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| USAAF 5th AF 19th BG 93rd BS |
Pilot Captain Kenneth Casper Radio Sgt Arthur L. Richardson Crew Sgt Penwarden (WIA) Crashed August 26, 1942 MACR none Aircraft History Built by Boeing at Seattle. Constructors Number 2432. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-17E Flying Fortress serial number 41-2621. Ferried overseas via Hickam Field then across the Pacific to Australia. Wartime History On April 16, 1942 assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group (19th BG), 93rd Bombardment Squadron (93rd BS) at Mareeba Airfield. Nicknamed "The Daylight Ltd". Mission History On August 26, 1942 at 4:00am took off from Mareeba Airfield piloted by Captain Kenneth Casper as one of eight B-17 on a bombing mission against a Japanese convoy off Milne Bay. Weather inbound to the target was horrible with a ceiling of only 2,000' or less. Between 6:30am to 7:45am the formation bombed from roughly 1,500' and experienced accurate anti-aircraft fire from the ships. This B-17 dropped its bombs individually on a cruiser and a transport with no results apparent, the bombs impacting within 40' to 200' of their targets. Over the target, this B-17 was hit five times by anti-aircraft fire in the wings and fuselage, disabling the hydraulic system, puncturing a tire, damaged two engines and the flaps. Aboard, crew member Sgt Penwarden was wounded. During the attack, B-17F 41-24354 received a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire and crashed near the convoy. Returning from the mission, this B-17 was difficult to handle and circled Mareeba Airfield before landing. While landing, neither the flaps or breaks worked and one wheel broke off causing the bomber to spin to the right in a ground loop before crashing into a tree. Although smoking, the B-17 did not catch fire but was heavily damaged in the crash and written off. Relatives Cleora Richardson (wife of Arthur L. Richardson) "My husband, was with the 19th Bomb Group in the Philippines and Australia in 1941 and 1942. He flew on 51 bombing missions in the Pacific and walked away from four crash landings. One of them was the "Daylight Limited" Sgt. Richardson was one of four most decorated men in the Pacific during this period. He died in 1961 while on active duty at Wakkanai Air Base in Hokkaido, Japan. After his death a theater on Wakkanai Air Base was named the "Arthur L. Richardson Memorial Theater". He made many friends among the local people. Richardson often talked about a flight that took numerous hits and that the person on the side gun received injuries to the eye, possibly losing it. He (Richardson) would have normally been in that position but had been pulled to act as radio operator. He felt very lucky that he was spared. I notice one of the men (Penwarden) in the group picture I sent earlier wearing an eye-patch. Sgt. Richardson had received a previous Purple Heart for injuries sustained in an enemy ground strafing at Mindanao. The wounds he sustained to his legs were not very serious but would account for the picture his buddies painted of him being evacuated on a Dutch freighter in a pair of bloody coveralls with a big cigar in his pocket. This was his worldly goods at the moment. Everything else had been left behind at Clark Field. So many left much, much more; their lives and in one case, a buddy of his left a wife who was a nurse. He was frantic, not knowing what was happening to her. I don't know when, or if, he ever found out. I have been told that only about 15% of the men in his group got out of the Philippines. So many things you wonder about, the questions never stop. References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-17E Flying Fortress 41-2621 "2621 "Daylight Limited" 28th BS crashlanded at Mareeba, North Queensland Aug 26, 1942." Fortress Against The Sun (2001) pages 169, 240-241, 387, 430 footnote 51 Echoes From an Eagle (2016) page 38 (photo) Thanks to Steve Birdsall for additional information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated
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