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Boise City Bombing

Vol 5, Iss 17 Boise City, Oklahoma - "From your website you mention: ..... that Boise City is the only city in the continental USA that was bombed during WWII? Sounds like another mystery to unravel, huh?

I read this on your website a few weeks ago - and then today I found this 1993 newspaper clipping printed on the 50th Anniversary of the event. I had cut out the article because the Boise City courthouse is where I got married.

It states: On July 5, 1943, an Army Air Force training unit stationed at Dalhart, Texas - about 30 miles south of this Oklahoma Panhandle town - set out for a lighted practice field roughly 20 miles northeast of Dalhart. The unit's navigator made a mistake and took the lights in the Boise City courthouse for the target. The plane dropped six 100- pound practice bombs, loaded with four pounds of dynamite and 90 pounds of sand, on Boise City.

It seems that none of the bombs hit the courthouse but they all landed within 93 feet of it. Chamber of Commerce officials have learned that several other such bombings occurred although it is not clear if any of them involved a town. Boise City was trying to locate the crew of the B-17 for the 50th Anniversary! Anyway, thought I would pass this along to you. I continue to enjoy your website! According to the article in the Daily Oklahoman it was a U.S. B-17 crew from a training unit in Dalhart, TX. It stated that the unit's navigator made a mistake and mistook the lights of the Boise City courthouse for the target. One of the bombs did not explode and has been kept by residents. They cleaned it up and painted it. At the time of this article (summer 1993) they were rainsing money to put up a monument on the courthouse square." -- Patti View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Boise City Bombed by Friendly Fire - WWII

Vol 5, Iss 17 Boise City, Oklahoma - "Boise City, Oklahoma was the only city in the United States to be bombed during World War II. On Monday night, July 5, 1943, at approximately 12:30 a.m., a B-17 Bomber based at Dalhart Army Air Base (50 miles to the south of Boise City) dropped six practice bombs on the sleeping town. The practice bombs weighed 100 pounds each and contained four pounds of powder - the rest was sand. Several locations across town display the remains of these bombs....." -- Cimarron County Chamber of Commerce - Boise City Bombed View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe