a Mile In Bomber Crash
Thirteen Parachute Safely From Plane That Lands in Atchison County
Barn Is Fired From  Flames of the Wreck

The Maryville Daily Forum, November 17, 1944, Page 1. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-detail-of-b-25/198553207/
Page 6 jump
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-b25-crash-p6-j/198555413/

With wreckage of the four-motored army bomber strewn over half a mile of farm land and about nine miles west of Burlington Junction, army officials last night began their investigation of yesterday’s crash.

The task, which may well take three or four days, according to one Army Air Corps officer. The place that crashed into a field on the Rudolph Staples farm shortly after 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon was on a routine training mission from its home base in Herington, Kansas, according to information by Major J. H. Hubbard, who flew from the Kansas base.

Thirteen Parachute to Safety

The plane was manned by thirteen, all of whom parachuted before the crash.

Pilot: W. L. Geyer of Mend Ark and Co-Pilot: C. B. Uber of Howell. Mich., were the last to leave the plane and came down in the vicinity of the crash.

However, the other members of the crew were in Missouri and Nebraska after they called in to their home base to report. Lieut H. C. Blake. Public Relations Office: at Herrington, announced the names of the other members of the crew. They were:

*Lieutenants Gilbert Cerirtzman, Seymour Halpern and Wade P. Hall
*Sergeants Robert D. Castle.Fiord E. Pond. Leonard J. Broscau and Camill A. Levelle
*Corporals Maurice E. Paquitte, Peter D. Kierman. Howard K. Hicks and Denaid E Fitch.

Call for the Fire Department.

According to the Air Force, the plane left its home base shortly before noon. The officers did not comment on the difficulty that caused the plane crash. Immediately after the crash, according to persons on the scene of the accident. Phone calls were placed to Burlington Junction and Tarkio to request assistance in extinguishing the fire. The Burlington Junction fire truck went out to the accident.

Small parts of the plane were found along a blackened strip of land about the width of a city block for about a hair’s breadth of a mile. The field looked like a tornado-strewn patch of land. Small pieces from the plane had been driven into the ground and twisted and blackened from the fire that swept the ground after the crash.

Cattle Are Killed

About six or seven head of cattle were killed in the accident, and three more were injured and were shot. The cattle, for the most part, belonged to Staples, one neighbor said. Although several were the property of C.C. Dunfee, who lived across the road from the point where the plane originally hit the ground.

Some of the cattle had been killed by flying metal, and the others had burned to death. The plane, which traveled northwest after hitting the ground, was carried across a road and onto the Dunfee property, where the largest part of the wreckage was found.

Don Harvey, a farmer in the vicinity, who is a pilot: himself and has done considerable flying from the Tarkio airport, said the largest piece of wreckage was probably part of the tail fuselage.

Barn Destroyed

Flames from the plane started a fire in a barn containing hay and a tool shed on the Dunfee farm, and both were destroyed. The momentum from the plane crash threw a piece of the engine into a tree near the Dunfee home, which then glanced off and hit the side of the house. tearing about a 2-foot hole into the outer wall of the house. The Dunfees were not at home at the time of the crash.

Harvey, who was working at his farm about a mile from the accident. said that he heard the plane coming in fast. Being a retired flyer, Harvey said he was able to identify the type of plane and believed it was running on only two motors at the time of the crash. He said that the plane dropped below a hill, so he was unable to see the actual crash, but 3 seconds later, after the engines stopped. Harvey said he heard the impact as the planes struck the ground.

Sheriff Is Called Ralph Boyer, another farmer in the vicinity, said that he saw the plane come onto the field from where he was working, about a mile from the accident. He said when he first sighted the plane, it was headed southeast and was losing altitude rapidly.

Boyer reported that the pilot evidently turned the plane northwest again and then jumped out; soon after, the plane hit the ground. Sheriff Harry Clements of Atchison County was called to the scene 10 prevent the wreckage from being moved away before the investigation by army officials.

A corps of military police was also brought in 10 stand guard over the field, and after about 5 o’clock, no one was permitted on the field without special permission from the officials. Immediately after the crash, the pilot and co-pilot were a captain and a second lieutenant. were taken to Tarkio, where they called their home base in Kansas. They then went to the airport, met Major Hubbard when he arrived from Herring on Field, and all returned to the accident site together. Co-pilot Uber landed from his jump on the end of his spine and was limping.

Ask For Parts of Plane Taken From Wreckage
The Maryville Daily Forum, November 18, 1944, Page 1. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-no-sourneir-b/198555964/

Persons of Northwest Missouri who have taken equipment and pieces of the plane that crashed Thursday east of Tarkio are asked to return them 10 the Army Air Force. They can do this by leaving the souvenirs at the offices of Sheriff Harry Clemens of Aschison County and Sheriff D. F. Carmichael. Maryville

Yesterday, the army air force collected the wreckage of the four-motored plane and found that three machine guns were missing. Highway Patrolman Dave Harrison received a call today from the army asking that any parts of the plane carried away by spectators be returned, and no questions will be asked.

Crew Bails Out Before
Plane Crash
Lands On R. R. Staples Farm
Nodaway County Tribune, November 23, 1944, Page 1. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/nodaway-county-tribune-b-25-crash-1944/198550852/

Thirteen men comprising the crew of a four-motored bomber bailed and landed safely before the crippled plane crashed on the farm of R. R. Staples, nine miles west of Burlington Junction, last Thursday afternoon.

The plane first touched ground on a pasture on the Staples farm and plowed its way for half a mile, crossing the road to the C. C. Dunfee farm. Flames from the burning wreck set fire and completely destroyed a large barn on the Dunfee farm, and several cattle were killed in the path of the giant machine.

Nodaway County’s first experience with a major plane wreck sent hundreds of persons to the scene, and many of the bits of wreckage which visitors carried away as souvenirs were being returned to the authorities following the announcement that prosecutions might result if the property was not restored.

The plane was on a routine flight from its base at Herington, Field, Kas. Members of the crew began bailing out at points along the eastern edge of Nebraska, the last to leave the ship being the pilot and the co-pilot, who landed a short distance west of the crash site.

Souvenirs Must Be Returned
The Tarkio Avalanche, November 24, 1944, Page 1. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tarkio-avalanche-tarkio-avalanche-ed/198556592/

Motivated by no malicious turn whatsoever, hundreds of persons picked up souvenirs -pieces of parts, large and small, some broken, some intact, from the wreckage of the airplane which crashed last Thursday east of Tarkio. Now the military authorities are making an urgent plea for the return of the so-called souvenirs. They are investigating to ascertain the fundamental cause of the crash. The return of all the parts is most vital. Some insignificant broken pieces, which might be a part of a compass, or even bolts or screws, are necessary for a complete survey.

Why a complete survey? In order to prevent further accidents of a similar nature. The return of the part in your possession may save a life … possibly yours, or perhaps your brother’s. The moment the word passed around in Tarkio that the parts were needed, patriotic citizens filed into the officers ‘ quarters with their souvenirs. Many have been returned here to Paul Phillips, chief of police. It is thought that many have been withheld because of embarrassment that might have arisen on the part of the possessor.

However, the collection of souvenirs is a human trait–not to be embarrassed over. But withholding needed parts might embarrass persons who have failed to return them. Fortunately, no lives were lost as a result of this accident, only a $500,000 bomber. Persons are asked to take or send the parts to Police Officer Paul Phillips, Tarkio; Sheriff Harry Clement, Rock Port, or to the State Patrol, Maryville.

