Per contributor Tim Cook:
Second Lieutenant Alber was the Bombadier aboard B-24E Liberator #42-7417, serving with the 611th Bomb Squadron, 400th Bomb Group from Charleston Army Airfield, S.C.
Departing the base for an intended four
hour nighttime navigational training
flight, the pilot first flew over his
parents house in Elkin, North Carolina
and signaled before proceeding on a leg
which was to take the aircrew towards
Madison, North Carolina. The bomber flew along the Mayo River canyon, where at about
10 p.m. they failed to clear 3,000-foot Bull Mountain, colliding just below the peak, five miles north of Stuart, Virginia.
Investigators speculated the pilots had
mistaken the Mayo River for the Dan River, not realizing the terrain marked on their maps was higher in elevation compared to where they had plotted their course.
All eleven men aboard perished.
The other crew members were:
2 Lt. Gilbert R. Felts, pilot
2 Lt. John R. Gipson, co-pilot
2 Lt. Aubrey E. Brown, Instructor pilot
Flt. Off. Howard A. Jennett, Navigator
Sgt. Neale M. Narramore, Asst. Radio Operator Cpl. Joseph L. Fountain, Asst. Engineer Cpl. Charlie B. Herring, Engineer Cpl. Charles D. Libbey, aerial gunner Cpl. Carl E. Pierce, Radio Operator PFC James J. Tiffner, aerial gunner
Second Lieutenant Alber was the Bombadier aboard B-24E Liberator #42-7417, serving with the 611th Bomb Squadron, 400th Bomb Group from Charleston Army Airfield, S.C.
Departing the base for an intended four
hour nighttime navigational training
flight, the pilot first flew over his
parents house in Elkin, North Carolina
and signaled before proceeding on a leg
which was to take the aircrew towards
Madison, North Carolina. The bomber flew along the Mayo River canyon, where at about
10 p.m. they failed to clear 3,000-foot Bull Mountain, colliding just below the peak, five miles north of Stuart, Virginia.
Investigators speculated the pilots had
mistaken the Mayo River for the Dan River, not realizing the terrain marked on their maps was higher in elevation compared to where they had plotted their course.
All eleven men aboard perished.
The other crew members were:
2 Lt. Gilbert R. Felts, pilot
2 Lt. John R. Gipson, co-pilot
2 Lt. Aubrey E. Brown, Instructor pilot
Flt. Off. Howard A. Jennett, Navigator
Sgt. Neale M. Narramore, Asst. Radio Operator Cpl. Joseph L. Fountain, Asst. Engineer Cpl. Charlie B. Herring, Engineer Cpl. Charles D. Libbey, aerial gunner Cpl. Carl E. Pierce, Radio Operator PFC James J. Tiffner, aerial gunner
Per contributor Tim Cook:
Second Lieutenant Alber was the Bombadier aboard B-24E Liberator #42-7417, serving with the 611th Bomb Squadron, 400th Bomb Group from Charleston Army Airfield, S.C.
Departing the base for an intended four
hour nighttime navigational training
flight, the pilot first flew over his
parents house in Elkin, North Carolina
and signaled before proceeding on a leg
which was to take the aircrew towards
Madison, North Carolina. The bomber flew along the Mayo River canyon, where at about
10 p.m. they failed to clear 3,000-foot Bull Mountain, colliding just below the peak, five miles north of Stuart, Virginia.
Investigators speculated the pilots had
mistaken the Mayo River for the Dan River, not realizing the terrain marked on their maps was higher in elevation compared to where they had plotted their course.
All eleven men aboard perished.
The other crew members were:
2 Lt. Gilbert R. Felts, pilot
2 Lt. John R. Gipson, co-pilot
2 Lt. Aubrey E. Brown, Instructor pilot
Flt. Off. Howard A. Jennett, Navigator
Sgt. Neale M. Narramore, Asst. Radio Operator Cpl. Joseph L. Fountain, Asst. Engineer Cpl. Charlie B. Herring, Engineer Cpl. Charles D. Libbey, aerial gunner Cpl. Carl E. Pierce, Radio Operator PFC James J. Tiffner, aerial gunner
Second Lieutenant Alber was the Bombadier aboard B-24E Liberator #42-7417, serving with the 611th Bomb Squadron, 400th Bomb Group from Charleston Army Airfield, S.C.
Departing the base for an intended four
hour nighttime navigational training
flight, the pilot first flew over his
parents house in Elkin, North Carolina
and signaled before proceeding on a leg
which was to take the aircrew towards
Madison, North Carolina. The bomber flew along the Mayo River canyon, where at about
10 p.m. they failed to clear 3,000-foot Bull Mountain, colliding just below the peak, five miles north of Stuart, Virginia.
Investigators speculated the pilots had
mistaken the Mayo River for the Dan River, not realizing the terrain marked on their maps was higher in elevation compared to where they had plotted their course.
All eleven men aboard perished.
The other crew members were:
2 Lt. Gilbert R. Felts, pilot
2 Lt. John R. Gipson, co-pilot
2 Lt. Aubrey E. Brown, Instructor pilot
Flt. Off. Howard A. Jennett, Navigator
Sgt. Neale M. Narramore, Asst. Radio Operator Cpl. Joseph L. Fountain, Asst. Engineer Cpl. Charlie B. Herring, Engineer Cpl. Charles D. Libbey, aerial gunner Cpl. Carl E. Pierce, Radio Operator PFC James J. Tiffner, aerial gunner
Inscription
WAYNE R
Lt. U.S. Army Air Corps
Born June 9, 1921
Lost his life in the performance of duty
March 15, 1944
ALBER
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