New Guy In Saipan

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

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Dave Bucher
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Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:37 am
Location: Saipan

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by Dave Bucher »

This site is probably the following, which I got from Mark Stevens of the 20th Air Force in an email to the their website, http://www.20thaf.org/

"I have a B-29 44-83899 402nd BS, 502nd BG, 315th BW that I show crashed 5 miles NNE from Isley Field Saipan on August 26th, 1945

Crashed on Saipan, August 26, 1945
POW support mission
Capt Claude W. Lawson, Lt. Robert R. Kindig, Lt. Lawrence C. Honeycutt, Jr., Lt. Bernard P. Beine, Lt. Hartphey Haller,
Sgt Orval N. Myrich, Sgt Ray Card, Sgt Howard L. Robinson, Sgt Chester Skorupa, Sgt Mathew M. Schemer".

I plan to go to the site in the next few weeks and put up some kind of memorial plaque.

Dave Bucher
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Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:37 am
Location: Saipan

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by Dave Bucher »

http://www.315bw.org/wing6.html contains a bit of the story of how the B29's were being used to deliver supplies to the POWs immediately after the war, and how this one crashed.

http://www.315bw.org/memoriam.htm has the list of names.

Laurent
Corporal
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2002 8:02 pm

SB2C wreck photo

Post by Laurent »

Hello,

Here is the link to the SB2C photo John D Voss talked about.

http://www.warbirdz.net/largepic.php?ID=11479

Laurent

Ron Fusco
Corporal
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Saipan, Mariana Islands/Vermont US

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by Ron Fusco »

Dave, as I mentioned off-site I'll be back on Jan 15. Give me a heads up and I'll give you a hand. Ron F.

dickson
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Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:03 pm

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by dickson »

Dave,
The plane that you reference is Ser. #44-83942 MACR #14999. I've visited with Ron Fusco about it in the past. My half brother is Sgt. Myrick's ( the flight engineer) son. Records show it spelled Myrich but it was Orval N. Myrick (everyone called him Mike) he was KIA prior to my brother's birth. I have more if you'd like me to e-mail it to you. He is buried in the Old Odessa Cemetary here in Odessa, Texas.

Rick Dickson
Odessa, Texas

Clint Goss
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Joined: Wed May 22, 2013 7:34 am

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by Clint Goss »

The plane that you reference is Ser. #44-83942 MACR #14999.
I am most interested in this MACR! My uncle, Frank T. Williams, Jr., was aboard - I believe he was the tail gunner. If you can any more info on this, I would be most interested. I have photographs of the crew and plane and could post them ... You can contact me on this forum or by email at: clint at goss dot com.

jamahoney
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Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:16 pm

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by jamahoney »

I think the wreckage is from my uncle's plane that crashed into the side of Mt. Tapochao on May 5, 1945. Aircraft 42-94060. All perished. If anyone has any additional information or pictures from the wreckage, please contact me.

Crew:
AC: Maurice Fay
CP: David Blumenfield
N: Milton Orkin
B: James Landers
V: John Brady
FE: Wylie Ross
R: Aloysius Rieger
CFC: Charles Garrett
LG: Michael Soback
RG: Robert Parson
TG: Alexander Mozdierz



vlessard
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Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:38 pm

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by vlessard »

I don't know if anyones still in this discussion but I'll take a chance. I am a nurse at the V.A. I have the privilege of working with the few remaining WWII Veterans--one of which is the last remaining B29 tailgunner known. I've spoken with him at length multiple times, totally amazed by his tails of battle and heroism. He has told me several times, insisted, that there was a plan that plunged over the cliff in Saipan.., because the 'dumb asses didn't put the landing gear down". This really bothers him because he says they were supposed to fly it back to Washington DC soon after this happened. I think he refers to it as 'the Marianna Gay'. I have googled, searched, can't find anything directly related. I have no doubt of his story but I'd like to find out more. I've spent hours going thru his photos and memorabilia--truly amazing stuff.
Anyone have any info about this?

RSwank
Captain
Posts: 92
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:42 pm

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by RSwank »

Vlessard,

Interesting story. There were a couple of flights by B-29s from Japan to Washington DC. There is a discussion of them here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Japa ... ton_flight

http://www.40thbombgroup.org/DCFlight.pdf

There first flight by 3 planes was to fly direct from Japan to Washington but had to make a stop in Chicago. The second flight went from Guam to Washington apparently in a special "test-bed" B-29.

Note in the 2nd link explains how the planes and crews were specially selected, so there may have been a plane "in the running" to be selected that ended up crashing before it could be selected.

What is interesting is the name of one of the 3 planes on the first flight was "The Mariana Belle". I wonder if your veteran is confusing the names "Enola Gay" and "The Mariana Belle".

Do you know what Bomb Group your veteran was in. It is possible to look up overseas accidents by month on sites such as:
http://aviationarchaeology.com/

It might be possible to identify the plane that crashed.

jamahoney
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Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by jamahoney »

I have the crash report and the plane crashed on the way back from a bombing run when it diverted to Saipan due to bad weather at their Guam home base on May 5, 1945. There are some blurry images of the crash site but you can definitely tell it was on the sde of the mountain.

I'm curious how they determined the plane remains are from the August 1945 crash as opposed to the May 1945 crash?

If anyone has found any part serial numbers or other identifying markers, I would be so very grateful if you could share the information.

jamahoney
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Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:16 pm

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by jamahoney »

I have been able to obtain a video from the National Archives of the aftermath of the May 5, 1945 crash of #42-94060 on Mt. Topachau. I believe the landing gear shown in the video looks very much like the gear shown on this site from a group photo taken in 2004. The machine gun shown in the video may also be a match. Please watch and let me know your thoughts. I invite others to post pictures of the current wreckage for comparison.

https://youtu.be/DfPP0jtdgxQ

fertooos
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Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2020 6:42 am

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by fertooos »

I stumbled upon a couple of wrecked radial engines and a wrecked large aircraft radio on Mt. Tapachau back in 2002. I wonder if it's the same wreck. I couldn't tell what kind of plane it used to be, but the radio unit looked like it was the kind operated by a dedicated operator.

jamahoney
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Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:16 pm

Re: New Guy In Saipan

Post by jamahoney »

Did any of it look like what was shown in the video from the wreck aftermath?

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