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Address as of 2 April 1949, in Hong Kong: 394 Rue Frelupt, Apt. 2 72662 John Cory - From Gene Banning's list of 8/31/00: "... left CNAC, was killed out of HKG in late 40s." December 27, 2009 The following information comes from a great researcher, Patti Gully. Thank you Patti! Hello Tom, John Raymond Cory Jr. was born to John Raymond Cory and his wife Gladys (nee Galbraith) on 22 May 1919 in Cincinnati, OH. He had a younger brother Robert Galbraith Cory (b. 18 August 1920). Tom, further to John R. Cory (and “Cory” seems to be the correct spelling), I found this WWII enlistment record which very likely pertains to the fellow in question, particularly as he hails from Ohio and joins the air corps: Name: John R Cory Jr Birth Year: 1919 Race: White, citizen (White) Nativity State or Country: Ohio State of Residence: Ohio County or City: Hamilton Enlistment Date: 6 Sep 1941 Enlistment State: Mississippi Enlistment City: Camp Shelby Branch: Air Corps Branch Code: Air Corps Grade: Private Grade Code: Private Component: Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men) Source: National Guard in Federal Service, within 3 months of Discharge Education: 3 years of college Civil Occupation: Actors and actresses Marital Status: Single, without dependents Height: 71 Weight: 150 See also (below) some CNAC manifests that include Captain Cory. Patti  Parish, L.L., Huster, Stanley, Turney, Albert, ???, Pinkava, Cyrl, Yuen, Kuo and Lew, Margaret May 8, 1948  June 4, 1948  John R. Cory of Cincinnati, Ohio, died when a DC-4 Skymaster he was piloting flew into a fog-shrouded Mount Parker on 11 March 1951 shortly after he had taken off from Kai Tak airfield. During WWII, he had been a Hump pilot, but at the time of the accident, he was flying for Pacific Overseas Siam. I found several articles in US papers, and the name is spelled both as Cory and Corey:  (re: Al Belski) Edwardsville Intelligencer, 12 March 1951  Abilene Reporter-News, 12 March 1951  Bridgeport Telegram, 12 March 1951  San Antonio Express, 12 March 1951  Salt Lake Tribune, 12 March 1951  Untitled [ARTICLE + ILLUSTRATION] The Straits Times, 13 March 1951, Page 8 MR. Kenneth E. Imrie, 44, of Singapore, manager of Nestle's Products (Malaya) Ltd., was one of the 26 persons killed when a Pacific Overseas Airways (Siam) Skymaster crashed into a hill in Hong Kong on Sunday. He was the only Briton on the plane. Mr. Imrie had been on a business... Pilot Changed his Mind? 27 Died The Straits Times, 31 May 1951, Page 1 HONG KONG, Wednesday. THE crash of the Pacific Overseas Airways (Siam) airliner on March 11 was caused by an error of judgment of Pilot J. R. Cory, an American, according to investigation by Mr. A. F. W. Andren, inspector of accidents from the Department… Now, we just need to find a photo of Captain Cory (from Robin Kline, daughter of Donald Reece In a letter dated March 24, 1951, my mother (in Bangkok) writes to my grandmother (in the US). To summarize: "You probably read about the POAS crash in Hong Kong two weeks ago. As long as we have been connected with flying this is the first time I've ever lost friends I knew well in a plane accident. It was a great tragedy, and the first accident POAS has ever had. The plane was the new Skymaster they bought last December. Don had just brought it in from Tokyo, another pilot got on to bring it down to Bangkok...........One of those killed was Monty Gittins, the navigator. Peggy Gittins had left Hong Kong for Los Angeles just the day before, but didn't hear about the accident until she got home. She has two boys - Larry, four years old, and a baby, four month old. She may call you sometime - she has your telephone number. John Cory, the Pilot was not married. The other American in the crew was Al Belski, the engineer. His wife had just moved to Bangkok from Hong Kong about two weeks previously, and they also have two children". My father was notified shortly after the accident and went to the crash site to assist in identifying the crew, including stewardess, Suzy Wong. I learned from my older sister that after the crash in Hong Kong, Mrs. Belski stayed with our family in Bangkok before returning to the US In a letter dated May 7, 1951, my mother writes to a friend in the US. To summarize: "POAS had a bad accident about six weeks ago in Hong Kong...............Don had just brought the plane in from Tokyo and gotten off in Hong Kong, and another captain, with the rest of crew unchanged, were to bring it down to Bangkok, and it crashed about five minutes after take-off in foggy weather. Don went to the scene of the crash right away, and had to help with identification, etc., and it was a pretty gruesome business. He still hasn't stopped thinking about it and talks about it in his sleep."  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |