I am trying to find some information about the 14th Bomb Squadron, but can find very little.

From what I understand, the 14th was created in Hawaii in 1941 as a provisional squadron which took the first B-17s to the Phillippines, then was transferred from the 5th BG in the Hawaiian Air Force to the 19th Bomb Group. It was on Del Monte with the 93rd when the Japanese attacked. The 14th Bomb Squadron was attached to the 19th BG until March 1942 when it was disbanded.It was never assigned to the 7th BG. The conflicting information could stem from the fact that the Hawaiian Air Force became the 7th Air Force.

One thing that I am trying to find out is why I find conflicting data about to which group it was assigned, the 7th or the 19th. Can someone help me with an answer to that question?

Magnus.

Magnus  - Click on Units DB , top left this page.
Mike

Thanks. That definately answers my question, but why, I mean, on what, do  do some sources base the fact that the 14th was under the 7th BG? One states that Capt Kelly was in the 14th/7th and another source I have that the 14th belonged to the 7th, but was under the command of the 19th. I find this very confusing.

Would it be correct to say that the 14th never was under the 7th, only the 19th, and that it was first formed as a provisional squadron in the Hawaiian Air Force and then transferred to the 19th?

Magnus.

Magnus,
I'll paste below dome notes I have made on 14th B Sqn.
Cheers, Wynnum.
 
11th B Gp was activated  01Feb40. 14th B Sqn was also activated at this time and assigned to 11th B Gp.
I think Major Emmett  'Rosie'  O'Donnell Jr was 14th B Sqn Commander in Mid 1941.
 
In Aug41, 19th B Gp re-equipment was slow, orders were issued for nine of the 21 Hawaii-based B-17s to be urgently sent to Philippines ahead of 19th B Gp.  A provisional not-numbered squadron was  raised at Hawaii, and nine B-17D were flown to the Philippines, departing Hawaii  05Sep41.
Some personnel and B-17s were drawn from 5th and 11th B Gps.
Major Emmett  'Rosie'  O'Donnell Jr was commander of this provisional squadron.
 
 It was not intended that this outfit be known as 14th B Sqn, or that 14th B Sqn title be transferred from Hawaii to the Philippines - but the move was effected rapidly and orders were unclear. It came to be accepted that 14th Sqn had moved to the Philippines, and about Dec41, orders were issued to regularise a de facto position.
 
16Oct41  - - 26 B-17 of 19th B Gp  30th and 93rd B Sqns  begin arriving Hawaii, enroute to the Philippines.
23Oct41 - - 19th B Gp is recorded as based at Clark Field. PI.
 
Mid Nov41- - 19th B Gp was re-organised, “taking in” the earlier arrived 14th Sqn and the long –time PI resident  28th Sqn.
 
The 'taking in' for on-the-spot control is not disputed;  in the longer term official sense 14th B Sqn was never “assigned” to 19th B Gp, but from 02Dec42 14th B Sqn was “attached”; on about 24Dec41  this was varied to Air Echelon 14th B Sqn “attached”. Ground echelon was then â€œattached” to Fifth Interceptor Command.
 
A bit of 14th B Sqn action - 10Dec41 - 14th Sqn ops starting from San Marcelino. O'Donnell[40-3061][also Parsel 40-3074] flew over to Clark pre-dawn, radiod the others to follow at dawn. Only three were allowed to land at Clark. Pilots were Kelly[B-17C 40-2045], Schaetzel[40-3091], and Montgomery[40-3086].
Godman[40-3097], Teats[40-3078], and Kaiser[40-3079]  flew back to San Marcelino, were not used that day, were ordered back to Del Monte, but Godman's B-17 now had engine trouble, was grounded.
O'Donnell flew a sortie to bomb the ships at Vigan, returned to Clark, then flew to Del Monte.
Montgomery[40-3086] at Zamboanga with only one bomb was ordered off due to a red alert. He bombed at Vigan, returned to Clark, re-loaded, bombed at Aparri, was not allowed to land at Clark, was ordered to Del Monte, ran out of fuel in bad weather, ditched in sea off Zamboango, crew survived.
Schaetzel bombed ships at Aparri, took heavy damage from fighters, landed at San Marcelino, crew OK. His B-17 was flyable, he returned to Del Monte that night, taking Godman with him.
Kelly bombed at Aparri, took heavy damage from fighters, caught fire and exploded - was a B-17C without self sealing fuel tanks. Crew escaped by parachute, Kelly was lost, became a national hero.
 
