Pilot  Petty Officer Yukio Hikiune
Observer  P.O. Goichi Koretsune
Ditched  August 24, 1942

Mission History
Took off from Zuikaku and bombed Henderson Field, then experienced radio trouble and difficulty finding their carrier, ditched just after dusk off Malu'u on Malaita. Both crew survived the ditching unhurt.

Fate of the Crew
They joined a small party of Japanese coastwatchers near the village of Afufu, but all (20) except one were wiped out on November 5, 1942 when a landing part of 2nd Marines attacked them. They were near starving when they were shot - they had been on Mailaita for over nine weeks without much food. One of the Marines captured Goichi's diary after the firefight, and all the details were in it and are recorded in AWM records.

Paul Vanderhaar reports:
"I was part of the International Peace Monitoring Team in Malu'u in Malaita. About three kilometers from Malu'u at a village called Gwa'ako I was shown a 14 cylinder radial aircraft engine that local people told me was from a Japanese WWII aircraft which crashed into the sea nearby. The local people told me that the two aircrew were captured and later 'executed' by the American located on North Malaita. I was later shown the remains on the aircraft in about two meters of water a few hundred metres off the coast of Gwa'ako. It is upside down with its wheel struts visible at low tide, facing out to sea."

Wreckage
The engine was removed from the plane not long after it crashed. It was displayed next to the Gwa'ako market until 2001.

Paul Vanderhaar reports:
"A few weeks before I left Malu'u in early December 2001, the local people moved the engine to an as yet unknown location when I showed some interest in it. I am sure they will disclose its location if asked. I was proposing to include it in a memorial in the market place but could not meet the local Chief to discuss the matter before I finished my mission. I have asked my colleagues to pursue the matter but don't yet know if they have.

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