USAAF
5th AF
90th BG
400th BS
C Silber, Jr 1999
M Hughes 2001
Pilot Capt James E.Gumaer Jr.
Co-Pilot 2nd Lt Dewey G. Hooper
Navigator 2nd Lt David B. Lowe
Engineer T/Sgt
Waldo W. Kellner
Radio S/Sgt Walter E. Haydt
Passenger Col Carroll G. Riggs (197th Coastal Artillery)
Passenger Lt Raymond F. Dakin(197th Coastal Artillery)
Passenger Captain Carl H. Silber (8th Fighter Group)
Passenger Capt Peter E. Kiple (8th Fighter Group)
Passenger Lt John E. Cooper Jr (22nd BG, 19th BS)
Passenger Robert C. Trevithick (Pratt & Whitney Rep.)
Passenger T4Sgt Michael M. Goldstop (1156th QM Company)
Crashed December 18, 1942
Aircraft History
One of 25 D-7 model bombers made by Consolidated in San Diego, California.
Mission History
Departed Garbutt
Field at 0815 hrs on 18 December, 1942 and was one of 6 aircraft
heading north to New Guinea. When they were passing Cairns,
they ran into bad weather and "Texas Terror" was last seen
heading out to sea apparently with some kind of mechanical problem.
The bomber crashed on Mt. Stralock (3,000'), Hitchenbrook
Island. Searches found nothing, and after 30 days, the plane and
passengers were declared missing.
Discovery
In 1943, two Aboriginals prospecting for tin in the upper gullies of
Mr. Stralock discovered the wreckage of the B-24 and reported it to
local authorities. According to official records, navigational error
was the cause of the crash. The remains of the crew were removed and
interned in Ipswich. After the war, they were moved to a group grave
at Ft McPherson National Cemetery, Maxwell, Nebraska. In 1959, climbers
uncovered more remains at the crash site and a US
Army CILHI recovered them. At this time a group of Ingham RAAF training
cadets decided to place a memorial at the location. A six-foot aluminum
cross was made at the RAAF Garbutt Airbase and erected at the crash
site. The cross bears the names of those who died in the crash.
Memorial
A 1999 memorial
to the airplane and its crew was erected at Ingham, a more accessible
location than the crash site, for the crew to be honored.
Michael
Hughes visited the site in July 2001:
"The wreck is spread over a large area. The impact site is about
10m up the cliff face & the wreckage has fallen down from there.
The easily recognizable parts are the wing sections, the engines &
props, the undercharge part & some larger sections or the tail &
fusalarge.There are a couple of .50 guns laying around. There is a
lot of wreckage that is just twisted metal & some that has been
burned in the fire but if you look hard there are a few remnants of
the cockpit
& radio station laying about. The aeroplane was brand new at the
time of the crash & the manufacture date stamped on one of the
props is still mostly legible& reads 10-10-42."
Justin Taylan adds:
"For unknown reasons, the dogtag of Waldo Kellener ended up in Port Moresby
(likely Durand 17-Mile) and the Dog
Tag was discovered by Henry Mayer in 1995. It
is unknown how his tag got there, was he station there before the crash?
Did a friend have his tag and subsequntly loose it there? If
anyone has any details or is a relative of this crew member, contact
us to have the tag returned."
References
Legacy of the 90th Bombardment Group page 32
B-24
Peeter Dunn
Australia @ War
