[[December 13, 2021 – “Once more, with feeling!”: Updated yet again! I recently obtained a copy of the Army Air Force Accident Report covering the loss of P-40F 41-14403, and the death of its pilot, Captain William Hays Davidow. I’ve included the first two pages of this 14-page document, below. Much as I surmised or “read between the lines” of the Times’ obituary for Capt. Davidow – I assumed he crashed on take-off or landing – he indeed crashed on take-off, when his Warhawk’s engine cut, forcing him to make an emergency belly-landing, 1/12 miles south of the airdrome.]]
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[Dating back to January of 2018 and updated on November 27 of 2021, this post is now updated: New pictures and new images.]
Army Air Force Captain William Hays Davidow, a pilot in the 12th Ferry Group, lost his life in the crash of a P-40 Warhawk fighter plane at Accra, British West Africa (now Ghana), on Sunday, January 21, 1943 (15 Sh’vat 5703). His aircraft, P-40F 41-14403, suffered engine failure on takeoff.
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Here’s an Applish Map showing the coast of Africa (specifically, along the Gulf of Guinea) with Ghana at the center. Accra is situated on the coastline.
Appling in for closer look: The city of Accra, with Kotoka International Airport. Established as a military airport by the British in WW II, this was probably the location of Captain Davidow’s crash.
An even closer look: A view of the contemporary international airport.
From NARA’s collection “Black and White and Color Photographs of U.S. Air Force and Predecessor Agencies Activities, Facilities, and Personnel – World War II”, via Fold3, here’s a May, 1943 view of the Accra Air Base Operations Building, certainly much as it would have appeared to Captain Davidow in early 1943. (Photo 342-FH-3A00701-77499AC)
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The second and third pages of the Accident Report for Capt. Davidow’s loss are shown below. As seems to be pretty standard for early war Accident Reports, the initial page(s) – below – comprises a very brief handwritten summary (an abstract, as it were) of the report. This includes the serial number of the report, and, the location of the plane’s loss.
Accra, British West Africa
1615 GMT 43-1-21-502
Immediately after take-off when about 150 – 200 ft. altitude the engine failed.
Pilot made forced landing with gear-up in rough terrain. The belly tank was sheared off upon contact with the ground. The plane skidded about 150 ft. hit a tree stump, snapping off the left wing, breaking gas tank & caught on fire.
Fatal to pilot. Plane completely destroyed.
P.B.H.
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The next page in the document is a standard form (A.A.F. Form No. 14, of May 15, 1942, that is), appropriately dubbed a “Report of Aircraft Accident”. The form’s data fields cover the date, time, location, and military organization of the plane and pilot (or crew), identifying information about the plane in question, and especially, a record of the pilot’s flight hours. This is followed, at bottom, by a very brief descriptive summary of the accident.
Note that Captain Davidow, though having amassed a total of over 1,000 flight hours, had only completed 4 hours in P-40s (P-40Fs, to be specific) prior to the accident, which was a test flight. But, his lack of experience with this aircraft was entirely unrelated to the plane’s loss, which was attributed – at bottom, in faint handwriting – to “100% material” [failure].” As to w h y the engine failed, other documents in the report offer no explanation.
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On January 27, an obituary of Captain Davidow appeared in The New York Times, albeit not in association with a Casualty List. Rather, it was published as a “stand alone” news item on page four in the newspaper’s first section. The prominence of the obituary – which is shown and transcribed below – was probably due to Captain Davidow’s familial relationship to Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of the Times.
Born in New York on December 15, 1919, William Davidow was employed by the Times prior to entering the Army Air Force as an Aviation Cadet.
Along with The New York Times, news about Captain Davidow appeared in the Herald Statesman (Yonkers) (1/28/43), the Long Island Daily Press (12/17/40, and 1/29/43), and Nassau Daily Review – Star (6/30/42, 2/5/43) while a tribute in his honor, written by fellow employees at the Times, was published in the German exile newspaper Aufbau on June 11, 1943.
Captain Davidow is buried in the North African American Cemetery, in Carthage, Tunisia, at Plot C, Row 19, Grave 7. His name appears on page 295 of American Jews in World War Two.
