Schirmer, 25, Sacramento, California; T-Sgt. William J. Koger, 25, husband of Mary G. Koger of Louisville, Georgia; T-Sgt. William H. Epperson, 25, Evanston, Illinois; and S-Sgt. George L. Simmons, 26, of Lakeland, Florida. "McGinnis was an instructor pilot with more than 1,200 hours of flying time and combat experience with the Canadian air force before U. S. entrance in the war, and with the American air corps in North Africa, Sicily and Italy." The Aviation Archeological Investigation and Research site lists Douglas A-26C Invader 44-35024 of the 137th Base Unit as crashing on this date, but that serial number is associated with an A-26B Invader. The site lists the pilot as Joseph A. McGlens Jr., and the crash location as Myrtle Beach. c. 29 June Messerschmitt test pilot Ludwig "Willie" Hofman ("Hoffman" in an American source) attempted to ferry captured Messerschmitt Me 262A1a/U4, Werke Nummer 170083, originally coded V-083, "Happy Hunter/Wilma Jeanne II" from Lagerlechfeld (near Augsburg, Germany) to Airfield A-55 near Cherbourg on behalf of the USAAF Air Technical Intelligence as part of Operation Lusty for loading aboard . The plane's starboard engine failed at about , and Hofman bailed out over Normandy (with extensive bruising, since he deployed the parachute at high speed). The aircraft was one of two conversions carrying Rheinmetall BK-5 50 mm anti-tank guns in its nose for a bomber attack, although they were never used. An American sergeant admitted a year later that he did not inspect the aircraft's engines before the flight. July–September 1945 1 July Boeing B-29-50-MO Superfortress 44-86334 of the 237th CCTS, 237th AAF Base Unit, Kirtland Field in New Mexico, flown by Second Lt. Ward W. Copenhaver, crashed south of Benton, Kentucky during a cross-country flight in an electrical storm. Nine crew members were killed, and one survived. "MAYFIELD, Ky., July 1. (AP) - Four Army Air Force officers and five enlisted men were killed and one man escaped almost uninjured when a B-29 bomber crashed northeast of here early today in a severe electrical storm." 2 July "Las Vegas, Nev., July 2 (UP) - Eleven personnel from Las Vegas Army air field were killed and two seriously injured Saturday when a heavy bomber crashed and burned as it attempted to land at the field, public relations officers announced tonight." "A Navy pilot was killed yesterday [2 July] when his plane crashed during a routine bombing run at a target