Bear Swamp hill

[manumuskin]

I was exploring bear swamp hill and the landing gear site last week and renoticed something i meant to ask about.Three of the four tower fondation supports appear to be undamaged except from weathering and the bolts and tower fixtures seem to be intact but the northeast corner abutment fixture and bolt is bent in a northeast direction and the abutment itself appears to have been fractured and about half has disintegrated.Is this a direct result of the crash in 71?Also while at the landing gear I notice in a westerly direction back toward the hill their is a large dead pine clean snapped off about 20 ft off the ground about 50 ft from the gear and about another 50 ft behind that in line with the hill and about 30 ft up is another large dead pine snapped clean off.Are these where the plane came in?Where is the landing gear in relation to where the fuselage and pilot was found?Does anybody know?have any of the rescue/salvage crew been contacted and asked to point out this important spot?
Al

 

[Teegate]

Al,

The records that I was able to get say that the military took control of the place and it was almost 3 days later before the State people were able to get there to look the tower over. And even then they were told to not touch anything. It is late, but if I remember I will post some more of the info I have on it.

Here is a photo of the path right near the landing gear in 1976. You can see some damage to the trees. The Papoose Branch i where the article says the pilot and main portion of the plane ended up and that is much farther away than the landing gear. Of course they may be just using that as a reference.

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/~teegate/bsh.JPG

The photo's I have of the foundations show them to be in better condition than they are now. They may have sustained cracks that ice has done damage to over the years. But the one closest to the path seems to have most of the damage, and it may have in part been from vehicles driving there. Just a guess there. I will post all the photo's I have from 1976 tomorrow if I remember. I could also pot the photo's taken days after the crash but they are really poor scannings of the actual photo's.

Guy

 

[manumuskin]

thanks Teegate,
that was a real nice pic.Before I found the gear I had read that the plane crashed in papoose swamp which i had explored quite a bit and had never seen any plane parts.The swamp that the gear is in is not papoose swamp but an isolated little bog unconnected to papoose.Maybe tis winter I"ll have to pushwack the flight path straight thru to papoose.Probably won"t find anything but it"s worth a shot.
Al

 

[Teegate]

All,

As promised I have posted all of the info that I have on the Bear Swamp Hill Tower accident, except one photo from years ago that has the incorrect info that sent me on many wasted trips to the library. You may find it interesting on how I acquired this info so read on if you are interested. If not, the link to the files is below.

After years of uncertainty on the date of the accident, along with poor and incorrect information and wasted trips to the library, I was reading an article online at the Courier Post website on a woman who was searching out information about her dad. They had lived in the town next to me in the 40's when she was just a baby. Her father worked for RCA in Camden and was testing out a new and top secret weapon (better radar I believe) that they were developing. He was a civilian and was being flown by the military on these test in the southern portion of the US. He and others had complained on how poor the plane they were being flown in was, and unfortunately they were correct, and the plane crashed and he was killed.

Since the testing was top secret, information from the government was not forthcoming as it always seems, maybe justly. Who's to say. Anyway, she never knew her dad, and as an adult she became determined to find some answers. So as we all do she started searching the web for help, and she came up with her answer right here in South Jersey not far from one of our members home I believe.

In Millville there is a man who has always been fascinated with plane crashes, so over the years he has collected information on them and visited as many of the sites that he was able to. His collection of information has grow so much that he started a business selling that information from his home at a very reasonable fee. This woman was able to find out all she wanted to know about her fathers death for a fee of $25. Not bad of a price to pay for peace of mind!

So after reading the article I contacted this man and as luck would have it he had the Fire Service report in his possession which I purchased through PayPal for $15. Not a bad price to pay after years of dead ends.

Here is the report.

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/module...ude=view_album.php&set_albumName=album133


And here is the website of the man who helped her and I find our elusive information.

http://accident-report.com/

Guy

 

[manumuskin]

you are the man teegate!I"m definitely headed there this winter for a bushwack across to papoose swamp and I"ll notify you of anything I find, if anything.
Al

 

[KenDawg]

I agree with Al, you are the man Guy. I have been going to the hill since 1973 and it was weird seeing the trees with their tops cut off by the jet.

 

[Teegate]

I just paid $15 and the info showed up in my mailbox. If that is what it takes to be "The Man" than life is good!

Guy

 

[bach2yoga]

I just paid $15 and the info showed up in my mailbox. If that is what it takes to be "The Man" than life is good!

