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4. Interim Overall Summary and Conclusions
- Two field searches in the area of Gaspan Hill
have been conducted over a 13-month period by CILHI, with support from
Dr. Shuster and Dr. Scannon, numerous Palauan individuals and the officials
of Ngatpang State.
- A site was discovered on 15 November 2001 on Gaspan
Hill, which was felt by that search team to be consistent with the exhumation
site of the executed prisoners.
- This site is also consistent with the recorded
description of the site by a Japanese soldier and participant in the
execution, as well as a Palauan elder lady, Katalina Katosang, who was
part of that search team.
- The CILHI search team was authorized to conduct
only a surface search and will consider further exploration should any
further leads arise.
NOTE OF APPRECIATION:
Professor Shuster, the members of the CILHI teams, the members
of the P-MAN teams (Bent Prop Project) and the members of Post Star Production
thank Mr. Gilbert Demei, Delegate Techitong
and the Chiefs and Officials of Ngatpang
for all the information, guidance and support provided for these explorations.
All reported combat-related losses of
B-24s over or around Palau, 1944-1945:
|
MACR
|
Date
of Loss
|
Command
Pilot/SN
|
Unit
BS/BG/AAF
|
B-24
Tail No.
|
Select
Mission
Data
|
| 8873* |
25Aug44 |
Lt. Grant Rea
0684047
|
72/5/13 |
44-40596 |
Last seen:
~N7°9' X
E134°46' |
| ? |
25Aug44 |
Lt. Walter Davis/? |
372/307/13 |
'549 |
'549 and '542 collided ~ 35 miles after
mission @
N6°48' X
E134°45' |
| ? |
25Aug44 |
Lt. Kenneth Kienzle/? |
372/307/13 |
'542 |
See above |
| 15302 |
28Aug44 |
Cpt. William Dixon
0406716
|
372/307/13 |
44-40603 |
Shot down over Koror |
| 8641* |
01Sept44 |
Lt. Jack Arnett
0809803
|
424/307/13 |
42-73435 |
Shot down between Koror and Babeldaob |
| ? |
02Sep44 |
Lt. Perenti/? |
?/307/13 |
'111 |
Probable water loss 40 minutes after
mission, last seen @ N6°10' X
E134°30' |
| 14351* |
4May45 |
Lt. Glenn Custer
02058730
|
867/494/7 |
44-42058 |
Fuselage
~N7°20' X
E134°30'
|
|
*
Three A/C lost over Palau associated with POW's reported after
WWII by Japanese officials. MACR 8873 POW's: Lt. Rea and S/Sgt
Curry; MACR 8641 POW's: Lt. Schumacher, S/Sgt Moore and Sgt Vick;
MACR 14351 POW: Lt. Kaufmann (beheaded May 45 by IJA - only remains
recovered to date).
Note 1:
Losses listed in this table exclude such operational losses as
losses on take-off or landing at Wakde Island (307th BG(H) and
5thBG(H) of the 13th AAF) or at Angaur Island (494thBG(H) of the
7th AAF).
Note 2:
One additional B-24J (44-40571, 371 BS/307th BG(H)/13th AAF, CP
= Lt. Ron Anthony, MACR 8638) was shot down over Yap on 10 Aug
44 with two POW's reported: S/Sgt. Reynold Mooney (33427402) and
Sgt. Hilary Gilbert (33525525). Shipped from Palau on 19 Aug 44,
no further reports of their fates have been found to date.
|
Note: While we were
returning home after the trip to Gaspan Hill, Henaro Antonio took us all
on a side trip near his gas station and store to see a small burned out
Japanese military convoy in a nearby jungle. One of the trucks had behind
it a trailer with a massive searchlight, shattered by bullets presumably
from strafing American aircraft. The question arose as to why the Japanese
military might have wanted such a searchlight. The B-24 AAF missions as
well as the VMF missions from Peleliu were all daylight missions and no
airman interviewed to date recalls seeing Japanese searchlights used in
Palau. Research by Dan O'Brien of Post Star Productions indicates that
such searchlights were used by the Japanese during darkness to assist
Japanese pilots in finding (small) islands in the Pacific. This may well
be the reason such searchlights were used in Palau.
You can view the other sections of this report by clicking
the navigation arrows at the top or bottom of the page, or click the following
links to view specific other sections of the report:
- Summary Report, 4-16 October 2000, by Professor
Donald R. Shuster, University of Guam
- Summary Report, 13-15 November 2001, By Dr.
Patrick J. Scannon, Bent Prop Project
- Preliminary report concerning Palau Execution
and Burial Sites, by Mr. M. Emerson Wiles, CILHI
- Interim Overall Summary and Conclusions (see above)
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