Pilot  Lt. Feltham
Co-Pilot  Lt Hugh L Turk
Crew  Sgt Dutrow
Crew  Cpl H S Taylor
Crew  Sgt Omar N Ferguson
Crew  S/Sgt P R Ervin
Force Landed  May 16, 1942

Aircraft History
Ferried to Australia, arriving on April 18, 1942.

Mission History
After a sucessful morning mission to bomb Lae, this aircraft returned in the afternoon, but encountered solid overcast over the target. Intense but light anti-aircraft fire met the bombers. The runaway and dispersal area were bombed from 2,400'. There was no interception due again to the weather and on return trip Lt. Feltham left the formation to strafe a seaplane base near Salamaua.

On the return trip, Feltham became disoriented in overcast returning to Port Moresby. His crew spotted Aiyary Airstrip as they were about to run out of gas. During landing the nose wheel hit a hole and buckled resulting in much of the nose section being destroyed, but the crew escaped any serious injuries. The crew was initially reported as missing back at base. Four day later, their B-25 was spotted from the air by an A-24 flying over Aiyura.

Edward Rogers adds:
"Capt. Rogers, C/O 8th Squadron / 3rd BG was flying to Wau in an A-24 on May 20, 1942 when he became lost in bad weather and just happened to fly over Aiyura where he spotted Feltham's B-25. He landed and talked with Feltham before flying on to Wau. Soon after his return to Port Moresby Rogers was ordered to take three A-24s to Ramu to rescue some of Feltham's crew."

Three A-24s Crash In Attempted Rescue
Three A-24s: A-24 41-15822, A-24 41-15820 and A-24 41-15783attempted to land at the strip to rescue the crew on May 24, 1942. The next morning, the one A-24 that had sucessfully landed crashed, killing the pilot Holcomb died on take off and wounded Rogers in the gunner's seat.

Bizzare Self-Rescue
Feltham spent the next couple of weeks resting and exploring the valley while waiting on a rescue. Feltham and his crew repaired an abandon 1925 Spartan biplane and made a successful test flight. Jerry Pendleton arrived at Aiyura in a DH Dragon and flew Rogers out on June 18, stopping at Karina / Kerema [located on coast 100 miles from Port Moresby] before reaching Port Moresby. That same day Feltham attempted to fly the Spartan to Bena Bena Airfield but crashed towards dusk, suffering two broken legs. He was found trapped in the wreckage by members of his crew and several Australians. They splinted Feltham's legs and made a litter to carry him to Bena Bena. From there Pendleton flew Feltham out and, over the next few weeks, Feltham's crew and Lt. Doan. Doan returned to Charters Towers on July 15th.

Wreckage
The wreckage of this bomber was moved using natives to lift the bomber off its nose. Timber was placed on the ground in an attempt to move it.

References
Thanks to Edward Rogers for historical information. The photographs and much of the information about these events are from the diary and photo album of Col. Oliver C. Doan and were made available courtesy of his wife Jean Doan.

Contribute Information