Belated (!) response to your message…
I’d been aware of the general outline of your cousin’s story, from the book (used as a reference for this blog post!) “Sun Setters of the Southwest Pacific Area – From Australia to Japan: An Illustrated History of the 38th Bombardment Group (m), 5th Air Force, World War II – 1941-1946, As Told and Photographed by the Men Who Were There” – by Hickey, Janko, Goldberg, and Tagaya.
Therein, the loss of your cousin’s plane is summarized thus: “B-25G-1 42-64835 apparently encountered mechanical problems while returning from a mission to attack stores and personnel at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea. While still in Japanese-held territory, the pilot made an excellent wheels-up landing in a flat area of tall kunai grass about four miles north of the village of Charapa, Sepik District, Papua New Guinea. The crewmen aboard were subsequently seen out on the wing and appeared uninjured. Later. Lts. Glidden, Timmermans and Fisk returned to the area and dropped supplies near a small fire the downed crew had apparently made at a campsite near the crash. No information was subsequently received concerning this crew and they were believed to have been captured by the Japanese and executed. (Appendix II, page 9)”
I also viewed the story as given at Pacific Wrecks, which – as per usual for that great site – the account is very detailed. The most striking sentence is, “At the time of the force landing, the nearest Allied forces were hundreds of kilometers east at Dumpu. The crew had little hope of being rescued, unless an airstrip could be cut into the vegetation.” Very sad; very haunting.
On a somewhat related note, you can view a portrait of the sole member of the 38th Bomb Group to survive Japanese captivity (Major Williston Madison Cox) at one of my brother blogs, WordsEnvisioned, where the image appears in a post pertaining to Garrett E. Middlebrook’s book “Air Combat At Twenty Feet”. (Click on http://wordsenvisioned.com/?p=6095.)
Thanks very much for your interest and comment!
]]>On the way back from the mission it seems like ML’s navigator gave him a direct course to the coast avoiding Wewak….to the South and East….he left his formation and took the shortest direct line from where he was but had to put it down in the grass just seven minutes from a chance at rescue by a PBY.
They were seen at the crash site for two days ….all appeared uninsured…and have never been heard from again. The B-25 is still in the grass and can be seen on google earth.
More information:
http://Www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/42-64835.html
Jeff English
210-389-4960