His obituary from the Times is presented below…
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Army Flier Is Victim Of a Crash in Africa
SCARSDALE, N.Y., Jan. 26 – Captain William Hays Davidow of the Army Air Forces has been killed in an airplane accident in Africa, the War Department has notified his mother, Mrs. Irwin Friend, of 44 Graham Road, Scarsdale. [Also 121 East 94th Street, in the Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan – MGM] There were no further details.
Captain Davidow was born in New York City twenty-three years ago. He attended Lafayette College for two years, and was a member of the swimming team. In 1939 he became a member of the merchandise research department of THE NEW YORK TIMES.
In October, 1940, he enlisted in the Air Forces as an aviation cadet, graduating as a pilot in August, 1941. He was trained at Maxwell Field, Birmingham, Ala. He went to Africa shortly before Pearl Harbor.
Surviving besides his mother are his father, Leonard H. Davidow of New York, and two sisters, Mrs. Marjorie D. Mathias and Miss Betty Davidow. Mrs. Arthur Hays Suzlberger of New York is a cousin.
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This image of Captain Davidow standing in front a PT-17 Stearman biplane, presumably a semi-official portrait taken during his pilot training, appeared in the Scarsdale Inquirer on November 6, 1942.
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A more formal portrait of William Davidow as a Flying Cadet, from the United States National Archives collection of “Photographic Prints of Air Cadets and Officers, Air Crew, and Notables in the History of Aviation“. (RG 18-PU) Lt. Davidow received his wings on August 15, 1941.
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This portrait of William Davidow appeared both in the Times’ obituary and the Lafayette College Book of Remembrance, the latter profiling alumni of Lafayette College (in Easton, Pennsylvania) who lost their lives in World War Two.
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Here’s a memorial poem in honor of Captain Davidow from the June 11, 1943 issue of Aufbau, by Ben Samuel, a journalist who contributed many biographical profiles of American Jewish soldiers to the Jewish press during the Second World War. Though Samuel’s work is invaluable in terms of chronicling the participation of American Jews in the United States’ war effort, unsurprisingly – given the ethos of the era – his writing is largely if not entirely absent of a perception of the nature of the war, in terms of the identity and survival of the Jewish people on a collective basis.
Jews in
Uniform
By BEN SAMUEL
Obit
As a tribute to his memory,
his co-workers on the editorial staff of
the New York Times recently
dedicated the following poem to
Captain William Hays Davidow,
Army Air Force, who died in action
“somewhere in Africa” early
in January:
They told us today that Bill had
been killed,
in action,
in Africa.
It brought the war home to us,
right into
the office, closer than it’s ever been.
Not rationing…
Not service stars posted in the lobby
Not saying goodbye to the others,
like Bill, who go off every day to
the war…
Not reading Rex Stout’s preachment
To “hate the enemy”…
Not hearing the sirens wail
every Saturday noon…
Not anything
has brought the war so close to us
as telling us that Bill had been
killed in action
in Africa
You see, Bill was one of us.
We worked with him.
We played with him.
We ate and drank with him.
Complained and griped with him.
Laughed and kidded with him.
Dreamed and hoped with him.
Got drunk with him.
Sobered up with him.
And said so long to him
when he went off to war.
And now they tell us he’s been killed
in action,
in Africa.
That he won’t be coming back
when this show is over.
That he won’t be laughing with us
and eating with us and working
with us.
and being alive with us.
any more.
And that’s hard to take,
because we loved Bill.
We love him still
We know who killed him, too,
You killed him, Hitler,
You dirty swine,
Damn you!
We thought we knew before
what it was all about.
We didn’t.
But we know now,
Because of Bill.
And it’s going to be tough with you,
Hitler…
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The Davidow family home in Scarsdale, New York, as it appeared in 2017, via Zillow.com.
United States Navy
Two Jewish members of the United States Navy are known to have been involved in military incidents on January 21. They were Lieutenant Albert Plotkin, killed in a domestic flying accident, and Seaman Bernard Applebaum, who was rescued during the sinking of his ship, but who died of illness in October, 1945.
