USAAF
5th AF
90th BG
321st BS
Pilot 1st Lt. James A. McMurria, O-372644 (POW, survived)
Co-Pilot Robert R. Martindale, O-72562 (POW, survived)
Bombardier 2nd Lt Thomas F. Doyle, O-726885 (KIA as POW)
Navigator 2nd Lt Alston F. Sugden, O-791006 (KIA as POW)
Engineer T/Sgt Leslie H. Burnette, 34179416 (POW, survived)
Radio S/Sgt Fred S. Engel, 16036143 (POW, survived)
Gunner S/Sgt Frank O. Wynn, 14016975 (survived)
Gunner Sgt Raymond J. Farnell Jr., 1906177 (KIA as POW)
Gunner Pfc Walter R. Erskine, 39169737 (KIA in crash)
Gunner Pfc Patsy F. Grandolfo, 35301880 (KIA in crash)
Shot Down January 20, 1943
MACR 15066
Aircraft History
This B-24 was the first American aircraft shot down over Wewak.
Mission History
Took off from 5-Mile Drome near Port Moresby at 5:40am. The mission started with a bad omen, as the crew nearly crashed on take-off. The bomber patrolled the Madang-Wewak-Manus-Vitiaz Straight areas. Over Wewak at 9:00am, they radioed three transports were in the harbor, and observed 22 Zeros at Wewak Airstrip with three taking off. These were A6M2 Zeros of the Junyō Detachment temporarily based at Wewak. At 9:20am they radioed they were being attacked by fighters. Heavily damaged it ditched into the sea south-west of Wewak, and two crew members died in the crash. The co-pilot was trapped in the cockpit before being able to swim to the surface.
B-24
September 1945
Survival, Capture & Life As POW
The crew spent two and a half days clinging to a small four-man life raft until landing on an island where they lived with the natives for nearly two months. The natives took them by canoe along the chain of island to near the mouth of the Sepik River. Finally, a Japanese patrol captured the eight survivors on March 13, 1943.
As POWs they were taken to Wewak, and then sent to Rabaul. There, three of the crew died as POWs, likely executed in March 1944. Pilot McMurria spent the war in Rabaul and was one of only six survivors.
The rest of the crew were part of a group of nine sent by ship to Japan and interned at Omori POW Camp near Tokyo, until the end of the war.
References
The 13th Mission by Robert R. Martindale
Thanks to Edward Rogers for additional information
