USAAF
11th AF
28th BG
77th BS
Crew 2nd Lt. Raymond B. Lewis, O-778190 (MIA / KIA) NY
Crew F/O Edward N. F. Burrows, T-006374 (MIA / KIA) Washington, VT
Navigator/Bomb 2nd Lt. Milton E. Zack, O-707368 (POW, survived)
Crew Robert D. Trant, 38459245 (POW, survived)
Crew Walter Bailey, 14133548 (POW, survived)
Crew Cpl William E. Bradley, 35870807 (MIA / KIA)
Crashed May 19, 1945
MACR 9457
Mission History
One of eight B-25s that took off from Alexi Point Airfield. Their mission was to bomb Minami Cape radar installation
and cannery on the Naka River on Shimushu. Only one B-25 got near the target to drop its bombs and strafe the area. Intense anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters drove
off the rest.
This B-25 was experiencing problems with its right engine, and also had a wing external fuel tank that would not release. As it approached the coastline of Shimushu, there was a loud noise and the starboard propeller broke off. Immediately, they salvoed all their bombs, and hoped to make it to Russia. Unable to climb, the B-25 force landed on the snow covered beach and skidded to a stop, and the crew escaped without wounds.
Fate of the Crew
A Japanese fighter circled the crash site, and later a group of Japanese soldiers arrived, fired shots and the entire crew surrendered. Marched and beaten up and interned in a civilian jail. The crew was interrogated at Paramushir.
Milton Zack was flown to Hokkaido, and interned there for the duration of the war. Bailey and Trant were transported on a ship Hokkaido and were later reunited with Zack in the POW camp. These three survived the war as prisoners.
The other crew members were transported on the Tenryo Maru, that was torpedoed and sank, and all were lost. Their date of death is recorded as May 29, 1945.
Memorials
The three crew members who died aboard the Tenryo Maru are memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Honolulu National Cemetery (Punchbowl).
References
Thanks to Russ Rendon and Ted Darcy for additional information.
B-25
POW / MIA
Kurile Islands Missions
Milt's Memoirs Part III