On 7Dec41 7th B Gp  9th, 11th and 22nd B Sqns at Hamilton, Cal.,  about to fly to Hawii en-route to PI, were diverted to Muroc, with 30 B-17s, where they stayed for six days , then went to Sacramento where 9th and 11th Sqns re-equip, the 9th  with B-17E and the 11th with Liberator LB-30. They crossed the Atlantic and flew on to reach Java, NEI from Mid Jan41.
 
19th B Gp, with 14th  B Sqn air echelon attached, was in Java  from January to early March 1942
 
From the Java evacuation, late Feb/early Mar42, two things are noted for this explanation.
(a)  General Brereton evacuated to India, in two 7th Bomb Gp  aircraft, with the Gp commander.
Whatever, he took the 'title' of 7th B Gp to India, and finally, in that part of the world, 7th B Gp was  rebuilt. 
 (b)  Also early Mar42, three of the 11th Sqn LB-30 reached Perth from Java, perhaps some 7th Gp B-17s also. These  were  merged into 19th B Gp. , and that part of 7th B Gp ceased to exist.
 
9th Sqn continues assigned to 7th B Gp – the title moved from Australia to Karachi, India (paper work move) 14Mar42
 
11th B Sqn was paper-work listed c4Mar-6Apr42 at Melbourne Australia, then on paper, was moved to US, then it was physically re-equiped and transferred to India, now assigned to 341st B Gp.
 
14Mar42 -  Special Order No 1 was issued for the merger of personnel and equipment of  7th and 19th Gps in Australia. The new 19th Gp was to consist of five squadrons, HQ Sqn, 28th, 30th , 93rd Bomb Sqns, and the 40th Recon Sqn.
 
14th B Sqn Air Echelon ceased “attachment” to 19th B Gp 14Mar42.
14th B Sqn Ground Echelon was attached to 5th Interceptor Command, 24Dec41-May42. Personnel fought with infantry units in PI.
14th B Sqn not manned from May42 to beyond  the end of WWII.
 
A couple of footnotes - - -
B-17D 40-3097  'The Swoose'   of the 14th B Sqn 19th B Gp, was the last survivor of the initial Japanese attack on Clark Field. It became General Brett's personal aircraft, carried Brett back to the US after MacArthur replaced him. It carried a drawing of a bird, which was a mixture of a swan and a goose.
 
 Emmett  “Rosie”   O'Donnell went on to command 73rd B-29 Bomb Wing in the Marianas, in the latter part of WWII. When the Korean War began, B-29s were allocated for operations.
On 8Jul50, FEAF organised its own Bomber Command (Provisional ), headed by Major General Emmett O'Donnell Jr.  FEAF Bomb Command was disbanded 27Oct50.    
---------------------oOo--------------------

Thank you Wynnum for taking the time to post that reply, it helps a lot.

If I have understood correctly, the 19th BG brought the first 21 B-17s to Hawaii from Hamilton Field on May 13, 1941. These 21 B-17s were assigned to both the 5th and 11th BG. 15 crew men from the 19th remained in Hawaii as instructors.

The 19th was not ready for its transfer to the PH so 9 B-17Cs and Ds from the 5th and 11th Bg were selected and a provisional squadron was created for the purpose of bringing the planes to the PH. Major O'Donnel was the CO.

They left HI on Sept 6 and landed at Clark AB on Sept 12. Although it was not the 14th squadron which had taken the planes to the PH, this provisional unit became the 14th when it arrived in the PH and the personnel in 14th of the 11th BG in HI was transferred to other units.

The 14th joined the 28th squadron already stationed in the PH, and later, in October and November, the 30th and 93rd sqaudrons of the 19th BG arrived and the 19th BG was now at Clark.

So, it seems that the 14th was never a part of the 7th BG. But, if it ever was, on what do some sources base their information on? This is not important to me, but I am very curious.

The 14th squadron "faded away" between March and May 1942 when its personnel and equipment were tranferred to other units.


Magnus.

