October 1, 20144:00 PM6:00 PM
Cost:
Free
Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum
3740 Jourgensen Avenue, Casper, 82604 United States

Additional Information

On 28 June 1943, a B-17F-55-DL Flying Fortress, serial number 42-3399, departed Pendleton Army Air Base in Pendleton, Oregon destined for Grand Island, Nebraska. The 10-man crew had recently completed combat crew qualification, had drawn a newly manufactured B-17, and was transporting the airplane from the west coast, across the North Atlantic, and to England where plane and crew would join the 8th Air Force in combat operations against Nazi Germany. Around midnight, the captain radioed the control tower at Casper Army Airfield that their position was near Powder River, Wyoming. They were nowhere near their location, they were nearly 120 miles off-course to the north, and flying below their normal flight altitude, and flying below the elevation of the Big Horn Mountains.

The B-17 flew directly into a ridge that would later be christened "Bomber Mountain." The plan was destroyed and the crew was killed instantly, it would not be until over two years later that the wreck would be located.

During World War II, Casper Army Airfield alone experienced ninety (90) major airplane crashes, with over 140 men and one women being killed in them.

Beginning on October 1, 2014 the Wyoming Veterans Museum, the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo, and the Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, Wyoming will join together to present a joint exhibit on airplane crashes of World War II, with the Bomber Mountain Crash serving as a representative example.

At 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1, the Gatchell Museum and Wyoming Veterans Museum will present an opening reception, with lectures from each museum. The Wyoming Veterans Museum will then unveil its spotlight exhibit, highlighting two large artifacts from the Bomber Mountain Crash in two exhibit cases- a propeller from the airplane, and the left waist .50 cal machine gun. These fascinating artifacts are on temporary loan from the Gatchell Museum, who are the designated Federal repository for artifacts from the Bomber Mountain Crash. The Wyoming Veterans Museum will also unveil World War II Army Air Force artwork and artifacts on display in our Multi-Purpose Room.

The Wyoming Veterans Museum's opening reception will feature the door prize of a reproduction silk Army Air Force WWII Europe Escape Map, a $65.00 value. You must attend the event to participate!

On Friday, October 3rd, the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper will present a lecture by Photographer Lewis Koch, who has extensively documented the Bomber Mountain Crash site photographically. The Nicolaysen Art Museum will unveil an exhibit on Mr. Koch's photography.

The exhibits at the Wyoming Veterans Museum and Niolaysen Art Museum will remain open through January 18, 2014. The Gatchell Museum in Buffalo has a permanent exhibit on the Bomber Mountain Crash.

We invite you to join us for this fascinating joint museum exhibit, on Wyoming's World War II history, heritage and legacy.