Sam Gevorkian was a pilot in the 55th Fighter Group / 338th Fighter Squadron. He was flying on P-51D Serial 44-13954 (CL-P) on an escort mission of bombers to Ludwigshafen, Germany, 26 Aug 44. On the way back to base, Gevorkian and Squadron mates Lts John E. Kester and Samuel E. Hansard strafed a railway depot in Nancy France. Flying over Belgium in the vicinity of Ghent on a flight path to the Belgian seaport of Zeebrugge, they flew through a violent thunderstorm. Flying on, they didn't notice that their navigational instruments had been put out of order and, following the readings on their compass, they headed South instead of North. Fearing to be too short on fuel, Gevorkian and Kester decided to crash-land their planes on a beach and the landed a few hundred meters from each other. It was only later that they found out they had landed in the South of France, near Cap Ferret, West of Bordeaux. Lt Hansard was seen by witnesses to have continued flying towards the sea, which he most certainly thought to be the Channel, hoping to reach England. Nor his Mustang nor his body were ever found. Some sources mention that he would have been recovered by an English naval vessel and presumably buried at sea. Sam Gevorkian was killed on 7 August 1945 in an accident on occupational duty in Southern Germany. ► See Sam Gevorkian's page at http://www.evasioncomete.be/fgevorksd.html