The Cessna Bobcat was manned by a two-man crew. They would take up to three pilots as passengers. Then on the way back to France they would bring back lightweight parts on the rear seat. The rotating crews would fly replacement P47’s back to France when coming off leave.

July 2, 1944 was a fateful day for “Junior”. He and four others left Carentan, in Normandy, France that morning heading to Chilbolton, Hampshire, England. Chilbolton was used as a supply depot for replacement aircraft as well as an operational base. Junior was the pilot of a Cessna Bobcat going to England to pick up spare parts for the 313th Fighter Squadron of the 50th Fighter Group. Those on board for the flight consisted of 1st Lt. Walter Hayes Junior, 2nd Lt. Dale C. Frances and three other pilots hitching a ride over to England. Those going along for the ‘ride’ were Lt. Duran F. Quinn, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, Capt. Norman Nelson, Captain Billy B. Bryan. All of them were P-47 Thunderbolt pilots during the D-Day Invasion on June 6th, 1944.

As the Cessna Bobcat reached the coastline of England the weather turned and flying became hazardous. The accident happened on a very cloudy day with a lot of rain. According to an article in The Oakdale Journal *, the U.S. military thought that the plane also experienced engine mechanical problems during the flight. On the way to Chilbolton, the Bobcat experienced a failure in the right wing. The Bobcat was within 10 minutes of its destination when the problems became dire. The crew knew that the plane was not going to make it. The plane was now approaching the Parish of Ampfield, Hampshire in England with no where to land safely. A resident of Ampfield (Steve White who was 11 years old at the time) said that the pilot of the Bobcat turned the plane away from the village and headed to a wooded area near by.

According to Alexandria Daily Town Talk, “The U.S. military removed the bodies of the airmen and the plane’s wreckage, but some debris and other items, including Quinn’s bracelet, were left behind. The villagers stayed away from the area, out of superstition or respect, and the woods grew thick around the crash site. It was undisturbed for 35 years.”

Young Martin Vear took a shortcut on his way home one summer day in 1980. This shortcut was through the very woods where the accident happened some 35 years before. He came across several items that remained after the military ‘cleaned’ the area. Items included pieces of aluminum sheet metal and a shoebox full of other items such as watches and an ID bracelet belonging to Lt Duran F. Quinn. Mr. Vear spent several years trying to track down the families of the fallen airmen and return to them various articles found at the crash site.

Walter Hayes Jr.'s story can be found at - Walter Hayes Jr. | Alan Marvel (marvelfamily.net)