Except Atchison County Mail Excellent History Report in 2022

 The pilot and co-pilot parachuted to safety – one, floating to earth near Olin Barnes. He was shucking corn. It is reputed the airman asked Mr. Barnes, “Did you see where my plane landed?”  They need only look south (three to four miles) and see black smoke.  On impact the plane exploded in a feed lot on Rudolph “Babs” Staples’ farm and scattered debris across the road, on a farm operated by C.C. Dunfee and owned by Mrs. H.K. Noel, eight miles east of Tarkio and approximately the same west from Burlington Junction, Missouri, along Missouri Highway 4, now Highway 136.  Outbuildings were burned with contents of hay and grain, as were cattle and hogs, and a flock of 150 hens. Some cattle, not killed outright, had to be put down due to burns and blindness. The area was scorched and black – the farm house spared.

News of the crash sped like wildfire and sightseers quickly arrived. The late Claire Lane was attending Blanchard High School. He remembered skipping school, and with his car loaded of classmates, hurried to the crash site. They were stunned by the devastation. It brought the war from afar close to home.

An eye-witness remembers her family joined other bystanders. “If my mother would have realized how devastating the scene was, I doubt that we would have gone. It was a mess. Dead pigs and cattle lay with their legs outstretched, featherless chickens moved about not knowing where to go or how to be a chicken. A corn crib was still standing and there were men crouching with large instruments. My mother said they were photographers. Army personnel had arrived shortly after the crash. Big pieces of metal parts lay about and were smoking. My father said they were engines and that the airplane had four of them. Pieces of metal were everywhere. We returned home sobered by what we’d seen with a feeling of relief that no one was killed and that the airmen had parachuted to safety. Now I better understood what war was like for helpless innocent people caught in its midst. I had a better, though childish, perception of the war news.”

It was reported that six truck-loads of wreckage were hauled away and 30 boys from Tarkio High School volunteered for the massive job of looking for plane parts and pieces in pastures and cornfields.

Rodolph R. Staples

The Maryville Daily Forum, December 30, 1972, Page 4. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-obituary-for-r/198561272/
Rodolph R. Staples

Rodolph R. Staples, Burlington Jct., died at 5:30 p.m. Friday at his home after a brief illness. Mr.

Staples was a retired farmer and a World War I Marine veteran. He was a member of the Rolla Dicks American Legion Post, Burlington Jct., and of the Burlington Jct. United Methodist Church. He was born Feb. 5, 1889, near Burlington Jct., the son of the late Rodolph and Isabel Fine Staples.

On June 9, 1917, he was married at Topeka, Kan., to Orlena Helply, who survives. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Clay Staples, Burlington Jct., and Stanley Staples, Tarkio, and by three grandchildren. The body is at the Barr-Merrick Funeral Home Chapel, Burlington Jct. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Rodolph Richmond Staples  5 Feb 1889 – 29 Dec 1972 Buried in Ohio Cemetery BUrlington Junction – Findagrave

Christopher Columbus “Lum” Dunfee

The Maryville Daily Forum, December 30, 1972, Page 4. via Newspapers.com (the Atchison Mail reports that although he lived in the Fairfax area, he was working the farm of Henry K. Noel (a teacher at Tarkio College) when the accident occurred https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-obituary-for-r/198561272/

C. C. Dunfee Dies From Heart Attack Livd for Many Years on Farm at Fairfax and on Farm Near Tarkio Christopher C. Dunfee, who had been in ill health since November, 1944, died of a heart attack Thursday afternoon, January 17, at his home in Burlington Junction at 60 years of age. The son of John and Martha Dunfee, he was born December 12, 1885, at Denver, Mo., where he joined the Presbyterian church at an early age.

He received his early education in the public schools in Denver and Grant City and completed his training at Northwest Missouri College in Albany. Mr. Dunfee is well remembered in Tarkio, for he spent his entire life farming in Worth and Atchison counties and lived for many years on a farm near here, in addition to living at Fairfax. On January 29, 1913 he was married to Susie M. Canon and they became the parents of three sons and three daughters, one son, C.

C. Dunfee, jr., preceding his father in death in August, 1943 . Besides his wife, Mr. Dunfee is survived by Kenneth Dunfee, Westboro; Donald W. Dunfee, HA 1/c, San Diego, Calif; Mrs.

