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  P-38H-1-LO Lightning Serial Number 42-66528  
USAAF
5th AF
8th FG
36th FS

PacificWrecks.com
USAAF 1944
Pilot  Captain Warren R. Danson, O-433813 (MIA / KIA) Sullivan, MO
MIA  March 15, 1944 at 10:20am
MACR  3735

Aircraft History
Built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (LAC) in Burbank. Constructors Number 1039. Delivered to the U.S. Army. Disassembled and shipped overseas to Australia and reassembled.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 8th Fighter Group (8th FG), 36th Fighter Squadron (36th FS) "The Flying Fiends". No known nickname or nose art. When lost engines V-1710-89 serial number 42-29898 and V-1710-91 serial number 42-93883. Armed with 20mm cannon plus four .50 caliber machine guns makers and serial numbers not listed in Missing Air Crew Report 3735 (MACR 3735).

Mission History
On March 15, 1944 took off from Finschafen Airfield (Dreger) piloted by Captain Warren R. Danson as part of "Agate" flying high cover escort mission over Wewak. The weather was good with unlimited visibility.

Over Kairiru Island at 25,000' at 11:00am, the P-38s spotted eight enemy aircraft 2,000' below them and released their drop tanks and dove down to intercept and made two passes. Danson was last observed in a shallow dive at 7,000' over the northwest tip of Mushu Island at 10:20am by his wingman Captain James E. McLaughlin then was never seen again.

Danson was believed to have crashed into the sea adjacent to Wewak and Kairiru Island at roughly Lat 3.23 Long 143.32. When this aircraft failed to return it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA).

Search
Later that day, a U.S. Navy PBY Catalina searched the sea off Wewak in hopes he had parachuted. On March 15, 1944 the same Catalina searched a different area around Kairiru Island and the Muschu Passage.

On March 16, 1944 a U.S. Navy PBY Catalina searched the same areas without results.

On March 17, 1944 the same U.S. Navy PBY Catalina searched the area after receiving reports that a distress signal had been sent up at Kairiru Island. No sightings were ever made nor any distress signals observed.

Memorials
Danson was officially declared dead on January 18, 1946. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and Purple Heart, posthumously. Danson is memorialized at Manila American Cemetery on the tablets of the missing.

References
NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - Warren R. Danson
USAF Serial Number Search Results - P-38H-1-LO Lightning 42-66528
Missing Air Crew Report 3735 (MACR 3735) created March 17, 1944
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Warren R. Danson
FindAGrave - Capt Warren R Danson (photo, tablets of the missing)
Attack & Conquer (1995) page 179 date of loss listed as March 16 [sic March 15].

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Last Updated
January 22, 2023

 

Tech Info
P-38

Map
Map
March 14, 1944

MIA
MIA
1 Missing
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