Versailles program: bomber crash

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VERSAILLES — The Versailles Area Museum Speaker Series will present a talk, “B-26 Bomber,” Sunday, March 13, at 2 p.m. at the museum, 552 S. West St., Versailles.

The talk will be about the B-26 bomber that went down near Frenchtown on Nov. 20, 1942.

Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, and the U. S. had conducted a retaliatory attack on Japan, which occurred on April 18, 1942, the raid over Tokyo. Seven months later, a formation of B-26 bombers were making the flight from Baer Field at Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Miami, Florida. One of the planes experienced mechanical problems shortly after takeoff and went down in a field northwest of Versailles near Frenchtown. A newly formed civil service group from Versailles were the first on the scene, along with the Darke County sheriff.

Speaking Sunday will be eyewitnesses to this tragic event, remembering the events of that day and the days that followed with soldiers from Wright Patterson Air Field descending on the scene to cordon it off, protect and remove the bodies of the airmen and the pieces of the charred bomber.

Staff report

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