On August 6 [2009], State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni, along with FOSA members Paul Scannell, Roger Thompson and yours truly were invited to the Great Mountain Forest Corporation in Norfolk, Connecticut by Forest Manager Jody Bronson and Forester Russell M. Russ. On the adjoining acres is the site where an Army Air Corps P40A aircraft returning to its base at Bradley Field, crashed in March of 1943, claiming the life of its pilot, 1st Lt. Daniel Henry Thorson of Great Falls, Montana.

Jody and others have researched and found remains of the crash missed by the Army recovery unit back in 1943. They most notably recovered the instrument panel from the P40A cockpit and gave it to Paul and Roger.

Nick, Paul and Roger have been coincidently investigating the 1941 crash of Lt. Eugene Bradley at Bradley International Airport.

Perhaps the research on this Norfolk air crash and that of Lt. Bradley will complement each other, especially in their time of occurrence.

The accompanying picture is of the monument erected at the crash site, dedicated to Lt. Thorson, in 2003. Its unveiling ceremony included two flyovers by the Connecticut Air National Guard's A10 Thunderbolts. Our thanks to Jody and his crew for their hospitality and taking time to show us the site and share their many hours of research.

Webmaster's Note: A related article, about another crash which occurred in 1944, this time involving 2 F6F Hellcats colliding, can be found in the Related Websites section. You can access the article directly by clicking Hellcat Crash and Booklet.