Mystery 'USA' In Kunai Grass Near Tobera Airfield
by Justin Taylan
Sometimes a picture makes us long for a
thousand words of explanation.
Was is it the attempt of a downed American aircrew to signal for help?
Was it a trick by the Japanese to lure aircraft over the area?
Will we ever know the truth?
Brian
Bennett shared with me a wartime aerial photograph of Tobera
Aerodrome, near Rabaul, and asked me what I saw... At first, the
photograph looked like any other WWII
aerial
photograph.
A large black and white print of topography over a target zone. Like
most, it appeared to be largely featureless, just empty forest, grass
and ravines in the vicinity of a target. As I was about to give up,
I noticed what he wanted me to see... a clearly visible "USA" and
a "V" in a kunai field behind the airfield. Where did this marking
come from?
The photographic coding on the bottom of the photo
reads:
(17th Photo Squadron) (4B122-0) (4-V) (9) (6:18:1218) (24:20040)
(Tobera
AD N
Brit.)
The 17th Photo Squadron was part of the 4th Photographic Reconnaissance
and Mapping Group, 13th Air Force, operating F-5 Lightnings from Guadalcanal, Munda Airfield and Bougainville.
Henry Sakaida adds:
"The National Archives wrote: 'Our collection of Mission reports of the 17th Photo Squadron do not include reports for 18 June 1943 nor 18 June 1944.' "
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Last Updated
October 1, 2009
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