Curtiss P-40N Warhawk, s/n 42-105469
The Incident:
The story of Major Marshal Camp rescue is touching and tragic.
Major Camp was flying P-40N s/n 42-105469 on a patrol mission north of Snæfellsnes in extremely bad weather low ceiling blowing snow and high wind. His engine failed and he bailed out and came down in an open field. The aircraft came down at the foot of the mountain Vallnahnúkur.
Few local men went out in the hard weather to rescue the pilot but were unsuccessful. He died from cold and serious injuries, shortly after they reached him. Ólafur Bjarnason, a farmer at Brimilsvellir, heard the aircraft but did not see it. A few minutes later he saw the pilot in a parachute. After landing the pilot was pulled by the storm several hundred meters over a rocky and frozen ground. This caused the most of his serious injuries. Ólafur went out in the strong wind to help the pilot. He searched the area and saw Major Camp on the shore at the bottom of a ca. 15 m. high cliff (Vallnabjarg). The wind had pulled him in his parachute over the edge of the cliff. Ólafur heard Major Camp call for help once and that was the last he heard from him.
The only access to the shore below the cliff was from the sea. Ólafur gathered some neighbors and went on a boat to save the pilot. Major Camp was unconscious when they reached him. He regained consciousness for a short time in the boat but died before being moved to a hospital.
The crash site was visited by stridsminjar.is, on July 3, 2011, August 26, 2011, and July 5, 2015.
The Crew:
Major Marshall Camp, bailed out but did not survive.
The Aircraft:
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk, S/N 42-105469
Curtiss-Wright Corporation
S/N 42-105469
Operator: USAAF 33 Fighter Squadron.
The Squadron operated in Iceland from August 6, 1941, to June 9, 1945.
Details on aircraft: Wikipedia. Youtube
