Walter M. Bunting
Walter M. Bunting
WALTER MILLS BUNTING was born in Camden, New Jersey on March 23, 1894 to Elwood C. Bunting and his wife, the former Maudelena Hess. He was the second of four children, coming after William and before Raymond and Marguerite. Elwood and Maud Bunting had moved to 1718 Ferry Avenue by the time the 1891 Camden City Directory was compiled. They lived there into 1900, then moved to 515 Van Hook Street, where they remained until the late 1920s. They were Episcopalians and members of the Church of Our Saviour on Broadway, where Walter and his siblings were baptized. The Bunting children most likely went to school at the John W. Mickle School at South 6th and Van Hook Streets, across the street from the family home. Walter Bunting then attended and graduated from Camden Manual Training and High School at Haddon and Newton Avenues. This school became a junior high school after the present Camden High opened in 1919.
Walter Bunting was working at the DuPont gunpowder plant at Carney’s Point, New Jersey when he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 and subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service. He married Lillian Thomas Scotten before going off to the Army. Walter Bunting learned to fly and became an aerial inspector. He was preparing to go to France when the war ended. Walter Bunting remained in the Army after the war ended. The 1920 Census shows that Second Lieutenant Walter Bunting was stationed at the Camp Harry J. James Military Post at Douglas, Arizona where he was serving as a member of the United States Army Border Air Patrol, which had been organized in July of 1919 to put an end to Mexican bandit raids along the border, using World War I vintage DeHaviland DH-4 aircraft.
After being discharged from the Army, Walter Bunting was determined to keep flying, and took a position with United States Aerial Mail Service on November 15, 1920. The Aerial Mail Service also used DH-4s, which had been modified to carry mail.
Walter Bunting was assigned a regular route which took him from Omaha, Nebraska to Salt Lake City, Utah and began flying this route on December 1, 1920. The aircraft he flew was a DeHaviland DH-4, a model which first saw service during World War I.
Long distance flying across the plains and into the Rockies was a dangerous proposition, especially in well-worn planes with no radio or anything vaguely resembling modern navigation equipment. Walter Bunting survived a crash in December of 1920 and another in April of 1921, and a forced landing at the end of that month. He did not survive a third crash, on May 5th 1921, at Rock Springs, Wyoming. It was the fifth fatality involving the crash of a Mail Service DH-4 that year. Initial reports stated that Walter Bunting was killed when the plane exploded, but subsequent investigation revealed that he had been killed on impact and that his body was burned after he had died.
The official account states that on May 5, 1921, Walter M. Bunting was killed while coming in for a landing at Rock Springs, Wyoming, when his airplane dove into the ground. He was 50’ in the air as he passed the hangar, and his motor sounded fine according to witnesses. One witness stated that “the airplane was being climbed too steeply to get speed quickly and therefore when he made his first turn he lost some 50’. He continued to climb after turning and when his airplane was up about 150’ it seemed to have a slight miss but apparently revved up good.” Bunting banked too much and went into a steep spin from which he could not recover. Bunting’s widow, Mrs. Lilliam T. Bunting of Carney’s Point, New Jersey, was awarded the standard $35 per month compensation for as long as she remained unmarried.
Letters recovered from the crash had explanatory slips placed in them and were forwarded if possible. The slips read:
This letter salvaged from Air Mail airplane which was destroyed by fire at Rock Springs, Wyoming, May 5, 1921
POSTMASTER,
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Walter Bunting’s body was returned to New Jersey. He was survived by his wife, his parents, brothers William J. and Raymond J. Bunting, and a sister, Marguerite Bunting, and a nephew, Raymond Walter Bunting. Tragically, Raymond Walter Bunting was also killed in a plane crash while serving with the United States Navy in November of 1942, and a first cousin, Second Lieutenant Bruce R. Bunting, was killed in action serving with the United States Army Air Force while on a bombing mission in Italy on September 10, 1944.
World War I Draft Card
Walter M. Bunting — World War I Draft Card, June 5, 1917
Walter M. Bunting — 1917–1918
Named: Walter M. Bunting, 1917, and 1918.
Photos
Walter M. Bunting — undated photos
DeHavilland DH-4
DeHavilland DH-4 — the aircraft flown by Walter Bunting
Telegram regarding Plane Crash
BUNTING CRASHED ELEVEN FIFTY FIVE ACCIDENT CAUSED BY MOTOR CUTTING OUT ON A TURN FELD IN-TO SPINAND CRASHED SHIP TO-TAL WASH OUT ONE SEVEN SIX READY WEDNESDAY A M
SMITH 254P
Pilot Injured When Plane Fell
Wyoming State Tribune, Cheyenne, Wyoming —
Pilot Walter Bunting of the air mail service was seriously injured by the fall of his plane a few days ago, sustaining, among other injuries, a dislocated hip.
It is surmised that engine trouble was the cause of the accident, because previously Pilot Bunting was forced to land at North Platte.
Pilot Walter M. Bunting resumed flying
Omaha World Herald —
Pilot Walter M. Bunting, who was injured in a crash at Ak-Sar-Ben field on December 27, and who has been unable to fly since, today took the mail to North Platte. Bunting crashed into the embankment of the Ak-Sar-Ben race track while attempting a landing, coming in from Cheyenne, with mail.
Plane Falls; Mail Pilot Burned to Death
Wyoming State Tribune, Cheyenne, Wyoming —
Aviator Goes to Doom at Rock Springs
Walter M. Bunting, Crippled From Recent Accident in Omaha, Unable to Extricate Self From Flames.
A long series of mishaps came to a sudden end early Thursday morning when Government Air Mail Pilot Walter M. Bunting burned to death just as he was taking off from the Rock Springs, Wyo., field for Cheyenne. Word received at the division point here says he was making a half circle at a height of about 100 feet when his DeHaviland plane nosed down, crashed to earth, and caught fire.
The day before Christmas Bunting was injured in an accident at Omaha, Neb., was laid up in a hospital there for seven weeks, and resumed his flying four weeks ago. He still walked with a cane and still showed the effects of the accident. When he fell Thursday morning he might have been able to extricate himself and save his life had it not been for his crippled condition.
Wednesday of last week the pilot lost his bearings while approaching Sherman hill west of Cheyenne, on his regular trip from Omaha to Salt Lake City, and finally landed a short distance from the U. S. Jones farm, near Wheatland, almost 100 miles off of his course. Part of the propeller was broken in alighting.
Mistook Railroad Tracks
Upon arriving at Wheatland Bunting related that he had mistaken the Colorado & Southern tracks for the Union Pacific, which the aviators follow all the way from Omaha to Salt Lake, and that not until he got within sight of Wheatland did he realize that he was not on the Laramie plains. The next morning he attempted to fly to Cheyenne, was turned back by the unfavorable weather, and finally made the trip in the afternoon.
He had suffered several other mishaps since leaving the hospital.
Bunting had been with the government air mail service since November 15. He was 26 years old and made his home in Camden, N. J. His wife lived at Carnup Point, N. J.
Yager Gets Charred Mail
Pilot F. R. Yager took off from Cheyenne field at 11:30 Thursday morning, planning a round trip flight from Cheyenne to Rock Springs and return. He will bring the charred mail pouches and remains of the mail from Bunting’s plane and is expected to return between 5:30 and 6 o’clock this afternoon. Yager is carrying westward mail brought in from North Platte at 11:20 a. m. by Pilot Harry G. Smith.
Carried Eight Pouches
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo., May 5. Walter M. Bunting, a mail service aviator, was burned to death here early today when his airplane overturned and crashed to the ground while he was taking off for a flight to Cheyenne with mail. He was circling around the field preparatory to starting his eastward journey when he apparently lost control of the machine. It shot downward nose first and was a mass of flames before spectators could reach it. Bunting had resumed flying four weeks ago, following an accident which sent him to the hospital for seven weeks. He originally entered the mail service November 15. He carried eight sacks of mail from the west; these were destroyed. The widow lives at Carney’s Point, N. J. Bunting was 26.
Mail Service Aviator Meets Death in Flames
Twin Falls News, Twin Falls, Idaho —
Walter M. Bunting Is Victim of Fatal Accident When Plane Crashes at Rock Springs
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo., (AP)—Walter M. Bunting, a mail service aviator, was burned to death early today when his airplane overturned and crashed to the ground while he was taking off for a flight to Cheyenne with mail. His wife lives at Carneys Point, New Jersey.
Bunting, who was 26 years old was badly injured at Omaha, Nebraska, December 24 last when his plane fell to the ground. His mother lives at 515 Vanhook street, Camden, N. J.
Bunting was circling around the field here preparatory to starting his eastward journey when he apparently lost control of the machine. It shot downward, nose first, and was a mass of flames before spectators could reach it.
Bunting resumed flying four weeks ago, following his Omaha accident, which sent him to a hospital for seven weeks. He originally entered the mail service in November last.
The aviator was carrying eight sacks of mail from the west. These were destroyed.
U.S. Mail Pilot Burns to Death as Airplane Falls in Wyoming
Denver Post —
Flying Career of Walter M. Bunting Comes to Tragic End at Rock Springs After Series of Mishaps During Past Year—Home Was in New Jersey.
Cheyenne, Wyo., May 5.—Pilot Walter M. Bunting of the aerial mail service was burned to death early Thursday as he was leaving the air mail field at Rock Springs, Wyo., for Cheyenne. He was 26 years old.
The report received at division point here says Bunting had just taken off for Cheyenne and was making a circle around the field at a height of about 100 feet, when his plane, nose downward, crashed to the earth and caught fire. His clothing was ablaze before he could extricate himself.
Pilot Bunting was injured Dec. 24 in an accident at Omaha. He was in a hospital for seven weeks and resumed flying four weeks ago. Since then he had walked with a cane.
His home was in Camden, N. J. He is survived by a wife. He has been in the government aerial mail service since November last. Last week he lost his bearings in a blizzard while flying from Omaha to Salt Lake City and was forced to land near Wheatland, Wyo.
Fall, Not Fire, Caused Death of Mail Pilot
Denver Post —
Accident at Rock Springs, Wyo., Due to Flier’s Misjudgment.
Cheyenne, Wyo., May 6.—Surgeons who examined the charred body of Walter M. Bunting, air mail pilot who met death at Rock Springs, Wyo., Thursday, are of the opinion that the flyer was killed when his machine struck earth and was not burned to death. The accident, the official investigation indicates, was caused by Bunting attempting to turn his airplane into the wind before it had gained sufficient momentum. The ship sideslipped and crashed. The gasoline tank burst and the inflammable portions of the machine were consumed and the pilot’s body and eight sacks of mail charred.
Pilot Frank Yager, flying from Cheyenne to investigate the accident, made the 605-mile round trip between this city and Rock Springs in 310 minutes.
Yager brought back the remnants of the eight mail pouches burned in Bunting’s machine. The pouches and their contents were beyond salvaging. Yager took off from the local field at noon Thursday, carrying mail brought westward by Pilot Harry G. Smith.
Bunting’s body will be sent to the widow’s home at Carney’s Point, N. J., for burial.
Camden Mail Flier Killed in Wyoming
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Walter M. Bunting Falls With Airplane Near Rocky Springs
Accident Is Third Since He Entered Service; Body Partly Burned
Walter M. Bunting, of Camden, one of the pilots in the United States air mail service, was killed yesterday when his airplane fell near Rocky Springs, Wyoming.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Elwood Bunting, of 515 Vanhook street, Camden. Bunting was 27 years old and he is survived by a widow, who is living at Pennsgrove.
Previous to his entering the service he had been employed at the duPont powder works at Pennsgrove. He enlisted in the air service and was made an aerial inspector and was leaving for France when the armistice was declared. He was a graduate of the Camden High School, and his father is a member of the Camden Board of Education.
The accident resulting in his death was the third he has experienced since October, when he entered the air mail service. He had a serious mishap at Omaha in December and had been out of the hospital but a few weeks when killed.
Reports from Rocky Springs state that his body was partially burned when his airplane overturned and crashed to the ground just as he was taking off for a flight to Cheyenne.
Pilot Moore to Escort Body of Dead Flyer
Omaha World Herald —
Pilot J. F. Moore has been named by the postoffice department as escort of the body of Pilot Walter M. Bunting, who was burned to death at Rock Springs, Wyo., Thursday when his mail plane overturned and crashed to the ground as he was taking off.
Destination of the body was not known last night by W. I. Votaw, superintendent of the Omaha air mail field. “I received orders today to rush Pilot Moore to Cheyenne, so he went straight on through on a nonstop flight, missing North Platte,” Mr. Votaw said.
Bunting’s mother lives at Camden, N. J., and his wife at Carney’s Point, N. J., and it is not yet known to which place the body will be shipped.
Take Body of Flyer Through Here Today
Omaha World Herald —
The body of Walter M. Bunting, air mail pilot who was burned to death in an airplane crash at Rock Springs, Wyo., May 5, will pass through Omaha Sunday evening at 7:15 o’clock on the Union Pacific on its way to Camden, N. J. Bunting will be buried there.
J. F. Moore, another air mail pilot who left here Friday for Cheyenne, to take charge of the body, will accompany it to Camden.
William I. Votaw, manager of the Omaha branch of the air mail service, and several employes from the landing field, will meet the body here.