Memories: Stories From PB4Y Veterans

PB4Y-1 Liberator and PB4Y-2 Privateers Information Center About the Author and Requesting Information or Images My Books on Pacific PB4Y Operations Additional Books By Alan C. Carey History of PB4Y Operations Squadron History VB-101 to VPB-106 Squadron History VB-108 to VPB-111 Squadron History VB-115 to VPB-118 Squadron History VPB-119 to VD-5 Stories from PB4Y Personnel Roll of Honor My Dad Flight Deck Library Links to Navy and B-24 Sites PB4Y Images My Photos

Read stories from and about veterans of PB4Y Squadrons

Some of the following stories of PB4Y operations were too late to include in books We Flew Alone and Above an Angry Sea.

Henderson Field, Guadalcanal 1943. A story by Robert E. Jacques (VB-102) and contributed by his nephew Frank Ziberna.

When my uncle first got to Henderson field the Japanese were still on the island. They would sneak into camp at night and in to their barracks. It was very dangerous to have the bunk closest to the door, a spot usually reserved for the new guys.

While my uncle had one of these spots he made a partition to go around his bunk so they could not sneak up on him. He said when he left there were many requests for this.He told me that during the rainy season the mud would get so deep that as the airplane rolled along the martson mats, the airplane would sink down quite a bit lower than the surrounding ground. He said it was like taxiing in a bubble several feet deep. He claimed these bubbles were sometimes several feet deep.When they were on their 3-day patrols they would spend two nights on different islands before returning.

I think on island was New Caledonia, the other was in the Solomon Islands but I do not recall the name. They would get to these islands after flying all day due to the length of their missions. After flying all day the crew would have to fuel the airplanes up by handing gas cans up a ladder and dumping them in the tanks. It does not seem that it would be possible to fill up a plane that large that way but they did it quite often. Like I said they were low on the priority list.

Capture of PB4Y personnel from VB-108

On 13 December 1943, Lieutenant Commander John J. McCormack took off from Nuku Fetau, Ellice Islands in PB4Y-1 32099 for a routine patrol. They were never heard from again. However, Harlan Scott in his, United States Navy Bombing Squadron One Hundred Eight (Tokyo Rose's Four Engine Fighters, writes,
"Two months later, intelligence officers at the newly captured Japanese base at Kwajalein, found prisoner of war interrogations among "Jap" secret documents. They revealed the questioning of three men captured after a lone Liberator had been shot down in a low-level attack on strongly defended Jaluit.

These men, it is believed from the personal data given were: *Ensign Darrel D. Whitmore, of Olathe, Kansas; *Lonnie Powell, ACRM, of Opa Locka, Florida; and *John A. Zillis, AMM1c, of Baltimore, Maryland."

Documents from American Graves Registration Service (Pacific Zone) and Department of the Army Memorial Division Repatriation Branch, during the late 140s and early 1950s, conducted a series of inquires and declared the entire crew dead as of 12 January 1946.

An interesting notation in the report seems to support Mr. Scott's assertion that some members of the crew had been taken prisoner. The three men identified by Scott matches those listed by the American Graves Registration Service. What happened to them remains a mystery as they did not survive the invasion of the Marshall Islands and were they listed with repatriated POWs at the conclusion of the war.

The crew consisted of:
John Joseph McCormack, Lieutenant Commander
Richard Ellis McClung, Ensign
*Darrell Devere Whitmore, Ensign
John Francis Ilkovich, AOM2c
Santiago Arredondo Lopez, ARM2c
James Eley Morgan, AMM3c
Robert William Nelson, ACOM
*Lonnie Powell, ACRM
Lonnie Herman Ziesemer, AOM3c
*John Anthony Zillis, AMM1c

UNITED STATES NAVY PHOTOGRAPHIC SQUADRON FOUR

December 27, 1944

The "Shutter Bugs" flew a million miles in the Central Pacific to obtain
vital aerial photographs for our aviators, soldiers and sailors, and brought
home the same PB4Y Navy Liberators they left with seven months ago.

The "Shutter Bugs", officially Navy Photographic Squadron 4, flew a total of
6400 hours on 239 individual sorties over enemy territory without the loss of
a plane, even though some of their round-trips over Japanese lands were
almost 2500 miles in length.

Photographic squadrons are not expected to come back with enemy planes to
their credit, but Photo 4 bagged six Japanese planes, three probables, and
damaged six others.

