Captain John Alley led a crew in the 462nd Bomb Group, 58th Bomb Wing, XX Bomber Command in the China-Burma-India theater. He and four of his normal 462nd crew were assigned to temporary duty with the 2nd Air Transport Squadron, a C-109 tanker unit to haul fuel from India to Bomber Command’s advance base in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The C-109 was a converted B-24 with limited armament and additional fuel tanks.

On September 16th 1944, the plane took off from Kalaikunda, India heading for Chengdu over the Himalayan Mountains. He was piloting C-109 42-51887.

After takeoff, the base lost contact with the airplane. The crash investigation found that once the plane cleared Kalaikunda it was considered lost until reported found by natives in the high mountainous area between India and China at 29 degrees 35 minutes North, 103 degrees 05 minutes East. Wreckage was scattered over a 3-square mile area. Personnel effects found for one of the crew men identified the aircraft. Subsequent research pinpointed the crash site as Mt. Omei

Four other men perished in the crash. They were:
1st Lt. John Miesse
2nd Lt Cyril Eustis
FO William Cadugan
S/Sgt Alexander Zwiercun

Ssgt Zwiercun was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is also commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov