Aircraft History
Assigned to the 345th BG in March 1943. Assigned to pilot Edgar R. Cavin and crew chief Burns. This model D-5 was converted to D-1 strafer at Townsville.

Mission History
Hit by intense anti-aircraft fire that set the right engine and turret tank on fire. Ditched four miles north-west of Kavieng, 400 yards from shore. The entire crew was rescued by PBY "Arkansas Traveler" 08139 piloted by Lt(jg) Nathan G. Gordon which landed despite rough seas and Japanese fire. Gordon earned the Metal of Honor for this action.

Nathan G. Gordon recalled:
"After taking, off, we got a call from a B-25 that was spotting from the air, and was radioing us instructions and coordinates of ditched planes. He called in the position of a B-25 that had ditched. [ The B-25 spoted from the air was piloted by Major Chester A. Coltharp, C,O. of 498th BS ]

I made another stall landing to pick up this crew. All six were in the water. When we landed, we realized that we would have to cut the one engine when we picked up the crew. The swells were so high, they were right up to the engines which as you know are on the top edge of the wing of the PBY. We were afraid that they might hit the prop when we got close to them. I turned to Wily, our mechanic and asked him if we shut off the port engine, would we be able to restart it? He said yes, so I did."

Wreckage
This aircraft has never been located.

Don Fetterly unsucessfully searched for the plane in 2001:
"I now believe after studding all the facts from that raid that 'Gremlins Holiday' went down in deep water some 4-6 miles NNW of Kavieng. It would take some pretty sophisticated equipment to find it. The water was quite murky around the wrecks and we never got better visability."

References
Warpath Across The Pacific page 32, 82, 124-126, 128, 197, 381

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009