Beneath haunted waters : the tragic tale of two B-24s lost in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during World War II

Discovery in a High Sierra lake -- The reporters -- The divers -- One of our airplanes is missing -- Another of our airplanes is missing -- The phantom rider -- Training for war -- Not exactly a death trap -- Finding the Hammer Field boys' Exterminator's crew -- Finding the Hammer Field boys'463's crew -- The plane in the lake -- The searchers -- What they faced -- Accidents: why there were so many -- Some were unlucky -- Epilogue.;Beneath Haunted Waters is a story of the crews from two B-24 Liberator bombers that disappeared in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains in early December, 1943. One plane wasn't found until 1955, at the bottom of a reservoir. The other plane was discovered in 1960 at the bottom of a lake, high in the mountains. Concerning this second B-24, the co-pilot's father had died the previous year after dedicating his life to searching for his son. He missed the crash site by only ten miles. This isn't the story of movers and shakers and grand designs. It's the story of regular boys - they called young. Drama. Tragedy. Irony. Unsolved mysteries. And throw in a little greed. Beneath Haunted Waters is not a ghost story; it’s not that kind of “haunted” at all. These are waters haunted by generations of people who cannot forget the story of how two B-24 Liberator bombers disappeared in 1943 and what happened to the boys on board. During the World War II years, the convention was to call young men in their late teens to their late 20s, “boys.” The boys who piloted bombers and fighter aircraft during World War II were 19 or 20 years old - barely out of their childhood. Imagine boarding a 737 today and seeing a teenager at the controls instead of a person with greying temples. That was the situation during the war. Beneath Haunted Waters is a story about that era, when children flew large airplanes equipped with enough firepower to destroy cities. And yet, boys they were, and boys they will always be. But it’s primarily a story of how they died, not in combat, but by accident. During World War II the USA lost 7100 combat aircraft and 5300 trainers, along with 15,530 pilots, crew members, and ground personnel in over 52,000 domestic accidents. These statistics don’t compare to the huge numbers of RAF, 8th Air Force, and Luftwaffe losses during the European air war but the numbers are still frightening: Between 1942-1945, US aviation losses to accidents (12,400) exceeded combat losses (4500) to the Japanese. For every plane shot down in the South Pacific there were three lost to accidents within the United States. While memoirs of those who served, histories of military and political leaders, and books about combat abound, very little has been written about the terrible toll of aviation training accidents during the war. Beneath Haunted Waters is unique because it tells this hardly known and little appreciated story. Most information on this subject is covered in official reports. It appears in a casual way in many memoirs. There are a few histories of the air war during World War II that mention aviation accidents during training or once the boys were in theater. There has been no popular, academic, or comprehensive book on the subject. I propose to cover this subject within the more personal story of what happened to the two Liberators that wound up in Huntington Lake and Hester Lake. Usually, pilots and crews of World War II aircraft were neither old enough to vote nor to drink. Many had never driven a car or taken a train ride much less been in an airplane. Nine months after enlistment they were flying the most technologically advanced, high performance, machines ever built. The same could be said for their navigation equipment and radio gear. But aviation had been around for only 40 years! Aircraft design was still in its infancy. Engines failed, pilots flew into mountains, navigators got lost, radios broke, and weather forecasts were frequently and fatally wrong. Beneath Haunted Waters is the tale of waters in the High Sierra haunted by generations of people who cannot forget the story of how two B-24 Liberator bombers disappeared in 1943 and what happened to the boys on board. During World War II the USA lost 7,100 combat aircraft and 5,300 trainers, along with 15,530 pilots, crew members, and ground personnel in over 52,000 domestic accidents. Between 1942-1945, US aviation losses to accidents (12,400) exceeded combat losses (4,500) to the Japanese. For every plane shot down in the South Pacific there were three lost to accidents within the United States. While memoirs of those who served, histories of military and political leaders, and books about combat abound, very little has been written about the terrible toll of aviation training accidents during the war. Beneath Haunted Waters tells this unknown and unappreciated story. The Rarely Known Story Of A Father's Search For His Son's Body After One Of The Most Mysterious And Tragic Plane Crashes In War History.beneath Haunted Waters Is The Story Of Two B-24 Liberator Bombers That Disappeared In California's Sierra Nevada Mountains In Early December, 1943. One Plane Wasn't Found Until 1955 At The Bottom Of A Reservoir. The Other Plane Was Discovered In 1960 At The Bottom Of A Lake, High In The Mountains. It's The Story Of These Planes And Their Two Crews And How They Died So Young, As Well As The Story Of A Father's Devotion: Clinton Hester Looked For His Pilot-son Robert's Body For The Next 16 Years, Dying One Year Before Robert's Body Was Discovered Within Ten Miles Of Where Clinton Thought It Would Be. California Named The Crash Site Hester Lake In His Honor.