Plotkin, Albert, Lt., Co-Pilot
Navy Air Transport Squadron VR-3
Aircraft (R4D-1 Skytrain Bureau Number 5051), struck Fremont Peak, near Flagstaff, Arizona; Pilot – Lieutenant Max S. Knudsen; 6 crew and passengers – no survivors
Mrs. Virginia Elizabeth “Betty” (Ogle) Plotkin (wife), New Smyrna, Fl. / Kansas City, Mo.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Herman and Pearl Plotkin (parents), David and Ruth Plotkin (brother and sister), 90-36 149th St., Jamaica, N.Y.
Born Akron, Ohio, 12/14/16
Buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. – Section 8, Grave 6169 – Buried 5/23/43
Herald Statesman (Yonkers) (1/28/43)
Long Island Daily Press 12/17/40, 1/29/43
Nassau Daily Review-Star 6/25/41, 3/4/42, 6/30/42, 2/5/43
American Jews in World War Two – 406
The article below appeared on the first page of the January 29, 1943 issue of the the Long Island Daily Press.
Wreckage of the Skytrain was only discovered four months later, as seen in this article from The Washington Post of May 17, 1943.
Navy Plane Lost Since January Found in Arizona
Flagstaff, Ariz., May 16 (AP) – The wreckage of a Navy cargo plane missing since January 21 with six men aboard was found today by a high school hiking club on the San Francisco peaks.
Sheriff Peery Francis said the plane was “pretty badly torn up,” and that all the bodies had been found.
When the plane was three days overdue on its flight from Kansas City to San Pedro, Calif., the Navy said those aboard were:
Pilot: Lieut. Max S. Knudsen, Kansas City, Mo.; co-pilots, Lieut. Albert Plotkin, Kansas City, Mo.; Lieut. (j.g.) Phillip H. Pitts, Jr., Birmingham, Ala.; Chief Radioman Cullen A. Snyder, Central City, Pa.; Aviation Machinist’s Mate Wilford De Booth [Wilford D. Booth], Cainesville, Mo.; Seaman Second Class, Don J. Steele, Carmichaels, Pa.
These two images of Lt. Plotkin’s matzeva in Arlington National Cemetery are by FindAGrave contributor Anne Cady. Note that Lt. Plotkin was a Freemason.
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Applebaum, Bernard (David bar Rav Yakov), Seaman 1st Class, serial number possibly 5791828
Crew Member of Submarine Chaser USS SC-709 (lost off Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia)
Born 1926
Mr. Jacob Applebaum (father), Philip (brother), 16 Henry St., Malden, Ma.
Died (non-combat) at Brooklyn Naval Hospital on 10/26/45; Malden Press 11/2/45
American Jews in World War Two – p. 149
Buried at Meretz (Mont Vale?) Cemetery, Woburn, Ma.
This image of Bernard’s matzeva is by Donna Halper.
Soviet Union / U.S.S.R. (C.C.C.Р.)