Magnus - There is an excellent Book on B - 17s in the Pacific.
It has about 40 pages on the Chronology of the 14th BS and 14th RS.
It will answer your Questions.
Fortress Against The Sun by Gene Salecker
ISBN 1-58097- 049 - 4 
Cheers,
Mike

Magnus,
 
*** 15 crew men from the 19th remained in Hawaii as instructors***
I have it simply that - - “During two weeks, 19th Gp pilots trained the Hawaiian pilots on the B-17Ds, then the 19th B Gp pilots returned to the mainland by ship.”  Cannot expand on that, except to say the provisional not-numbered force which flew the first 9 B-17Ds to PI did not include 19th B Gp pilots or crew.
 
*** 9 B-17Cs and Ds from the 5th and 11th Bg were selected***
This first nine to the PI were all B-17D.
 
*** So, it seems that the 14th was never a part of the 7th BG.***
Correct, to the best of my knowledge, after deep considerations. That goes for 14th B Sqn and the fictitious or do-called 14th Recon Sqn.   I’ll speak to that last point in my next post. (There was a 14th Photo Recon Sqn which served in Europe, nothing to do with this discussion).
 
*** The 14th squadron "faded away" between March and May 1942 when its personnel and equipment were tranferred to other units.***
Correct, except to be more exact, the title 14th B Sqn remained on paper, unmanned, unassigned and unattached to a higher echelon, through the rest of WWII.
 
*** So, it seems that the 14th was never a part of the 7th BG. But, if it ever was, on what do some sources base their information on?***
A probable source of most incorrect reference could be Maurer – Combat Sqn of the Air Force in WWII where Maurer incorrectly lists 14th B Sqn assigned to 7th B Gp whilst 14th B Sqn air echelon was attached to 19th B Gp and 14th B Sqn ground echelon was attached to 5th Interceptor Command.  Salecker, too, has incorrect references to a different bunch of B-17Es and personnel which he incorrectly names as14th Recon Sqn. More next post.
 
Cheers, Wynnum.

 
Mike,

Salecker incorrectly refers to a "14th Recon Sqn" on about 13 pages.
Following is my studied description of the B-17Es and personnel to which Salecker refers.
Sorry about the length
Cheers, Wynnum.
 
On 17/18 Dec41  The assigned to 7th B Gp 22nd B Sqn air echelon flew out to Hawaii where they were attached to 11th B Gp under Naval control.  The 88th Recon Sqn (attached to 7th B Gp as all Recon Sqns were in those days) commanded by Maj Carmichael flew 168 recon sorties from Hawaii in two months.  22nd B Sqn also flew such patrols.  At first they flew patrols from Hickam, later Wheeler, and for one crew [as an example], this settled to a patrol every fourth day. As the navy built up its aircraft numbers, it took more of the patrol duty.
 
In Feb42, USN Admiral King arranged for 12  USAAF B-17, as a USN Task Force, to fly from Hawaii, to co-operate with naval offensives in the Solomons area. On 12Feb42 Admiral King ordered Admirals Brown and Leary to conduct the Solomons offensive ops with their Task Force 11 and ANZAC Squadron  (a squadron of allied navy ships). On 14Feb42, Brown suggested to Leary that the two task forces raid Rabaul. Adm King agreed. Brown took control of ANZAC Squadron as well as his Task Force 11. Adm Leary to coordinate the raid, with the USN Task Force B-17s flying from Townsville.
On 16Feb42, Brown radiod King and Leary that he would attack Rabaul on 21Feb42. Hence the USN Task Force B-17s moved forward from Fiji to Townsville ca 19Feb42. Brown's attack at Rabaul was thwarted by the Japanese on 20Feb42, Brown reversed course to plan another attack, which he implemented 10Mar42, from offshore Port Moresby, across the mountains,  to Lae area.
 
So, the 12 USN Task Force B-17s were attached to Adm W Brown's LEXINGTON naval task force. They were six planes from 88th Recon Sqn (administratively attached to 7th B Gp, physically at Hawaii), five planes from 22nd Sqn (of 7th B Gp,also at Hawaii), and one plane from 38th Recon Sqn (administratively attached to 19th B Gp, ditto, at Hawaii), give or take some crewing variations. The Task Force Commander was Major Carmichael, who was also CO of 88th Sqn.
 
To show the continuity of Sqn/crew/aircraft connection, one of these B-17s was 41-2434 flown by 1st Lt David C Rawls of 88th Recon Sqn. Rawls had flown 41-2434 from Utah to Hawaii, and then flew 41-2434 from Hawaii to Australia as part of USN Task Force.
 
The 12  B-17s departed Hawaii 10 & 11Feb42 as a USN Task Force. At Fiji they completed 12 recon missions in five days, in support of the USN forces, before moving to Australia, again at USN control.
Departing New Caledonia for Townsville, storms were encountered. Two pilots, Bill Lewis and Harry Spieth go to Townsville, the remainder divert to Brisbane. One B-17 is “lost” (41-2430 damaged 18Feb42, repaired) at Archerfield, Brisbane, hit by a Dutch DC3. Next day, the Brisbane-landed B-17s flew on to Townsville. Most records show the Townsville arrivals as 18th and 19Feb42.
 
For a few weeks until the ex Java Sqns re-grouped, the USN Task Force were the only B-17s working out of Queensland - still partly under US Naval control, partly by RAAF Area Combined HQ (ACH) Townsville. On RAAF records, the USN Task Force B-17s identified themselves as “Southern Bombing Group”.
 
Gen Brett had lobbied [probably at US Chiefs of Staff level] for the return of the USN Task Force to USAAF control, and on 14Mar42 he got it . On the day the USN Task Force was returned to USAAF control, 14Mar42, it became 40th Recon Sqn, and later, 22Apr42, was redesignated to 435th B Sqn of 19th B Gp. [All USAAF recon squadrons were redesignated on this date, 22Apr42.]
 
[ Major William C Lewis Jr later became 435th Sqn Commander.  Lt Col Carmichael later became 19th Gp commander, of which 435th was the armed reconnaisance squadron, regardless of its new Bombardment Sqn title.]
 
On 14Mar42, Special Order No 1 was issued for the merger of personnel and equipment of 7th and 19th Gps in Australia. The new 19th Gp was to consist of five squadrons, HQ Sqn, 28th, 30th , 93rd Bomb Sqns, and the 40th Recon Sqn.
 
The USN Task Force of 12 B-17s which became 40th Sqn was never named 14th R Sqn as some suggestions have it, although some personnel ex Philippines (14th B Sqn) did lobby for the number  â€œ14 ”  to be used.
 
The Task Force planes and crews never officially separated back to the individual squadrons from whence they came, but was the cadre around which the new 40th Recon Sqn was formed on 14Mar42.
 
This change of control of the USN Task Force from USN back to USAAF was vital to the USAAF task of flying General MacArthur from the Philippines to Australia. The war weary B-17s ex Java were not quite suitable at that time.
 
A cynical point of view - <WBG> This change of control was vital, from USN back to USAAF. For face saving purpose, it was just not on for a USN controlled B-17 to carry MacArthur from Philippines to Australia, but it was just fine for that same B-17 to do it under USAAF control.
 
So, it was USAAF planes of Townsville based 40th Recon Sqn, 19th B Gp, (ever so recently ex 7th B Gp and USN Task Force) which evacuated General MacArthur from the Philippines to Batchelor Field, Australia, on 17Mar42.
 After the 22Apr42 redesignation from 40th Recon Sqn to 435th B Sqn, this squadron continued flying from Townsville until about Oct42 when 19th Group returned to the US.

I believe that the 14th was definitely established at Clark Field prior to Dec 1941.  I recently found a Christmas card with a 10 November 1941 postmark.  It's preprinted on the inside "14th Bomb Sqd, Clark Field, Fort Stotsenburg, Pampanga, (P.I.)  The card was mailed by PFC John J. Di Ubaldi.  On the reverse of the envelope, it's rubber stamped J.J. DIUBALDO, 14th Bomb Sq. (H), U.S. Air Corps.  BTW, does anyone know if he was taken prisoner at Corregidor, participated in the Bataan death march, or whether or not he survived the war?

Mark

Mark:
Go to www.archives.gov
on right - click on AAD Databases
then upper left - Prisoners of War
Click Japanese Pows database
follow directions
Mike