USAAF
5th AF
345th BG
500th BS
Pilot Captain William J. Cavoli (Philadelphia, PA)
Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. George H. Braun
Navigator 1st Lt. Robert E. Lewis (KS)
Engineer Sgt Weldon Isler
Radio T/Sgt Thomas B. Freeman (Spartanburg, SC)
Gunner S/Sgt John A. "Zero" Murphy
Ditched February 15, 1944
Pilot History
Willaim Cavoli passed away on April 19, 2007.
Aircraft
History
Assigned to the 345th BG on January 11, 1944. This aircraft was model D-15 modifed to D-1 strafer at Townsville. This aircraft had no nickname.
Mission History
Part of the 345th BG's second wave of
planes, that experienced heavy flack over the target Kavieng.
After dropping their bombs and flying thru heavy smoke, and was hit, setting
the right wing that caught on fire. Cavoli prepaired to ditch the
plane in Kavieng Harbor, withouth any hydrolic pressure or airspeed indicator,
finally coming to rest about three quarters of a mile off shore, all the
crew survived and took to their emergency raft. Radio operator Freeman's
arm was broken and gunner Murphy had been sucked under the plane but both
joined them. In the water, Japanese gunners fired at the wreckage
and raft. They would be in the water for 85 minutes.
Rescue by PBY
Spotted by PBY
"Arkansas Traveller" 08139 piloted by Nate
Gordon, rescuing his crew would be the final and most difficult
as it would require to circle just ofshore in order to land for
them. After sucessfully landing, he cut the engines to allow the
crew to be rescued after 85 minutes in the water. Japanese fire hit around them and rough seas caused a long takeoff
run. Gordon
earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for this action.
Nathan G.
Gordon recalled:
"We would have to land closer to shore this time.
I did not consult with the crew, there was no time for making decisions,
I just did it, and nobody complained. That is what had to be done,
there was no time to discuss things.
We made our final landing, only 600 yards from shore. We had to make our approach over the town, where later I was told some of the heavies AA fire was coming from. There was a lot of fire coming at us from the shore. Small arms and machine guns as well as larger stuff. Again, none hit us. The swells helped us here, as the plane would disappear to anyone trying to shoot at us from the shore when we were behind a crest. We did the same thing, and took the five of them in through the waist hatch."
Relatives
Glenn Hoskins (nephew of Sgt Thomas Freeman)
"My uncle was radioman on William Cavoli's B-25. He returned home after the war and married. His first wife and son died during child birth in the late forties and remarried. My sister and I went to Charlotte NC to live with them during an illness of my mother in 1958. I started the first grade there. They were both school teachers. Thomas taught high school English and Alma was a sixth grade teacher. We lived with them for six to eight months. Alma died in the early eighties. After a period of time, Thomas married a high school sweetheart, Virginia. They were happily married until his death in 94. Virginia is still living in Fallston, N.C. She is the one who recently sent me his war memorabilia. Thomas never had any children of his own."
References
Warpath Across The Pacific pages 122-124, 128-129, 393
The Forgotten Fifth pages 69-70 [ Read Excerpt ]
PBY: The Catalina Flying Boat pages 170-173
Artwork by Nicholas Trudgian: "Black Cat Rescue" & "Flight Out of Hell"
B-25