Red Army [РККА (Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия)]
Among Jewish military casualties on January 21, 1943, were these members of the Red Army:
Eylenkrig, Yakov Isaevich – Lieutenant [Эйленкриг, Яков Исаевич – Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
314th Rifle Division, 598th Autonomous Sapper Battalion
Disappeared / missing in action, during tank activity under force of artillery shelling [Пропал без вести при содровождении танков при силы артиллерийский обстреле]
Born 1913 or 1916, city of Kiev
Mother I.Ya. Eylenkrig; lived in Kurshabsk raion
Flomin, Natan Abramovich – Captain [Фломин, Натан Абрамович – Капитан] (In battle for Stalingrad)
Battalion Commander
226th Rifle Division, 987th Rifle Regiment
Born 1915; city of Pervomansk, Odessa oblast
Father: A. Yakov Flomin, resided in city of Chkalov
Place of burial: Stalingrad oblast
Grossman, Lev Moiseevich – Lieutenant [Гроссман, Лев Моисеевич – Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
225th Rifle Division, 695th Rifle Regiment
Died of wounds / Died of disease / illness
Born: 1907; Chkalov region, Kvarkensky district, mine Aydir
Wife: Ida Isaevna Dubenskaya, city of Znamenka, Mosseynaya 66
Russia, Saratov oblast, Kirovsky raion, Resurrection Cemetery (northeastern part, mass grave) / Saratov oblast, city of Saratov, city cemetery
Kleyn, Iosif Lazarevich, Lieutenant – [Клейн, Иосиф Лазаревич, Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
16th Autonomous Rifle Brigade
Born: 1915; Kongradskiy region, Poltovskaya oblast, Ukraine SSR
Wife: Anna Maksimovna Kleyn, lived in city of Tbilisi
Place of burial: Krasnodar Territory, Northern raion, Severskaya Station, southern margin
Mitelman, Yeshaooiy Volfovich – Lieutenant – [Мительман, Е. Вольфович – Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
18th Rifle Division, 424th Rifle Regiment
Born: 1920; Dunaevskiy raion, Kaments-Podolsk oblast
Mother: Anna Shmulevna Mitelman; lived in city of Sizran
Pasik, Iosif Mikhaylovich – Lieutenant [Пасик, Иосиф Михайлови – Лейтенант] (In battle for Stalingrad)
Platoon Commander
13th Guards Rifle Division, 34th Guards Rifle Regiment
Born 1922; Satanovskiy raion, Kamenets-Pololsk oblast, Ukraine SSR
Father resided in city of Kazatin
Buried at Mamayev Kurgan – city of Stalingrad, Stalingrad oblast
Pogorelskiy, Samuil Mikhaylovich – Guards Lieutenant [Погорельский, Самуил Михайлович – Гвардии Лейтенант] (In battle for Stalingrad)
Deputy Company Commander (Political Section)
57th Army, 15th Guards Rifle Division, 47th Guards Rifle Regiment
Born 1904; city of Urgench, Kharkovskiy oblast
Wife: Elena G. Podgorelskiy, resided in Kharkovskiy oblast
Buried: City of Volgograd, Sovetsky raion, Peschanka settlement, center, mass grave
Veseliy, David Lazarevich – Junior Lieutenant – [Веселый, Давид Лазаревич – Младший Лейтенант]
Platoon Commander
364th Rifle Division, 1216th Rifle Regiment, 1st Gunnery Company
Born: 1909; Volkovetskiy raion, Kamenets-Podolsk oblast
Mother: Frida Ayzikovna Veselaya; lived in Kamanets-Podolsk oblast
Zilberg (Zilberberg?), Matvey Mironovich – Lieutenant [Зильберг (Зильберберг?), Матвей Миронович – Лейтенант]
Tank Commander
39th Autonomous Tank Brigade
Missing in action in Kamenskiy raion, Rostovskaya oblast
Born: 1922, city of Kiev, Ukraine SSR
Mother: Zinaida Petrovna Zilberg (Zilberberg?), resided in city of Kiev
…while this man, captured on January 21, survived as a prisoner of war and was repatriated from German captivity:
Podolnik, Solomon Semenovich – Lieutenant – [Подольник, Соломон Семенович – Лейтенант]
Deputy Battery Commander (Political Section)
Captured 1/21/43
98th Rifle Division
Some References
Websites
Arthur Hays Sulzberger (Wikipedia)
Captain William H. Davidow incident of January 21, 1943 (Aviation Archeology Database)
Scarsdale Inquirer for November 6, 1942 (Hudson River Valley Heritage Historical Newspapers)
Aufbau, poem honoring Captain William H. Davidow, in issue of June 11, 1943 (German Exile Press newspapers, at Deutsche National Bibliothek)
Submarine Chaser USS SC-709
and
Books
Dublin, Louis I., and Kohs, Samuel C., American Jews in World War II – The Story of 550,000 Fighters for Freedom, The Dial Press, New York, N.Y., 1947.
Lafayette College Book of Remembrance, 1946, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. (With special thanks to College Archivist Elaine M. Stomber!)
January 1, 2018