Ditching in Yulin Bay

 

B-25J-22 #44-29350, with 1/Lt. James McGuire at the controls, is seen trailing smoke and fire moments before it hit the water just short of a small ship in Yulin Bay off Hainan Island on March 30, 1945. Pilots who observed the crash reported that there was no possibility of survivors, but both McGuire and his navigator, 2/Lt. Eugene L. Harviell, survived and were taken prisoner. Harviell died of disease and malnutrition in a small prison camp on the Japanese Navy base at Samah just before the war ended. McGuire survived, though he spent several weeks in the hospital before he could go home.

This story can be found in Warpath Across the Pacific and on our blog.