Pilot Colin Raymond Harvey (406076) Perth, WA
Force Landed  June 13, 1944

AIrcraft History
USAAF Serial Number 42-104823. Assigned to the RAAF in July 1943

Wartime HIstory
Served with 78 Squadron begining on August 10, 1943 from 2 AD. On April 5, 1944 it was received by 11 RSU from 78 Sqn for an engine change and returned on the 15th.

On 3/6/44 it participated in last major RAAF air combat of WW2 in the Pacific by 78 Squadron flown by F/O Geoff O'Halloran Giles, (417830.

On 13/6/44 it went into a spin in cloud forcing F/O Colin Raymond Harvey (406076) to bail out with the a/c crashing about 40 miles (67 kms) south of Cyclops strip and he was rescued after 21 days treking in the jungle.

Mission History
Flying on a patrol of four planes over the Hollandia area. In cloud this P-40 tried to avoided a collision with the nearest plane in the formation and went into a spin. Pilot Harvey was forced to bail out. The next day, he was spotted by an L-5 flown by 25th Liaison pilot, Eugene Salternik who dropped him food and a message that directing him to a river and follow it in his raft.  After 21 days of being dropped supplies by Salternik's L-5, he was rescued on July 4th by RAAF Walrus flying boat from Lake Krau.

Friendship
After the war, Salternik and Harvey remained good friends, and visited with each other in Australia and the United States.  In 1994 on the 50th anniversary of the event, Harvey presented Salternik with a plaque, with his RAAF flying wings and some of the notes he had dropped to him and sustained him on his long escape. Harvey passed away in the late 1990s.

References
Thanks to Eugene Salternik for additional information.

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