Copyright www.aerothentic.com
and is aimed to give you an idea of
the resources we deploy
to discover the history behind MIA sites. Our special thanks to Larry Hickey of International
Research and Publications who provided the nickname of the aircraft.
MOUNTAIN COLLISION NEAR RARONA - 2 MIA
405th Bomb Squadron/ 38th Bomb Group
On 18th October
1943 one of the more remarkable Fifth Air Force MIA cases occurred. Pilots
who read this will especially appreciate the terror of the incident, which
left the navigator of a five-man Mitchell crew missing. However, the crew
came within hundredths of a second from complete oblivion when their Mitchell,
named Daisy May, clipped the top of a mountain on descent in stormy
weather. All five subsequently bailed out, and four lived to tell the tale.
Where is the other ? There is no doubt that, injured or not by their parachute
drop into the jungle, he eventually died from exposure. His remains have never
been found.
In the early hours that morning
of the 18th, the 38th Bombardment Group led by Major John Watkins, guided
his Mitchells to attack the Japanese airdrome at Tobera, near Rabaul. The
flight there was a battle with the elements – the Mitchells fought three separate
weather fronts to get to the target. The weather back was worse however, and
the Mitchells had to climb into the murk to get over the Owen Stanley Ranges
to make their home airfields in the Port Moresby area. In the end Watkins
ordered them to turn back and land at Dobodura. One of the pilots was Flying
Officer Delbert L. Campbell, in command of Daisy May. He didn’t get
the “turn back” message however, and we let him take up the story in his own
words. The below quote is taken from the statement he made a few days later.
“Rarona” by the way, is a small airfield about 30 miles West of Port Moresby
also known during WW2 as “30-Mile” ;
"I
was Pilot of plane #42-32262 on Mission #290 AA to Rabaul. Upon our return
flight, we encountered very bad weather all the way back. We did not receive
Major Watkin's call to turn back, because the radio was very noisy due to
the weather. I saw the flight turn, but I could not keep up to them, and I
lost them in the clouds. I tried to contact Madam, and Nephew, and any other
ground station; but couldn't get a rise out of anything. The only thing we
ever heard was someone saying to let down at 2450; so we started at 2450 to
let down at about 300 ft. per minute. We saw a dim outline of a mountain finally,
so we went up over it, at about 135 miles an hour, barely clearing over the
top of it. Upon clearing this one, we ran right into another one. The gunners
in the rear of the ship said that our tail actually hit the treetops as we
cleared this one at 105 miles per hour. I then took the plane up to 17,000
ft and ordered the crew to bail out. At the time, we did not know where we
were at all, due to the very bad Instrument weather we encountered. I set
the speed at 130 for the rest of the crew to bail out, and then trimmed it
up at 150 to get out myself. Just before I could get out of the lower escape
hatch in the Navigators compartment, the ship ran out of gas, and the motors
cut out. I left the plane as it started down in a diving turn. That was the
last I saw of the airplane. I landed about 12 miles NE of Rarona. On the way
down, 1 saw two other chutes, one on either side of me”.
The next day there was an all-out search
for the crew, as described by the Group’s Operations journal as follows:
"Our 38th Group Operations is supervising the
general search for the missing aircraft, and its crew. Group was notified
from Fifth Fighter Command that one of the crew had reached a plantation 8
miles north of Rarona. This information was relayed to the Fifth Fighter Command
by one of their P-47 pilots who had to crash‑land there. This first
news came in to me at 2200/L, 18 October 1943. Prior to this, Air Traffic
sent out tracers to all Allied airfields and emergency strips in this area,
trying to locate the missing aircraft. Due to the extremely bad weather here,
no searching planes could take off until the morning of 19 October, 1943.
The ANGAU natives and the Australians at Rarona then went out on foot to search
for the other crew members. The natives found S/Sgt.Mocha in the jungle northwest
of Rarona; but he would not let them move him until they had gone back for
a stretcher, food and water, because of his serious injuries. He was finally
carried into 30 mile strip at Rarona. Our Flight Surgeon was immediately flown
up there, and he went out into the jungle, and met the natives bringing the
injured man back. It was discovered that S/Sgt. Mocha had suffered a broken
right ankle, and a fractured spine which completely paralyzed both of his
legs. Upon discovering the serious condition of S/Sgt Mocha, a C-47 was sent
to Rarona immediately, and the patient was returned to Port Moresby to the
171st Hospital.
A Tiger Moth and a Piper Cub have been searching the
Rarona area ever since these two men were found. An extensive search is also
being made on foot in that same area. On the morning of the 19 October 1943,
one B‑25 from our squadron covered the area from north Yule Island to
the east towards the mountains, south below Rarona and east out to sea, and
then all up along the coast. This area was covered completely, and no sign
of the plane, crew, or parachutes was observed. All the rest of our planes
were still in Dobodura, where they had to land due to the bad weather.
On the afternoon of the same day, three B‑25s
of our squadron and one B‑25 of the 822nd Squadron searched the area
north of Rarona without any results. Another B‑25 of this Squadron is
up searching again today in the entire area.
The Pilot of the crew walked into a rubber plantation
about five miles NW of Rarona yesterday afternoon, uninjured"”
All, with the exception of 1st Lt Walter
E. Fuller, returned to military control. Sgt Mocha was found with a broken
right ankle and a fractured spine which caused a complete paralysis of both
legs. The case is yet another unresolved Fifth Air Force case. Given the circumstances,
it is doubtful that it will ever be resolved. Never found was:
Navigator 1/Lt Walter E. Fuller