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  P-38H-5-LO Lightning Serial Number 42-66911 Nose 37
USAAF
5th AF
35th FG
39th FS

Click For Enlargement
USAAF September 1945
Pilot  2nd Lt. Alphonse "Al" D. Quinones, O-748876 (POW, survived) AZ
Crashed  November 7, 1943 at 12:35pm
MACR  3037

Aircraft History
Built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (LAC) in Burbank. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as P-38H-5-LO Lightning serial number 42-66911. Disassembled and shipped overseas and reassembled.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 35th Fighter Group (35th FG), 39th Fighter Squadron (39th FS). No nickname or nose art. Nose Number 37. During late 1943, assigned to pilot John C. Dunbar. When lost, engines V-1710-89 and V-1710-91 serial numbers 42-94192 and serial number 42-30109. Armed with four. 50 caliber machine guns makers and serial numbers unknown and a 20mm cannon maker and serial number unknown.

John C. Dunbar adds:
"I gave new pilot Quinones some sage advice on how to manage my newly assigned P-38 on a Rabaul mission on November 3, 1943. A few days later [November 7, 1943] he was victim of a lucky hit by a zero and had to bail out. His aircraft had #37 on the nose, no nose art."

Mission History
On November 7, 1943 took off from Kiriwina Airfield piloted by 2nd Lt. Alphonse D. Quinones on a fighter sweep over Rabaul. This aircraft was part of "Red Flight" flying the no. 2 position leading the formation. The weather was overcast at 30,000' with heavy rain at 25,000'.

Over New Britain the formation engaged in a dogfight over the Wide Bay area. During the first pass with enemy fighters, this P-38 was hit in the right engine and began trailing Preston coolant badly. Lt. Flood, flying in the no. 3 position stayed with Quinones and began coaching him about what to do over the radio. The damaged engine caught fire from both sides while three Zeros tried to attack from the rear and above, but were driven off by fellow pilots Lt. Walters and Lt. Urquhart.

As the fire in right engine increased, Lt. Flood advised him to bail out. As he descended, a Zero dove at his parachute before he appeared to land approximately 200 yards south of the Powell River roughly 3-5 miles from Wide Bay.

Meanwhile, his damaged P-38 continued and crossed the Baining Mountains, heading back towards Rabaul before crashing south of Lemingi more than 25 miles from where Quinones had bailed out.

Search
Although Quinones was seen to bail out, no search missions were flown to locate him afterwards.

Fate of the Pilot
Quinones landed unhurt and was later captured by the Japanese Army and became a Prisoner Of War (POW) and was transported to Rabaul and detained by the Kempeitai (military police) at Rabaul Prisoner Compound (Rabaul POW Prison). After heavy bombing, in early March 1944 he and the other prisoners were moved to Tunnel Hill POW Camp until the official surrender of Japan. On September 2, 1945. Quinones was one of nine Allied prisoners who survived captivity at Rabaul.

Wreckage
During 1984, the crash site was visited by a team from US Army CILHI with Brian Bennett and Bruce Hoy, PNG Museum modern history directors.

Brian Bennett adds:
"When Jose Holguin, Bruce Hoy and I got to B-17E "Naught But Nice" we had been told beforehand about another crashed airplane further up the valley. In '84 CILHI were out and we went up the valley to a pad that had been precut by the locals on the edge of a very steep ridge. I recall that we walked a little way and here was an engine with the tail boom mostly concertinaed onto the rear of the engine. Had only been at the site a few minutes when Bruce located an engine cowl with either a serial or constructors number. As soon as he had looked it up in his little notebook and learned that it was not MIA he lost interest and we were gone. No inspection of the site done and if a photo was taken i don't recall and i never took any."

Memorials
Quinones retired from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) with the rank of Major and earned the Purple Heart during World War II. He passed away May 20, 2002 at age 84. He is buried at the City of Mesa Cemetery at section 152, lot 2, grave 7.

Relatives
Dr. C. Kenneth Quinones (son of Al Quinones)
"I am writing a book about my father USAF Major A.D. Quinones and his fellow POWs at Rabaul during WWII. A. D. Quinones is survived by his oldest son Donald Quinones, Arizona Air National guard retired and Vietnam veteran USMC, living in Maricopa, AZ. Second son C. Kenneth Quinones, retired Foreign Service Officer and professor, Ph.D., Harvard University 1974, living in Centreville, VA and daughter Eileen Eisen, working and living in Scottsdale, AZ."

References
USAF Serial Number Search Results - P-38H-5-LO Lightning 42-66911
"66911 (35th FG, 39th FS) shot down by Zero 4 mi N of Wide Bay, New Guinea Nov 7, 1943. MACR 3035 and 3037. Pilot POW. MACR 3035 has date of Jul 11, 1943, which is wrong."
Missing Air Crew Report 3037 (MACR 3037)
39th Fighter Squadron Combat Report November 7, 1943
PNG Museum Aircraft Status Card - P-38H Lightning 42-66911
The Siege of Rabaul (1996) by Henry Sakaida page 95 (Rabaul's Military Prisoners - Quinones)
FindAGrave - Maj Alphonse D Quinones (grave photos)
Imperial Japan’s Allied Prisoners in the South Pacific (2021) by C. Kenneth Quinones
Thanks to C. Kenneth Quinones, John C. Dunbar, Brian Bennett and Edward Rogers for additional information

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Last Updated
November 7, 2022

 

Tech Info
P-38

POW
POW
1 Prisoner
Survived

Map
Map
Nov 7, 1943
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