Macel Olson, Dallas, Tex.; Mrs. Francil Davis, Plattsmouth, Neb.; Madeline Dunfee of the home, and one grandson. Funeral services were conducted Monday afternoon at the Presbyterian church in Fairfax by the pastor, Rev. S. A. Whysong. Special music was furnished by a quartet composed of James Sloey, Don Martin, Mrs. Herschel Stoner, and Mrs. Rheinard Green, with Mrs. Dan Martin as accompanist. The pallbearers were Rolla Rees, Rudolph Staples, Edgar Stewart, Jess Bowman, George Carter, and Clarence Corbin. Burial was in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery

C.C.’s Son had died in 1943 in an accident at Stockton Air Base in California. He was the fourth person in Daleview Township near Fairfax to have died in World War II.

Christopher Columbus “Lum” Dunfee 12 Dec 1885
Death – 17 Jan 1946 (aged 60) Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Findagrave

Walter L. Geyer FORT WORTH (pilot of plane)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, January 2, 2010, Page A9. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-walter-l-geyer/198569270/

 

Dr. Walter Geyer, 91, a retired Fort Worth physician, went to his heavenly home Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009. FUNERAL: 3:30 p.m.

Monday in Greenwood Chapel. Entombment: Greenwood Mausoleum. Visitation: 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Greenwood Funeral Home. Dr.

Geyer was born Feb. 15, 1918, in Beebe, Ark. He graduated from high school in Mena, Ark., where he married Gladys Anderson in 1942. Along with his father and brother, Walter operated the Geyer Funeral Home in Mena for many years following World War II. At age 42, Walter entered medical school and graduated in 1964 from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

After completing an internship at John Peter Smith Hospital, Walter joined the staff of Northwest Hospital and Clinic. He later opened his own family practice, the Geyer Clinic, in River Oaks where he practiced for over 30 years, retiring in 1998 at the age of 80. During World War II, Walter served in the Army Air Corps as a B-29 pilot. He completed 35 missions over Japan from the Island of Saipan, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross six times and the Air Medal five times. He was a member of the Caterpillar Club, an organization for those who have survived a life-saving parachute jump.

He retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1978 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Walter was an active member of First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth. He will be remembered for his successful career in medicine, his enjoyment of animals, his gift for investing, his love of flying, dancing and music. Walter had been living at Atria Assisted Living Center in Grapevine for the past year. The family would like to thank the staff at Atria and Integra Hospice for their loving care.

SURVIVORS: Daughters, Chrys Geyer of Colleyville and Janis Shull and husband, Richard, of Mena, Ark.; grandson, Christopher Heisey of Colleyville; great-nephew, Wayne Campbell and wife, Connie, of Granbury; niece, Marilyn Eads of Granbury; nephew, Ray Clift and wife, Orlene, of Mena; sister-in- law, Dorothy Geyer of Mena; nephew, Bob Geyer and wife, Marsha, of Mena; and great-niece, Olivia Geyer of Mena. Greenwood Funeral Home 3100 White Settlement Rd., 817-336-0584 View and sign guestbook at www.star-telegram.com/obituaries.

Findagrave Link

Mena Airman Completes B-29 Missions

Herington Handled 60 percent of B-29 Processing

Herington Army Air Field in Kansas served as a primary “staging” base and the final processing station for approximately 60% of all B-29 Superfortress bombers and crews before they deployed to combat zones in the Pacific during World War II.   Crews were sent to Herington for final preparation, and the airfield’s core functions and operations included the following: 

B-29 Had Four Engines and Crew of 10 to 14.  B-25 Had Two ENgines and Crew of  5 to 6

The B-29 Superfortress and B-25 Mitchell were both iconic U.S. World War II bombers, but they served completely different roles.  The B-29 was a massive, high-altitude heavy strategic bomber, whereas the B-25 was a smaller, low-altitude medium bomber and ground-attack aircraft.  

