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  P-38H-1-LO "Charlcie Jeann" Serial Number 42-66516 Nose 84
USAAF
5th AF
49th FG
9th FS

Click For Enlargement
49th FG 1943
Pilot  1st Lt. Theron D. Price, O-659841 (MIA / KIA) Seiper, LA
MIA  October 13, 1943
MACR  1256

Aircraft History
Built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (LAC) in Burbank. Constructors Number 1027. On May 13, 1943 delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as P-38H-1-LO Lightning serial number 42-66516. That same day, flown to Sacramento Air Depot (SAD). On May 23, 1943 flown to Fort Mason near San Francisco. Disassembled and loaded as cargo aboard a ship bound for "Left" (Brisbane) departing May 25, 1943. Shipped across the Pacific to Brisbane arriving in early June 1943 and reassembled.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 49th Fighter Group (49th FG), 9th Fighter Squadron (9th FS) "The Flying Knights". Assigned to pilot Lt. James "Duckbutt" Watkins. Nicknamed "Charlcie Jeann" in an old English style font. Nose number 84. Painted on the left side of the cockpit was "Lt. J. A. Watkins" with eleven Japanese rising sun flags (5x5x1) representing his aerial victory claims. During 1943, operated from Horanda Airfield (Dobodura No. 4).

On July 28, 1943 at 6:39am took off from Horanda Airfield (Dobodura No. 4) piloted by Captain Watkins leading "Blue Flight" on a mission to escort B-25 Mitchells over Cape Gloucester. At 8:15am off Cape Raoult on the north coast of New Britain, the formation spotted twelve to eighteen Ki-43 Oscars and the P-38s released their drop tanks and engaged. During the air combat, Watkins claimed three Oscars shot down and came to the aid of Captain Richard I. Bong who was being attacked by two Oscars.

When lost engines V-1710-89-9 serial numbers left 42-93881 right 42-29944. Armed with 20mm cannon maker unknown serial number 58337 plus four .50 caliber machine guns makers unknown serial numbers 459441, 459286, 223590 and 459028.

Mission History
On October 13, 1943 at 10:20am took off from Kiriwina Airfield piloted by 1st Lt. Theron D. Price as part of blue flight and climbed to 15,000' on a mission to escort B-24s on a mission against Rabaul. The P-38s rendezvoused with the B-24s north of Kiriwina.

Inbound to the target, the weather was approaching frontal region with precipitation and clouds. The P-38s entered bad weather this aircraft was last sighted by fellow by Captain Gerald R. Johnson, Fanning and Marling between Kiriwina Island and New Britain. Likely, lost due to bad weather. When this aircraft failed to return it was officially declared Missing In Action (MIA). Also lost were P-38G 42-12698 (MIA) and P-38G 42-12856 (MIA). This aircraft was officially written off on February 25, 1944.

Search
The next day, aircraft searched for this missing P-38 off Kiriwina and Woodlark, but only found a B-24 bellied onto a coral reef, whose crew had already been rescued. Total search time was 5-7 hours.

Memorials
Price was officially declared dead the day of the mission. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, posthumously. Price is memorialized at Manila American Cemetery on the tablets of the missing. He is also has a memorial marker at Fellowship Cemetery in Hineston, LA.

Relatives
Murrel E. Price (brother of Price)
Raymond Theron Renyck (nephew of Price) lives near Pittsburgh, PA

References
Note, some sources incorrectly list the serial number as 42-12882 [sic] assigned to the 1st Fight Group and crashed January 13, 1943 in England.
USAF Serial Number Search Results - P-38H-1-LO Lightning 42-66516
"66516 (MSN 1027) (49th FG, 9th FS) lost in bad weather at New Guinea Oct 13, 1943. Pilot MIA. MACR 1256."
Individual Aircraft History Card (IAHC) - P-38H Lightning 42-66516
Missing Air Crew Report 1256 (MACR 1256)
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Theron D. Price

FindAGrave - 1Lt Theron D Price (tablets of the missing photos)
FindAGrave - Theron D Price (memorial marker photos)
The Times (Shreveport, LA) "Lieut. Price is Missing" October 24, 1943
The Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana) "Missing In Action –  First Lt. Theron D. Price" October 26, 1943
The Ithaca Journal "Cornell Flier Who Downed 8 Zeros Coming Home for Rest" December 7, 1943
"After the gang settled down in New Guinea, where they carved a garden-like camp site from the jungle thickets, O'Neill struck up a friendship with First Lieut Theon [sic] Price from Seiper, La. Price and "Jump" shared the same hut, took their leaves in Sydney together, and were buddies in every sense of the word. Less than a month ago [October 14, 1943] Price failed to return from a mission and "Jump" took it pretty hard. On his next two missions out in a period of three days O'Neill shot down four Japanese planes. Shortly after that his orders came through to report for home."
Cosmopolitan "'Bing Bang' Bong and the Humpty Doos" by Bob Eunson June 1944 Vol 116 No. 6 page 60-61 We - Jack Purcell and I [Bob Eunson] - flew over the Owen Stanley Mountains to the jungle habitat of the Humpty Doos [9h Fighter Squadron] to see if we could find out what it takes to be a fighter pilot sans pareil.. now we are sitting in the little club of the Humpty Doos built of screen, cement and tin, in a jungle paradise... And there’s a shelf for the silver drinking mugs. Each pilot owns a handsome mug with his name engraved on the side. Mugs belonging to boys who have been killed or are missing are turned upside down. In that section you see names as Prince, Lidstrom, Love, Sells."
PNG Museum Aircraft Status Card - P-38H Lightning 42-66516
Stars and Bars (1995) page 620-621 (Watkins, James Albert "Duckbutt")
Fighter Pilot (2006) page 50-51
"My flight was the first to land, and we waited two hours for the rest of the squadron to straggle in. Three planes were missing - Frank Wunder, Ralph Hays and Theron Price, the pilots. I had my ship refueled and four of us searched until dark without finding a trace of them. Early the next morning we received permission to conduct a full-scale search; for three days we combed the area without success. The fourth day [October 17, 1943] we were needed for another Rabaul raid, so the search was called off."
49th Fighter Group Aces of the Pacific (2004) cover artwork depicts this aircraft on July 28, 1943 inside caption lists the P-38 serial number as 42-12882 [sic 42-66516].
Thanks to Keith Hopper, Edward Rogers and Donna Esposito for additional information

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Last Updated
March 21, 2024

 

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