Copyright www.aerothentic.com
The below article was
prepared especially for this website,
and is aimed to give you an
idea of the resources we deploy
to discover the history
behind MIA sites.
The Mt Obree Fortress
(Unnamed) Boeing B‑17E #41‑2505
30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th
Bombardment Group
Finally identified as an MIA case 1986
Location Mt Obree at 9,000 feet, Papua New Guinea
The mission started from an outback town in Queensland, Australia,
called Cloncurry. Here were based the squadrons of the 19th
Bombardment Group, and four of their Fortresses flew to Townsville to receive final
orders and load bombs. They departed Townsville mid-afternoon and arrived at
7-Mile Strip, Port Moresby that early evening. Planned departure was for 0330
hours, so that the aircraft would arrive over Rabaul at dawn when visibility
was best. It was a bad time for Port Moresby. Its only fighter defence was an
Australian squadron of Kittyhawks from No. 75 Squadron. They had been operating
from 7-Mile since 22nd March 1942, but had dwindled in strength
through losses to enemy A6M2 fighters from Lae.
On the morning the four Fortresses departed Townsville, Port Moresby was
experiencing its twenty-ninth Japanese air raid and No 75 Squadron had lost
three Warhawks during the encounter. Only one Japanese fighter was shot down.
Other Allied losses that day included a Catalina moored in Port Moresby
harbour, and two B-26s destroyed at 7-Mile.
Into this aftermath arrived the four. Each landed safely and taxied to
their assigned dispersal area, where refuelling took place. The crew checked
over their aircraft, and tried snatching sleep before the pre-dawn departure
for Rabaul. From Lt Fagen's crew, four crew members had actually landed at
Rabaul’s Vunakanau Airfield (co-pilot Lt Robert R Meyer, navigator Lt Ralph
Howard, gunner Sgt Edward L Hargrove and gunner Sgt Elton J Rose). They had
been in the second delivery flight of early model Fortresses which had
transited Rabaul in November 1941 en route to the Philippines. Of the other
crew members, bombardier 2/Lt Jim S. Grant had flown out to Java from the
United States with Lt Fagen, and gunner Sgt Reimer had been assigned to the
19th Bombardment Group in the Philippines at the start of the war. He had been
evacuated to Australia the previous month. Fate had brought these men together
for their last day on earth.
At around 0300 hours the first of the four B-17s, unnamed #41-2641
piloted by Major Montgomery commenced taxing from its revetment with the others
following. The aircraft had not travelled very far when it lurched into a
hastily filled bomb crater which the previous evening’s rain had turned into a
quagmire. The aircraft’s main bogies sank up to their axles. It was not going
anywhere that day. Lt Sargeant in B-17E #41-2464 then took the lead and, with
the other two, departing five minutes apart. Lt Sargeant circled 7-Mile Drome
once to allow the others to catch up, then gained altitude in Rabaul’s
direction. Lt Evans soon joined Lt Sargeant. On glancing back from about five
miles Southeast of Port Moresby, Lt Evans noticed Lt Hagen in #41-2505 about a
quarter of a mile behind and still climbing with them. Both pilots (Evans and
Sargeant), became briefly preoccupied with checking instruments, and it wasn't
until a short time afterwards that they realised that Hagen's Fortress was no
longer with them. Meanwhile, back at 7-Mile the crew of #41-2641 tried to
extricate their lame bomber from the mud. In the back of this minds was the
knowledge that if they were unable to free it and get away from 7-Mile one way
or the other, it was in real danger of being strafed by Japanese fighters early
next morning.
In the course of this demanding activity, they sweating crew heard in
the darkness overhead the familiar sound of a Fortresses four Wright Cyclone
engines. It was obvious to them that one of the bombers from the formation that
had departed an hour earlier had returned for some reason. On seeing the
airfield still in darkness, they probably flew Southeast, over the Coral Sea,
most likely to await the arrival of dawn before landing. With the mud‑bound Fortress still
stuck, its groundcrew’s worst fear was realised. Just after 0800 hours fifteen
Japanese fighters swept over Port Moresby. Four immediately fell on 7‑Mile,
quickly combusting a B-26 and seriously damaging another. So far the stuck
Fortress had survived, but around ten minutes later the fighters dealt it a
king hit. RAAF No 75 Squadron had launched four Warhawks on combat patrol and
they now tangled with the enemy but claimed none.
