Aircraft History
Built by North American. USAAF Serial Number 42-32337. Assigned to the Netherlands East Indies Air Force (NEIAF) with serial number N5-150. Assigned to 18 Squadron. No known nose art or nickname.

Mission History
On June 2, 1943 took off from Darwin piloted by Sgt Maj H van den Berg as one of four B-25s on a mission against Japanese shipping in the anchorage off Lautem (Vila Nova Malaca) in northeast Timor at 1552 hours.

The aircraft broke through low cloud at about 2,000 feet and made independent attacks from different directions on three Japanese merchant vessels and one warship - probably a destroyer. Although the attacking run of N5-150 was not observed its bombs were seen to burst near the destroyer and the aircraft was last seen heading through thick weather towards the mainland of Timor on a bearing of approximately 160 degrees. There was intense anti-aircraft fire from the ships and shore defences two of the other B-25s were damaged.

Search
A search by two B-25s the next day covering the Timor Sea within visibility distance of Timor found no trace of wreckage or survivors.

Memorials
Remains of all five crew members were recovered post-war by 16 Australian War Graves Unit. The three RAAF personnel are now buried in a joint grave at the Ambon War Cemetery at Ambon. Williams and Prichard are buried in joint grave 7. A. 11-12. Morrison is buried at 3. C. 9.

References
Joe Baugher "B-25 Mitchell in Dutch Service"

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Last Updated
April 25, 2018