High Plains History; Boise City Bombing

[TOM LEWIS]: High Plains History -- the night Boise City was bombed. In 1943 a B-17 bomber took off from the runway at the Dalhart Texas Army Airbase, the crew unaware of their fate that night. At approximately 12:30 am the crew spotted its target and began unleash its payload on a sleeping city in the Oklahoma panhandle. For the next 30 minutes, bombs fell on Boise City. The first bomb hit in an alley, blowing open a garage door and leaving a 20 by 40 inch crater, narrowly missing an apartment where a family was sleeping. The bomber then circled the city and made another run, aiming for the four lights at the courthouse square. This bomb just missed the west wall of the First Baptist Church, leaving a crater three feet deep. Circling again, the bomber unleashed its weapons on the Style Shop and the McGowan Boarding House. Circling Boise City for the last time, the bomber let loose operation town narrowly missing the railroad tracks, and a full transport truck. [Speaking off screen] [Speaking off screen; Audio cut] Circling Boise City for the last time, the bomber let loose on the edge of town,

narrowly missing the railroad tracks, and a fuel transport truck. The half hour barrage turned a routine training exercise into national news, with the story of unprovoked attack appearing in Newsweek and Time. Time gives the following account of the reaction in Boise City: "Most of the citizens ran like hell, in no particular direction." Today a plaque and a replica of a bomb sit in front of the Boise City Chamber of Commerce to commemorate the July 5, 1943 Night of Narrow Misses. The plaque reads, "Boise City bombed, but still booming." Why had Boise City been bombed? The crew of the B-17 mistook the streetlights in Boise City for the actual lighted target at a bombing range near Conlen, Texas, 40 miles away. Thanks to Jim Potts -- history student at West Texas State, for contributing to this story. For High Plains Public Radio, I'm Tom Lewis at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, in Goodwell, Oklahoma.

Thanks to Jim Potts -- History Student at West Texas A&M University, for contributing to this story. For High Plains Public Radio, I'm Tom Lewis at Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma.