Hemiman
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B-24 loss
Evening Gents..
A friend in Japan recently emailed a request for a little help in some research he's doing. Can anyone be of assistance??
Thanks much,
Bill
Dear Bill-san
Could you find any record of the B24 down in Linburn ( south end tip of ) Celebes Island between 3rd - 29th of June 1945 when the BS attacked the Japanese transport fleet ?
Tom
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AlanStarcher
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Which BS?
Here are a few possibilities, mostly 5th AF planes; the 5th AF & FEAF History states that B-24s bombed the seaplane base at Halong, Celebes on June 14. I pulled serials from the AAR website and checked against Joe Baugher's serial list.
June 12 serial 44-51026 43rd BG MACR 14621
June 12 serial 44-42329 380th BG MACR 14622
June 13 serial 44-41809 43rd BG MACR 14879
June 13 serial 44-40363 43rd BG MACR 14624
June 13 serial 44-42364 307th BG MACR 14623
June 19 serial 44-41576 11th BG MACR 14917
June 20 serial 44-50659 90th BG MACR 14877
June 22 serial 44-41843 307th BG MACR 14673
-- Alan Nephew of Kenneth S. Starcher, B-24 Liberator pilot 42-73309 "Trouble Maker," 308th BG/373rd BS, 14th AF, CBI (KNB May 28, 1944 - Kweilin, China)
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Hemiman
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Alan..
Thanks much!!! I'll pass it on to Tom and see if I can get a clarification on which Sqdn..
Again, thanks!
Bill
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RSwank
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I am not sure if many of the MACRs Allen listed are for the Celebes. I started to check some of them and these planes went down in Indo-China, South China Seas, etc.
What is "Linburn" , as mentioned in the original post. Is it a city, island or what? Has the name changed? I can't seem to locate it.
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AlanStarcher
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Celebes is now called Sulawesi; it's an Indonesian island in the Dutch East Indies. "Linburn" is probably Limboeng in southwestern Sulawesi. Limboeng Airfield was used by the Japanese. The MACR's that I referenced are all losses in the Southwest Pacific.
post edited by AlanStarcher -
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RSwank
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But the original post put Linburn on the Southern Tip of Celebes/Sulawesi.
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AlanStarcher
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Sorry, corrected the last post there, to note Limboeng in the southwest. I had mistakenly identified Liburan in the north, close to Bali.
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tonystro
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According to MACR 14925, on 25 Jun 45, B-24M, 44-42431, of 2nd Bomb Squadron / 22nd Bomb Group crashed approximately 10 miles north northeast of Manuai after passing over Makassar (provincial capital of what is now South Sulawesi, Indonesia). Manuai is about fifteen miles north of Limboeng. (edited to add map image)
Attached Image(s)
Tony Strotman, MSgt (ret.), USAF Son of T/Sgt Francis E. Strotman, Engineer-Gunner, 491st Bm Sq / 341st Bm Gp (M), Yangkai, China "USAAF in CBI Tribute" http://www.usaaf-in-cbi.com
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AlanStarcher
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Good work, Tony. I missed that serial when I was scanning the AAR listing.
Did anyone check the other MACRs? I thought that a good possibility might be 44-41809 "Out of the Night II" lost June 13, of the 43rd BG/63rd BS. Baugher has a note that it was a radar countermeasures aircraft, might have been part of a sea sweep.
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RSwank
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I ran across this one. Fold3.com has the B-24 serial number as 44-41843 and it crashed on 23 June 45 at 00 35N, 124 35E. Here is a good summary of the crash. I had ruled this one out as it seem to be in the "wrong" area, but........... http://www.pbyrescue.com/Rescues/9433161bfe5f953fb6e91ce8245d11b5.szfcpf Critical past has this film clip which seem to be the same incident. They give a date of June 11, so not sure what to make of that. http://www.criticalpast.com/products/location_history/Celebes_Netherlands_East_Indies/1940/1945 I guess we need further clarification on the details. I.e., did the plane attack shipping or was it on a land attack mission. Is the area of "crash?" really at the "southern tip" of the Celebes? Was it a US Liberator, or was it possibly a RAF Liberator. (I ran across a RAF Liberator crash which happened in July in the Northern Celebes.) There is also a crash of a Navy Martin Mariner which was attacking transport ships off the north west coast of the Celebes and was hit and went down on a beach. This happened in early June 45. I think it is possible that the "remembered" incident might be a combination of two or more crashes.
post edited by RSwank -
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tonystro
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AlanStarcher
Good work, Tony. I missed that serial when I was scanning the AAR listing.
