World War II Database

On 17 Jul 1945, USAAF pilot First Lieutenant Allen R. Turner took off with a C-109 transport aircraft from Jorhat, India, with supplies for Chinese and American forces. His destination was Xinjin Airfield in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, and the route took him over the Himalaya Mountain Range in a flight commonly known as "The Hump". Turner and his crew never made it there. In 2007, Clayton Kuhles stumbled upon an aircraft wreckage in a deep ravine in India. As investigations proceeded, a local resident turned in bone fragments he had previously taken from the crash site. In Feb 2016, copilot First Lieutenant Frederick W. Langhorst's remains were identified. Later, crew member Private First Class Joseph I. Natvik's remains were identified as well. These two discoveries confirmed the identity of the wreck. On 11 Dec 2018, after employing latest mitochondrial DNA analysis techniques, the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that it had positively identified the remains of Turner.

For more information:
Boston Globe: Remains identified as Brookline pilot killed in WWII
WW2DB: Xinjin Airfield

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments