RAAF
75 Squadron
David Gillis 1969
Ray Fairfield 1970
Rodger
Kelly 1970s
Pilot David
Stuart Brown, 401489 (POW / MIA resolved)
Force Landing April 11, 1942
Aircraft History
USAAF Serial Number 41-5532. Delivered to Australia in March 1942. Was to be issued to 76 Squadron but instead was allocated to 75 Squadron and was flown north to New Guinea in April 1942.
Mission History
Intercepted by A6M2 Zeros during an attack on Lae. Force
landed near the beach at Kwong Point at Salamaua. Pilot Brown was taken prisoner
and taken to Lae. Then, to Rabaul for interrogation. The Japanese moved the fighter to the shore and attempted to salvage it.
Fate of the Pilot
Last seen alive on May 26, 1942 by two American POW’s: Cpl. Sanger E. Reed and S/Sgt. Theron K. Lutz (gunner from B-26 40-1400) on the wharf at Rabaul when he was separated from them. He was not reported at any Navy or Army POW camps following this time, and presumed executed soon after May 26. His remains were recovered from a multiple grave site at Matupi by Sqdn/Ldr Keith Rundle in May - June 1947. Interred at Bita Paka War Cemetery. Grave: H.C. 8.
Wreckage
The wreckage, including engine and propeller is resting near
the water's edge at Salamaua Peninsula,
hard to spot as it is covered in regrowth and was undisturbed until
the 1980s.
Rod Pearce recalls:
"I remember playing on this wreck as a child, and an eldery man witnessed it land. According to him, locals assisted the Japanese to move it closer to shore. I heard two different stories about it. One, that it landed wheels down on the tidal flat, and the Japanese pulled it up onto the beach, because there was a road behind it. Another story was the plane landed wheels down, and the Japanese jacked the wheels down and moved it to the beach to salvage it. In the mid-1960s the machine guns were removed."
Steven Mundt adds:
"I visited Salamaua in the fall of 1986, and this aircraft was still on the beach."
Recovery
This wreck wasthe subject of an attempted recovery
by Ian Whitney in the late 1980s. Moved onto a pontoon that overturned in the Huon Gulf. The wreckage sank in 600' of water.
Richard Leahy adds:
"I recall being informed that it was in fact an RAAF plane, and about
its removal and loss. It looked to be a total wreck.
Do not know why anyone would bother removing it."
P-40
POW/MIA
(Resolved)
Photo Archive
Brown Service
Details