Core Differences at a Glance

Jokes About the Army Wanting Plane Parts Back for Natioanl Security Reason

1. “A Missouri farmer found a B‑29 piece and hung it on the barn. When the Army asked for it back for ‘national security,’ he said, ‘Sure—right after I hang the ‘World’s Best Souvenir’ ribbon.'”
2. “Farmer: ‘I thought it was an ornament.’ Army: ‘It was top secret.’ Farmer: ‘Even better—makes the yard sale collectible!'”
3. “He kept a B‑29 panel as a porch sign that read, ‘Welcome.’ The Army came asking for national security; he replied, ‘Sorry, that sign’s been keeping out varmints for 80 years.'”
4. “When the Army reclaimed the secret plane parts, the farmer complained—’You expect me to give it back? I named it Bertha!’ The colonel said, ‘Sir, Bertha is classified.'”
5. “Farmer: ‘I figured any old metal was fair game.’ Army: ‘This was secret.’ Farmer: ‘Well, secrets make better lawn décor—keeps the neighbors guessing.'”
6. “They told him it was classified; he said, ‘Perfect—now my cattle have a classified pasture.’
7. “When the Army asked why he’d kept a secret plane piece, he said, ‘I figured if it survived a crash, it could survive my weather.’
8. When asked why he kept the piece, he said, ‘It’s got character.’ The Army said, ‘It’s got classified parts.’ He said, ‘Perfect—adds mystery to the farm tour.'”

Jokes About Joining the Caterpillar Club for Jumping out of a Disbled Aircraft in World War II.

1. “Joining the Caterpillar Club: the only membership that required you to lose the plane but keep the upholstery.”
2. “They said wartime networking would get you places — I didn’t realize they meant dropping into a new zip code.”
3. “Caterpillar Club: where the dress code was parachute silk and the handshake involved less hand and more wind.”
4. “Pilot: ‘We’ll try to make a graceful landing.’ Plane: ‘Graceful is my middle name.’ Parachute: ‘You’re welcome.’”
5. “Enrollment was simple: one disabled aircraft, one parachute, and a very specific sense of timing.”
6. “People collected stamps or coins. Wartime aviators collected parachute silk and stories nobody else believed.”
7. “Qualification criteria: must like high drama, open skies, and unexpected exits.”
8. “The Caterpillar Club slogan: ‘We put the drop in drop-in visits.’”

Jokes About an Insurance Company Offering to Insure Your Barn and Cattle from Airplane Crashes

1. “Need coverage if a plane takes out your barn and your prize cows? We’ve got you — policy includes bovine & barnyard collateral damage.”
2. “Accidental airstrikes on livestock: because sometimes the sky’s just clumsy. We’ll pay, you mourn, we process the claim.”
3. “Our triple-A of weird losses: aircraft, agribarn, and ambivalent neighbors. One call covers all three.”
4. “We insure everything from hail to hostile flyovers. Yes, even the cow that didn’t see it coming.”
5. “Don’t let airborne incidents ruin your pasture parade — our policies cover plane-on-barn collisions and awkward county meetings.”
6. “When the pilot says ‘sorry’ and your cow says ‘moo,’ our claims adjuster says ‘check the policy.’”
7. “Planes crash, barns flatten, cows look offended — we write checks faster than you can say ‘low-flying liability.’”
8. “Coverage so thorough even the pilot’s guilt is documented. Barn and bovine included.”
9. “We handle calamities as improbable as a plane vs. hayloft. No judgment — just prompt payouts.”
10. “Advertising line: ‘Protecting your roof, your herd, and your right to demand the pilot buy the first round at the next county fair.’”
11. “Preferential policy add-on: emotional support fencing and replacement cow, because some friends can be milked for sympathy.”
12. “Fine print: we cover plane-on-barn incidents. Not covered: the pilot’s karaoke apology tour.”