Photo 4 flew all kinds of photographic missions - combat reconnaissance,
aerial survey for new construction, damage assessment and photo-mapping.
These missions involved straight, level runs through heavy flak; they were
made in bad weather and good; they required the combined skills of combat
flying and expert picture taking.

To service the land, sea and air units attacking Japan, Photo Four's
laboratory would print as high as 93,000 photographs a month for
dissemination in the forward area.

Some of the islands covered by the squadron included Pagan, Saipan, Tinian,
Rota, Guam, Truk, Ocean Island, Nauru, Yap, Woleai, Iwo Jima, Haha Jima,
Ponape, Kusaie and many smaller islands. The final landing area photographs
of Guam were taken by the squadron.

The rugged, straight forward skipper of Photo 4 was Lieutenant Commander
Charles H. Clark, USN, of Horn Point, Eastport, Maryland. Lt. Cmdr. Clark,
who is 33 years old, played tackle on the football team at the United States
Naval Academy in 1934.

"The toughest day I ever had was over Guam, early in July", recalled Clark.
"We were out to get the final landing coverage photographs for the invasion.
There was terrific AA at 10,000 feet -- and, even as rugged as a Liberator
is, we took an awful pounding. We made four runs, straight and level, over
the assigned spot and got away with it."

One plane that day had to make five runs through the same flak conditions.
It was under the command of Lt. Thomas N. Hatfield, USNR, 3454 San Antonio
Ave., Corpus Christi, Texas.
Hatfield's cameras were rendered inoperative on one run, necessitating the
extra trip.

The big day for Photographic Squadron 4 came on November 7 when it was
assigned to cover Iwo Jima in the Bonin islands.

Flying at 20,000 feet under the leadership of Lt. Cmdr. Clark, six of the
four-engined planes were jumped by 10 enemy fighters. A running fight
developed, in which the enemy was bested.

Lt. Richard F. Mather, USNR, 808 Jay St., Elmira, N.Y., plane commander was
attacked by two of the enemy fighters. One made runs at him while the other
dropped phosphorous bombs from over head. Harold W. Hedberg, ARM2c, USNR, 1
Pitch St., Worcester 5 Mass., damaged the Zero making the strafing runs so
that it was forced to retire. Mather's plane returned to its base with 22
holes in the tail assembly and the after turret out of operation. The after
turret gunner, George N. (Nick) Lockos was killed by enemy fire during this
action.

Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr. Clark's plane was under attack from a Zero fighter.
Aircrewmen Thomas W. McCarthy, ARM2c, USNR, 46 Orchard Place, Muncie, Ind.,
and Harold R. Mittendorf, ACMM, USN, 432 Wolcott Ave., Kent, Ohio, are
credited with shooting the fighter down just as their Liberator reached the
spot it was to photograph.

Lt. Eugene P. O'Brien, USNR, 955 Oakland Ave., Iowa City, Ia., plane
commander in the same engagement, accounted for one enemy plane. Credit for
the kill is divided between two of his crewmen: George A. Healy, AMM2c, USN,
359 44th St., Sarasota, Fla., and Jesse C. White, AMM2c, 3123 Kensington St.,
Kansas City, Mo.

In addition, three other members of O'Brien's crew, Charles B. Linton, ARM2c,
USNR, 1230 Kentucky Ave., Louisville, Ky., Edward H. Brown, AOM3c, USNR, Rte.
1, Box 90, Hornbeck, la., and Charles Jugan, AOM2c, USNR, Webster, Pa., were
credited with a Japanese fighter probably destroyed that day over Iwo Jima.

Lt. Earl F. Wright, Jr., USNR, 593 Mountainview, Pomona, Cal., plane
commander on the same mission, gives credit for another enemy fighter to two
aircrewmen; Norman A. Le Blanc AMM2c USNR, 61 St. Peters St., Winooski, Vt.,
and Willard B. Lindsay, AMM2c, USNR, 410 SW Temple St., Salt Lake City, Utah.

Two other aircrewmen with Wright accounted for a probable. They are Robert
E. Meyering, ARM3c, USNR, Rte.3, Perry, Okla., and Leslie L. Buckley, Jr.,
PhoM1c, USNR, Clearwater, Fla.

Probably the outstanding act of individual heroism in the squadron was
performed by Lt. Mather's plane captain, Kenneth C. Gaddis, AMM1c, USN, 3424
Elm St., E. Chicago, Ind., while on a photographic mission over Truk last
August 6.