Major Montgomery and his crew were left incredulous at the sudden and
clinical destruction of their new bomber. It had only arrived in Australia from
the United States on 14th April 1942, and had flown its first
mission six days later. This was to have been its second mission only.
Losing an aircraft was one matter, but losing a crew was another. When
the Group realised that Hagen et al were missing, efforts were taken to
establish its last possible location. The crew of #41-2641 were questioned, and
it was in the course of this interrogation that the Group listed the aircraft as
lost over the Coral Sea, as it was in that direction that the aircraft had been
last sighted. This incorrect assumption was carried for nearly forty‑four
years. Almost two years later, in June 1944, during an aerial search for C-47 THE FLYING DUTCHMAN which had crashed into Mt
Obree on 10th October 1942, the wreckage of #41-2505 was sighted
from the air. At that time, the identity of the wreckage was unknown, and it
was ignored. Nineteen years later in March 1961, it was again seen from the air
during a search for a missing Piaggio aircraft belonging to PATAIR Airlines. Other Fifth Air Force wrecks were
also discovered in the course of this widespread search. A US Army team was
brought into Papua New Guinea to investigate the sites found during the search for
the Piaggio.
After several months of patrolling, five previously‑unidentified
wrecks were located and investigated. The team arrived at the wreckage of THE FLYING DUTCHMAN on 1st September
1961. The location of this aircraft was already known, but it was used as
reference point to reach another unidentified site, ultimately identified as
Fortress #41-2505. The next day the US team walked into the Fortresses
wreckage. It was quickly identified as being #41-2505 but through inaccurate
information provided to the team by an Australian Administration officer, the
wreckage was determined to be that of B‑26 YANKEE
CLIPPER whose crew had bailed out. Satisfied with their
(breath‑taking) assumptions, the party left Mt Obree, and the damp
mountain forest surrounding 41-2505 once again lapsed into silence and held its
secret. In 1986 Mt Obree yielded the secrets when the site was again visited by
another US Army team. Two years previously, then Curator of Modem History at
Papaua New Guinea’s National Museum, Bruce Hoy, had initiated a separate
process of investigation during which he had convinced the US military that
this wreck was worthy of re‑examination. Through assistance of a party of
men from Saunom village, a helipad was constructed on a ridge above the wreckage,
and Hoy made the first landing there in a Pacific Helicopters’ chopper on 15th
June 1986. On 5th July 1986, an eight-man recovery team from the US
Army Central Identification Laboratory based in Hawaii (CILHI) arrived at the
helipad on Mt Obree at nearly 11,000 feet altitude. After establishing a
campsite, the team clambered down the ridge to the wreckage of the Fortress,
and commenced the arduous task of clearing the site mapping the locations of
the various parts of the aircraft. By early afternoon, the first portions of
crew remains had been located. Three days were spent in searching the area,
during which the remains of four others were located. Almost twelve months
later, a larger and better equipped team of twelve returned to Mt Obree and re-established
the camp. Thus, between 19th June and 12th July 1987 the team
recovered the remains of the rest of the crew.
The entire site was carefully and methodically re-examined by hand.
Trees and small bushes were cleared, and the surface carefully removed down to
upper root level. The cockpit was decaying in a small stream bed. Several
personal items were also located -
wallets which assisted in the identification process; an expensive
camera bag with spare lenses and in canisters, knives and wrist watches.
However, remarkably no identification tags were found, which was considered
strange, considering the flight had been a combat mission into enemy territory.
The aircraft's clock which had stopped at 0445 hours was also located.
It was back-breaking work, the conditions of which ranged from pleasant
sunlit days to cold overcast and foggy ones. Muddy and cold conditions meant
that those working in this area could only work for a short period before
warming themselves beside a fire. With the recovery phase concluded, the team
was lifted off the mountain at 0945 hours for the last time on 14th
July 1987 – American Independence Day.
On 15th November 1990, after an exacting and laborious process of identification, the old bomber’s crew were afforded a full military burial at Washington’s Arlington National Cemetery. A gun carriage with four horses brought the casket Containing the remains of the three members of the crew who could not be individually separated and identified. The carriage carried them from the chapel to the grave site where the five other caskets were waiting. A presentation party was in attendance, and a firing squad loosed a volley as a final salute.
The gunshots marked the end of uncertainty for several families who had
waited so long to receive an answer . . .