Pictured here is the armaments section of the 823rd Squadron on New Guinea in October 1943. In the very back are: Sgt. Robert A. Liners, Sgt. Charles A. Weber, T/Sgt. James M. Moss, Cpl. Tobert R. Crowder, Sgt. Weldon H. Lannell, unknown and Cpl. Smith J. Clark. Standing in the third row are: Sgt. Clarence […]
The B-25’s forward-firing 50-caliber machine guns were very effective in strafing Japanese merchant vessels, even penetrating their steel plating. The Nov. 2nd attack on Simpson Harbor gave the crews plenty of ships to strafe. This photo will be published in Harvest of the Grim Reapers Vol. II. In the meantime, read our brief overview of […]
The aftermath of the 345th’s attack on November 2, 1943 is shown in this photo of the northeast shoreline of Simpson Harbor, taken by an aircraft from one of the units that attacked shipping in the harbor. Numerous fires started by the white phosphorous bombs, parafrags and strafing are visible. The photo is tilted due […]
A Japanese Zero dives from cloud cover towards the escort carrier, Suwanee. An instant later, a cloud of smoke and fire erupted from the explosion of the kamikaze’s 550-pound bomb. The damaged carrier was back in action within hours. This October 25, 1944 attack was the debut of the kamikaze missions. The plane flying horizontally […]
On January 19, 1944, after becoming hopelessly lost and running low on fuel on a flight from Townsville to Horn Island, Lt. Eliot Young of the 312th Bomb Group, whose A-20 can be seen in the far right background, decided to make a belly landing on Mornington Island (450 miles south of Horn Island), […]
The right engine of the plane flown by 1/Lt. John Soloc was damaged in the attack on the Taiyei Maru in March 1944. Soloc crash-landed in the sea and spent the next 17 hours in the water, until rescued by a PBY Catalina. S/Sgt. Donald L. Bradley, Soloc’s gunner, went down with the plane. Above, […]
This photo, taken of THE OLD MAN after a mission on March 8, 1943, reflects what the interior of a B-17F would often look like after a reconnaissance mission. The waist guns (left and right) ejected casings when they were fired against enemy interceptors. The casings have fallen to the bottom of the middle hatch. […]
On August 5, 1943, Capt. Robert Herry was forced to ditch his B-25, MISS AMERICA, after it was hit in the right engine by antiaircraft fire. All but one survived the crash. They were taken captive by the Japanese and executed 12 days later. Major Williston Cox, C.O. of the 71st Squadron, was on board […]
The largest coordinated strafer attack of the pacific air war to date was carried out on January 7, 1945. B-25 aircraft from the 345th Group and A-20s from the 312th and 417th Groups sent 132 planes over Clark Field to strafe and drop parafrags on the dispersed Japanese aircraft. This spectacular photo was taken from […]
1/Lt. John B. Boyd of the 499th Squadron, 345th Bomb Group was piloting this brand new B-25J-22 #44-29352, when a parafrag hung up during a mission against Fabrica Airdrome on January 8, 1945. The bomb swung back in the slipstream and exploded beneath the fuselage, severely injuring the radio operator, T/Sgt. Robert C. Dusenberry. By […]