At an altitude of 20,000 feet, Mather's big plane was hit in the gas tank and
the danger of a fire was imminent. Gaddis, without an oxygen mask,
transferred the fuel from the damaged wing to another tank. For his prompt
action in behalf of his plane and shipmates, Gaddis was given a flag
promotion to Chief Petty Officer by Vice Admiral John Hoover, USN.

On June 26, the plane commanded by Lt. Harry E. Butterfield, Jr., Whiting
St., Lunenburg, Mass., surprised an enemy twin-engined bomber near Truk.

Butterfield had the altitude advantage and obtained permission from the
squadron commander to attack. By skilled airmanship, the big Liberator
forced the japanese plane down to the water. All the while it was exposed to
telling fire by aircrewmen Wayne C. Hertenstein, AMM3c, USNR, Rte. 4,
Chillicothe, Ohio; Frederick J. Audette, AOM1c, USNR, 3671 Shamoune Ave., San
Diego, Cal., Ralph J. Dohme, Jr., PhoM2c, USNR, 2310 Hamilton Ave.,
Baltimore, Md., and Kenneth R. Parrish, ARM2c, USNR, 7519 Halstead St.,
Chicago, Ill. The enemy bomber was last seen crashing into the sea, a mass
of flames. The plane commander and the aircrewmen were all awarded the Air
Medal.

On another occasion, Lt. Henry L. Heatherwick, USNR, 1660 South Blvd.,
Easton, Texas, was flying over Guam when 25 Zeros jumped him and the other
planes of the formation. A battle ensued that covered 20 miles, yet did not
turn the formation of Liberators.

One Zeke (Japanese fighter) made a run on Heatherwick from behind but the
marksmanship of Bill Wasden, AOM2c, USNR, 802 E. 19th St., Long Beach, Cal.,
and William Senuta, ARM2c, USNR, 215 Abel St., Akron, Ohio, found the target
and the enemy plane plunged to the water in flames.

(From the Naval Archives in Washington, Courtesy of VD-4 Veteran TW McCarthy)

Bud Mills Topsy kill. A story by Peter P. Bresciano (VPB-111: South-West Pacific 1945)

