The remains of a Gloucester World War II veteran, missing since 1942 and declared a casualty of war four years later, may soon be recovered as the U.S. Department of Defense is working on a plan to investigate the wreckage of his B-17 bomber that went down in the mountainous rainforests of Papua New Guinea.
Ernest Louis Pugh, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 131 pounds, blond hair, gray eyes, graduated from Botetourt High School on June 7, 1940. Five days later, on June 12, he joined the Army.
By June 1942, Pugh had married Dorothy Pierce of Hampton. He had shipped out to Australia, and she stayed behind in Hampton. Pugh had advanced to the rank of sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Force; he was a crew member on a B-17 bomber, known as the Flying Fortress, in the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group.
The B-17 disappeared on a night bombing mission on Sept. 15, 1942 to the Japanese base in Rabaul, New Britain. The aircraft took off around 5 p.m. from a base near Port Moresby, New Guinea. ...