Guy

That is a cool story!

Millville's around the corner for me. Al too, I would guess, but coming the other way.

Hey, Al--do you know anything about a military dump years ago on Cedarville Road, near Ramah?

Renee

 

[manumuskin]

you wouldn"t be referring to the old world war 2 bunkers near the 4 way would you?
Al

 

[bach2yoga]

you wouldn"t be referring to the old world war 2 bunkers near the 4 way would you?
Al

hmm...near the 4 way--buckshutem and cedarville?
My parents are 8/10 mile past that, across from Ramah, with the wma in their backyard.
Which are the bunkers? Where the Ingraldis used to have their produce that is falling down?
My parents had to sign paperwork when they bought their house that they would hold the government harmless in the event anything was ever found (explosives, etc.). I do remember someone finding an old bomb once when I was a kid at Lummis Ponds.
BTW--one interesting thing I learned at our trip to Warren Grove on Monday--the loud booms we hear are NOT the sound of the bombing practice! It's the guns and the recoil that they are practicing with--hard to imagine, huh.
Renee

 

[manumuskin]

Renee,
My uncle lives out on cedarville road right across from the end of ramah rd.His name is Bernard Shumate.He is actually my grandpops brother.he's Larry that owns larrys bar"s dad.
no the bunkers are not ingraldis.use to go there when i was a kid.just went to the new ingraldis last week down by rieck ave.Their are two sets of bunkers where in world war 2 men used to set and watch how close the planes were to targets when they bombed.One set is about a mile in from the 4 way and the other set is down closer to me near 555.In front of each bunker is a bare spot of earth that is so full of matal nothing will grow in them.metal detectors flip out in these bare spots.their is also an old brick building about 200 yards behind the first set.some of the truxton kids wrote their names in it.You bring the family along and I"ll show you the bunkers.The first set i can drive to.4 by4 a plus.the second set if the gate is locked which it always is till somebody periodically breaks it then you have to walk half a mile otherwise you can drive there too.I can send you maps to where their at but you may miss the old brick building unless I show you where it"s at.Your kids would love em.their like caves made out of concrete with the wood growth rings used as molds still visible.most have barn swallow nests glued to the walls.
Al

 

[bach2yoga]

Renee,
My uncle lives out on cedarville road right across from the end of ramah rd.His name is Bernard Shumate.He is actually my grandpops brother.he's Larry that owns larrys bar"s dad.
no the bunkers are not ingraldis.use to go there when i was a kid.just went to the new ingraldis last week down by rieck ave.Their are two sets of bunkers where in world war 2 men used to set and watch how close the planes were to targets when they bombed.One set is about a mile in from the 4 way and the other set is down closer to me near 555.In front of each bunker is a bare spot of earth that is so full of matal nothing will grow in them.metal detectors flip out in these bare spots.their is also an old brick building about 200 yards behind the first set.some of the truxton kids wrote their names in it.You bring the family along and I"ll show you the bunkers.The first set i can drive to.4 by4 a plus.the second set if the gate is locked which it always is till somebody periodically breaks it then you have to walk half a mile otherwise you can drive there too.I can send you maps to where their at but you may miss the old brick building unless I show you where it"s at.Your kids would love em.their like caves made out of concrete with the wood growth rings used as molds still visible.most have barn swallow nests glued to the walls.
Al

Sounds like a plan. We're not opposed to walking either, the little guy goes in the backpack on either Joe or myself, and Kristen can hang pretty well.

I'll have to check my calendar, (which is a bit crazy at the moment) and let me know when you're open?

Renee

 

[bach2yoga]

Hey, I just realized who you mean!
My sister Darlin lives nearby as well, she is married to John Cossaboon.

 

[manumuskin]

Renee,
Looks like we"s cousins!
Al

 

[bach2yoga]

Renee,
Looks like we"s cousins!
Al

Oh, boy!.... :jaw:

:lol:

Renee

 

[hippietoad]

Dallas and Peggy Cossaboon

Hello...I'm hoping someone will have some information for me.
I am doing genealogical research and this post came up in Google.
I am looking for the family of Dallas Cossaboon who was killed during WWII.
He at one time lived in Vinton, Virginia but moved to Newport, NJ in 1935.
At the time of his death, his wife, Peggy, was living in Cedarville, NJ.
They had a daughter named Mary Ann.
Any help would be greatly apprciated.
Dawn