B-24D-155-CO "Ten Knights in a Bar Room" Serial Number 42-72

Discussion about wrecks and losses as well as historic sites in the Pacific.

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Sepik Kiap
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Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:40 pm
Location: The Far East & Asia per se

B-24D-155-CO "Ten Knights in a Bar Room" Serial Number 42-72

Post by Sepik Kiap »

Dear Board & Moderator
Quote Under Title Wreckage
During 1971, Patrol Officer (Kiap) J. Beitling from Angoram Patrol Post located the wreckage of this B-24 near Angoram and recovered the remains of the crew.
Unquote
I am the Sepik Kiap who discovered and recovered the remains of the above titled missing aircraft including the Dog tags of 2nd Lt James A. Gebbie. I committed his wifes address at the time to memory as in Mrs M Gebbie, 4904 North California Avenue Chicago Illinois. I recovered all the crew remains and had them sent to the USA Ambassador in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea. In recovering the remains I received a Official letter of Acknowledgement from the US and also my Department which is archived.
I led two Patrols in 1971 to collect all the remains. David Wall alive and well in Sydney knows of this Patrol I led. Other officers alive today know these facts too. David was at the time Officer in Charge of the Malaria Unit Angoram and lent me a Knapsack of DDT to help kill the bush mites but they feasted on it. At the Patrols closure all the 20 odd carriers, policemen, and myself spent a week attending the Angoram hospital under Dr Manase Saott each morning to knock the histamine levels back to normal as the mites were the worst of their types. In furtherance of the suggested Patrol Officer (Kiap) J. Beitling I cannot find any evidence of him in http://exkiap.net/ staff lists either 1970 or 1973. My official Report to find this aircraft is at the University of California, San Diego library along with my other Patrol Reports under Wayne Cross or Wayne Edward Cross. It is important that you correct your records. I have 2 sons John and Monni who are Class of '90 Valley Forge Military Academy Wayne Pa and in 1991 US Navy Admiral (rtd)Thunman as the Commandant appointed me as there overseas Recruiter. The wreck was found because of WW2 interest as both my parents married in uniform during the war and my father had served in Papua New Guinea. Not far from this noble site is where the Japanese cut slices off our troops as in cannibalism which is tabled in the Australian War Memorial Canberra. They were strung up alive and cut down in pieces with swords as per the eyewitness villagers I interviewed. The downed crew were spared all that as they landed in remote jungle less than a 1 hour walk away. The Japanese were starving.

Frank Faulkner my Assistant District Commissioner of Angoram Sub District was my superior officer then and flowed my Patrol Report on my wreck discovery to HQ's along with the Tea Chest I had carefully placed all the bones in , wrapping some individually. He passed on December 2012 after I last saw him in the Philippines.

During the late 60 and to mid 70’sAngoram was a Sub district Office with 1 Patrol Post at Amboin.

2nd Lt James A. Gebbie may have been alive at the time of the crash as I recovered his body away from the tail plane. He was fully intact with his Dog tags and Catholic medal still on . I gathered him up a tall man taller than me at 6ft. His boots were still in place as was parts of his shirt. He was laying on the ground stretched out fully and a small tree had grown through his rib cage.

My interest in wreckages expanded and there are probably 2 more in the Sepik I know of which I believe are still not recovered. They cost $ to recover as they are in very remote areas exactly like this one I found nearly 30 years later after the crash after a lot of Patrol Officers before me. I was later Officer in Charge Amboin Patrol Post and had 9 heads as cannibal trophies in my office.

I have a nexus to Angoram and the Sepik at the highest levels to this day. I sentenced around 200 persons in the East Sepik District during my term as a Local Court Magistrate Canberra appointed including one who later became a Supreme Court Judge now deceased, another story.

Accordingly I look forward to the correction both the name of the discoverer myself and the place Angoram sub district.

Attached is my photo taken around the time of the event at Angoram and a link to David Wall about Frank
Frank Faulkner | Stories by David Wall
deberigny.wordpress.com/category/frank-faulkner/‎

Thank you

Wayne Edward Cross
China
Currently +86 185 2080 3941
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