It's been 58 years since the residents of Scotch Settlement, west of Fredericton, looked into the air one Sunday afternoon and watched with horror as a Royal Canadian Air Force Plane from Pennfield, near Saint John, fell from the air and crashed into a thicket of woods near the community.
Two of the crew from the four-member, twin-engine bomber trainer were killed in the March 19, 1944, crash.
It is certainly something 74-year-old Gene MacBean will never forget. As a teenager, he not only witnessed the aircraft falling from the sky but was one of the first on the scene.
As reported in the March 20, 1944, edition of The Daily Gleaner, the plane was "a formation of three or four flying over the district and, when first noticed, seemed to be on fire. A few minutes later, it dived towards the woods, about a mile and a half from the main trunk road.
"Immediately on its disappearing, the crew of one of the other planes gave the alarm by circling low over the woods and pointing to the spot to attract pedestrians on the highway below."
The crews were in the final stages of training to go overseas and fight in the Second World War.
MacBean, just 16 years old at that point in his life, raced to the scene of the crash, located at the edge of a field owned by Ralph McCoy. He was followed a short time later by George Reed. By the time both arrived, the plane was engulfed in fire.
Finding two of the airmen, Frank William Thompson and George Robert Somers dead, and another, Eric Hicks, seriously injured, the two young men moved quickly to provide what assistance they could.
The fourth member of the crew, Raymond Edward Cormier, escaped relatively unscathed and was up and about trying to help his injured comrades.
MacBean and Reed were assisted by members of a logging crew, most notably Ray Jones and Charles Reed. They were instrumental in securing a team of horses that were used to transport the injured Hicks out of the woods so he could be treated for his injuries.
In a recent conversation with MacBean, he said it was a day he'll never forget and remains clearly embedded in his mind.
"As I was running to the scene, I wondered what I would find and what I was getting myself into, but I kept on going."
MacBean said he was surprised to discover someone standing up. He said he was certain they would be all dead, based on the amount of smoke that was filling the sky at the time. It was some time before all of the aircrew was located, as one of the victims was under a tree and badly burned.
MacBean, who possesses a small collection of photographs taken at the scene of the tragedy, told me that he often thinks about the tragic events of those days.
In 1998, MacBean, Reed and Hicks decided to walk back to the scene to have another look. He also journeyed to the location about two years ago.
"I have only been back three times since 1944," MacBean said. "I will never forget the way it looked when I arrived there."
The only man still alive is Hicks, who resides in Sussex. After the crash, he went on to become a successful veterinarian.
The cause of the breakdown has apparently never been determined.
In many ways, MacBean and the others who responded that day were heroes. There is no doubt they played an instrumental role in saving Hicks, who was hanging onto life by a thread.
Surprisingly enough, neither MacBean nor any of the others were ever honoured for the work they did that day.
I think it's time someone revisited this tragedy and said "thank you" in an official way.
It's only too late when no one is alive to say "thank you" to.
SOURCE: The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton, NB) - April 8, 2002.
Return to Pennfield Ridge Air Station Roll of
Honour Page
Return to Pennfield Ridge Air Station Page
Return to Pennfield Home Page