Reporting for duty on the morning of 21 February 1945 was no different from on previous mornings at the Tacloban Army Airfield on the island of Leyte in the Philippine, Islands. Not unlike other days at Tacloban, it was another early morning take-off for ordinance man AOM1/c F.K. “Bud” Mills and crewmembers of Combat Air Crew (CAC) #12. Once again, Patrol Plane Commander, Lt. Harold H. Ashton, who “Bud” had been flying with since his early aircrew days in 1943, would pilot the PB4Y-1 Liberator, affectionately named “Reputation Cloudy.” Also reporting for patrol duty were co-pilot Lt. (jg) W.R. Hutchinson, navigator Ens. J.R. Hazel, plane captain AMM1/c Sam Leonetti who would man the deck gun, first radio ACRM J.C. Gibson, second radio ARM3/c Ed Trybala, aerial gunner S1/c K.D. LaCount who was manning the starboard waist gun position, aerial gunner AMMF3/c J.G. Bell the tail gunner, and first mechanic AMM2/c F.H. Brauner manning the port waist gun and taking pictures with the K-12 camera. “Bud” Mills also performed duties as the planes bombardier.      Take-off for CAC-12 and its Liberator was 0440 local time, a time that made for maximum daylight patrolling over the vast expanse of the western Pacific Ocean. Today’s routine patrol would take the Liberator out to the Mansei Shoto, “south-western” chain of islands; otherwise know as the Ryukyus Islands with Okinawa being the largest in the chain. These islands commanded the sea approaches to the China coast between Foochow and Shanghai and for Japanese forces; this chain made the East China Sea a Nipponese lake.      The bomb load on this day consisted of five (5) one hundred pound general-purpose bombs with fuze settings of AN-M 115 tail, four to five second delay on impact. A full compliment of .50-caliber machine gun ammunition was carried for the gun stations. A little over three thousand gallons of fuel was the fuel load for this patrol and with everything else on board, this would make for another heart pounding take-off.       Negative patrols made for a very long day, but on this day, the homeward leg of the patrol would prove to be anything but uneventful. In the late morning hours, flying at an altitude of 2,000 feet in overcast skies, Lt. Ashton spotted a twin engine, Japanese Army Mitsubishi Ki-57 Type 100 Transport, U.S. designate “Topsy,” apparently headed for Formosa. The Transport was painted an intermingling of brown and green with red discs on the wings and fuselage. The enemy aircraft was at a position 25deg, 43min north latitude, and 124deg, 10min east longitude, at an altitude of 800 feet. This position put the “Topsy” just north of Miyako Island in Nansei-Shoto (southwest group) of the Ryukyu Islands, approximately 224NM from Okinawa and 177NM from Formosa. The following is the Aircraft Action Report #23 prepared by Lt. F.C. Herbst, the squadron AIC Officer: “While homeward bound on his search sector among the Southern islands of the Nansei Shoto Chain, at an altitude of 2,000 feet in the overcast, on a course of 180deg, Lt. H.H. Ashton sighted an enemy Topsy nine miles away on a course of 270deg at an Altitude of 800 feet. Lt. Ashton changed course to intercept the Topsy, increasing power to 47 inches and 2700 R.P.M. He remained in the overcast ducking in and out of it every few seconds to keep the enemy plane in view and yet remained hidden himself. After a six minute chase, Lt Ashton caught up with the Topsy and made a steep dive toward her from about 1,000 feet Topsy had meanwhile dropped down to about 400 feet off the water and Lt. Ashton opened fire at a range of 800 feet with his bow and deck turrets.  The fire of his bow gunner, F.K. Mills AOM1/c was so well aimed that the Topsy’s starboard engine and wing root burst into flame after only a few shots had been fired, streaming flames for 20 feet behind the trailing edge of the starboard wing. The Topsy started a shallow turn to starboard as the fire broke out enabling Lt. Ashton’s starboard waist gunner also to get in a short burst. As Lt. Ashton passed over the target, the tail gunner fired a short burst just as Topsy nosed over into a steep dive directly into the water where it exploded sending a burst of fire and smoke high into the air. This entire action from sighting to Topsy’s “splash” lasted only 7 minutes. There were no survivors. Claim Destroyed. The 1900 mile, 13.7 hour routine patrol had proven to be anything but routine. Although only 350 rounds of .50-cal. ammo had been expended, the crews performance was exemplary. Mills the bow gunner had hit the Topsy’s starboard wing root from above, also the gas tanks and fuselage, Leonetti at the deck gun hit the top of the fuselage, LaCount on the starboard waist gun hit the fuselage from above, and Bell in the tail position hit the fuselage and empennage. You might say it was a successful day at the office. This crew, CAC-12 was but one Navy aircrew among many that day, flying and fighting in their PB4Y Liberators all across the Pacific. Single ship sorties on routine patrols that lasted 15 hours or more, and extended out a thousand miles into enemy waters. On the Tacloban airfields runway, the “Skipper” of VPB-111, Lt. Cmdr. Barry, followed on the heels of “Reputation Cloudy.” At 0445 local, he and his crew lifted off the Marston Mats enroute to their search sector. Immediately following the “Skipper” was a new crew, lead by Lt. W.C. Bender. Having only arrived in the Squadron six days prior, this crew had to fill the void left by Lt. Howard Sires and his crew, who did not return from a routine patrol off the coast of China.  So went the sacrifices of Navy aircrews stationed on an island in the South-West Pacific on that 21st day of February 1945.

 

Downing of a Betty by Robert E. Jacques (VB-102) and contributed by his nephew Frank Ziberna.

One time they came across a Betty bomber while on patrol. The Betty was ahead of them and much lower. In order to catch it Fowler put the B24 into a dive. As they flew by my uncle started shooting. They were taught to shoot the pilot and not the plane. They told him the plane would not fly with a dead pilot.

He said he could see the cockpit glass breaking and the pilot jumping in his seat as he shot him, this story was very disturbing to him and I felt sorry for him. After 40 years I was sure he could see the pilots face.

After they went by and leveled off the pilot must have still been alive because the Betty slid in behind them. My uncle kept hollering on the intercom for the tail gunner to shoot. However, the tail gunner could not see him.

My uncle claimed the plane was only about 50 yards behind them, what he referred to as rock throwing distance in an airplane. The tail gunner just froze and never saw the plane. My uncle said just as the Betty leveled off and the crew was waiting for him to shoot them, the pilot must have died.He was the only one to shoot at it and it was credited to him.

A Betty for 751 Ku on the patrol line #7, left Buka at 0450 and failed to return.
Crew
PO1 KOYAMA,Yukio (pilot)
PO2 TSUJI,Kenji (observer)
Leading seaman KAWAKAMI,Shinji (o)
L/S SAKAMOTO, Goichi (o)
PO2 NAKAHARA, Kenzo (radioman)
L/S FUJII,Takeo (flight mechanic)

Crew information by Kamada Minoru.