Did anyone check the other MACRs? I thought that a good possibility might be 44-41809 "Out of the Night II" lost June 13, of the 43rd BG/63rd BS. Baugher has a note that it was a radar countermeasures aircraft, might have been part of a sea sweep.
44-41809 was last seen east of, and about 1/2 way along, a line from Formosa to Luzon. The crew ditched shortly thereafter. I did check the other MACRs; none crashed on Celebes (Sulasi) and most were not even close. Interestingly, 11th BG 44-41576 had departed Guam and #3 had fire, was shut down and prop would not feather. All the crew except the Flight Engineer bailed out many miles northeast of Saipan. Some how, and for reason not stated in documents on line, the FE flew the plane to Tinian and crash landed the plane there.
post edited by tonystro -
Tony Strotman, MSgt (ret.), USAF Son of T/Sgt Francis E. Strotman, Engineer-Gunner, 491st Bm Sq / 341st Bm Gp (M), Yangkai, China "USAAF in CBI Tribute" http://www.usaaf-in-cbi.com
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Hemiman
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Guys..
Dropped a line to Tom last night. Hopefully he can expand on the sparce info to help out.
Thanks much!
Bill
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AlanStarcher
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tonystro
According to MACR 14925, on 25 Jun 45, B-24M, 44-42431, of 2nd Bomb Squadron / 22nd Bomb Group crashed approximately 10 miles north northeast of Manuai after passing over Makassar (provincial capital of what is now South Sulawesi, Indonesia). Manuai is about fifteen miles north of Limboeng.
I located more information on this loss on the Red Raiders 22nd BG website, http://www.redraiders22bg.com/
Following a strike on the airdrome at Mandia on Celebes Island, the plane seperated from the formation and crashed near Maros. Six crewmen died in the crash and were buried by natives. Four were captured by the Japs and executed. Lost were Lt. Lawrence R. Berry, pilot; Lt. Howard A. Shellington, co-pilot; Lt. Benjamin R. Wirz, navigator; Lt. William R. Brown, bombardier; Sgt. Warren Allmon, engineer; Sgt. George S. Horan, radio; Cpl. Gerald D. Carson, gunner; Cpl. Eugene L. Farthing, gunner; Cpl. Wayne J. Geltz armorer-gunner; Cpl. Richard S. Peyron, gunner.
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Hemiman
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Gents..
Just received this from Tom..
Bill-san,
Thousand thanks for the valuable information on the site. The MACR 14925 is likely the site I am searching for, and will check it with the gentleman who shot down a B24 around the area. He was a pilot of the army fighter plane , and is helping me for any contacts on the pictures you provided. He lost some of his comrades in Hollandia so that he is familiar with the area very well. The B29 of MACR 42-24589 seems to be his job. I will report you the result as soon as I reach him. With Best wishes to you and your friends. Tom
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RSwank
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jpeters140
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Rolland... You are jumping from a B-24 to a B-29.....This thread refers to a crash of a B-24....not a B-29.
Which is it ?
Do you want to delete your post regarding the B-29 ?
Jim :-)
James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions 99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45 M/Sgt USAF (Retired)
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Hemiman
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Jim..
Can we just leave it until I get a response from Tom?? He's interviewing a Japanese Army pilot in regards to some photos I sent him that were taken at Hollandia. It appears he has multiple victories and might be able to add to the info already on this site.
Rolland... sent Tom an email about the B-29 incident and the sites link so hopefully we'll have an answer soon.
Bill
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AlanStarcher
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Hemiman
He's interviewing a Japanese Army pilot ... It appears he has multiple victories ...
The connection between the two losses is that this pilot may have shot down both planes. I hope that "Tom" will share his story. He's interviewing a "living treasure," as the Japanese call them; he may be speaking with one of the few surviving Japanese fighter aces. I'd be interested to know which sentai he flew in, and which aircraft. (I suspect a KI-44 Shoki.) If you have the chance, I'd like to know if he took part in an attack on a B-29 group on Feb 19, 1945, when 10 Superforts were downed. [Perhaps this side information could eventually be documented in a new thread.] -- Alan
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jpeters140
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Bill..no problem.. I was just attempting to understand the thread....I will await your answer....ond of the Moderator's functions is to change a message to the correct Forum..this one is confusiing, and I will leave it alone, until the correct answer is given.....
If it affects two diffferent Forums, then there is a provision to reference both forums.
Jim :-)
James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions 99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45 M/Sgt USAF (Retired)
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Hemiman
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Jim..
Deeply appreciated. I do believe we will end up with references to both the B-24 and B-29 forums.
Bill
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