JPAC RT-1: Extending our mapping of the debris field of the Baxter Avenger (BuNo 16956) and confirming that the entire debris field from Pope's Ridge to the West Road belongs to this Avenger (as opposed to the Waters Avenger (BuNo 45676)), to assist in JPAC RT-1 identification efforts; followed by making preliminary assessments of alternative search sites for the Waters Avenger (see also P-MAN V report), 23-26FEB05.

At least two Avengers crashed in combat on Peleliu, one on 13SEP44 (BuNo 16956, VT-20, Baxter as aviator) and one on 15SEP44 (BuNo 45676, VT-51, Waters as aviator). The question was: did the debris field we mapped out during P-MAN V consist of just one Avenger (definitely BuNo 16956) or both of these Avengers? This could make a big difference to JPAC RT-1, soon to arrive in Palau, as identification of the correct Avenger would be critical for crew identification.

Our planned search area was an extension of the debris pattern we found and reported to JPAC in 2003 (P-MAN V). We decided to search Pope's Ridge beyond the engine area, leaving known areas alone. This part of the search area was based on aerial photos we found at NARA from 1944, which suggested there may be other debris on or along Pope's Ridge. We assumed that, once the Avenger had been hit, the engine, because of its mass, had traveled furthest, with all other debris falling behind to the north and west (thus we did not search further south or east).

We started on the southern-most portion of Pope's Ridge, spreading across the ridge from east to west, and worked our way north until the ridge ended, finding nothing new. We then climbed down the ridge on the northeast side and explored the eastern base of Pope's Ridge also with negative results.

We gathered next at the northwest end of Pope's Ridge and proceeded westward between and past Boyd Ridge and China Wall (i.e., past prior debris fields we had described in 2003). As we progressed west into deeper jungle, we lost GPS reception under the dense canopy; further findings are therefore descriptive in location. We walked around the south of Hill 140 and then climbed up onto Wattie Ridge, exploring its length (toward the south). Mike Olds, found his first piece of US aircraft debris in a depression on the ridge (3-1), although we could not immediately identify it. Finding nothing further on Wattie Ridge, we proceeded down its west face and started finding more American aircraft debris at the base and to the west and south (3-2,3,4 - parts related probably to a starboard horizontal stabilizer). This area, known by some as "coral badlands" (between Wattie Ridge and the West Road), is relatively flat but has a lot of torn up coral and unexploded ordnance. We spread out in an east-west line and headed south, finding several additional aircraft pieces (most notably what we believe to be a part of a vertical stabilizer, 3-6, along the west face of Wattie ridge) until, abruptly, we found no more aircraft debris. We finished by extending the search west of the West Road but found no additional debris. We deemed the search completed at this point.

  

3-1. Mike with hinge structure on top of Wattie Ridge. ©Flip Colmer 2005

3-2. Reid with probable elevator. ©Flip Colmer 2005

3-3. Reid with piece with piano wire hinge (probable trim tab) ©Flip Colmer 2005

  

3-4. Reid again with structure showing residual white paint on fabric and separate inspection port. ©Flip Colmer 2005

3-5. More debris, structure unknown. ©Flip Colmer 2005

3-6. Other half of vertical stabilizer found on P-MAN V - note "6" or "9" (see text). ©Flip Colmer 2005

3-7. This is a bottom view of the top part of the leading-edge slot from the wing that came to rest in a cave two valleys southeast. ©Flip Colmer 2005

Conclusions:

A. P-MAN V and P-MAN VII Aircraft Debris Fields

The following conclusions can now be made:

• All the aircraft debris found to date is that of an American Avenger.
• The debris pattern lies in a northwest to southeast orientation and is most consistent with this aircraft being hit somewhere above the mid-west edge of Peleliu with the engine site being the most eastward extreme of the crash.
• The debris is most consistent with only one Avenger, BuNo 16596.
• The location of the Waters Avenger (BuNo 45676) remains unknown.

Several pieces of evidence support these conclusions. First, the known debris field is exclusively in Areas 135, 140 and 141 and is consistent with the after action report describing Baxter's crash. The after action report for 45676, to the contrary, states that Waters crashed in Target Area 130 - an area we now know to be about a mile south of this debris field. A second pertinent negative for this field to contain more than one Avenger is that we never found more than one set of aircraft parts (e.g., three wings or two engines). Perhaps the most compelling evidence supporting this being only one crash site (specifically 16956) can be found in the analysis of the vertical stabilizer parts we found in 2003 and 2005. The Wattie Ridge piece of the vertical stabilizer (see photo above) with the numeral "6" (and not "9") alone does not help, as "6" is present in both Bureau Numbers (naturally). However, in 2003 we had found another piece of a vertical stabilizer (with a front and a back) at the base of Five Brothers (One), due east of the "6" piece. Note that both pieces shown in the photos above have white triangles - this eliminates the Waters Avenger as a possibility, since 45676 flew with another unit, VT-51, and would have had a different symbol (an "X" - see photo below) on the vertical stabilizer. Furthermore, using Photoshop, by fusing the two pictures, the parts (although physically remaining 300 yards apart) join perfectly. In summary, I conclude that the entire debris field from Pope's Ridge to the West Road belongs to a single Avenger, BuNo 16956. Avenger 45676 and its crew remain to be found (See ATTACHMENT 13M).

3-12. Departing the Peleliu Coral Badlands onto West Road, all dripping with sweat. L-R: Mike, Joe, Reid, Pat, Flip, and Mark. ©Flip Colmer and Mark Noah, 2005

3-13. For the last flight of Avenger 16956 on 13SEP44, AOM2 Wesley R. Stuart and Ensign Donald E. Baxter boarded along with ARM1 Arthur C. Miller (not shown here), who reportedly replaced "Corky" Courtman (above) at the last minute. Signature of Baxter and Courtman were made for AOM2 Stuart - his family displays the original of this photo to this day. Photo courtesy of the Roberts family.

B. Waters Avenger (BuNo 45676): Where is it?

On invasion day, 15SEP44, naval ship bombardment commenced at 0530, which lifted at 0750 to allow carrier aircraft to take on targets of opportunity along the beach and inland. LT(jg) Francis Waters (3-14) and his crew, members of VT-51, took off from the USS San Jacinto (part of Task Group 38.4) on one of five planned strikes, which included use of napalm, a relatively new addition to their armamentarium. LT(jg) Waters must have been recently promoted into his rank because he had been officially an officer and gentleman in the US Navy for exactly one year on invasion day. One wonders if he thought about that as he entered combat. He and his crew would never know that his squadron mate, Ensign George Herbert Walker Bush, who was still recuperating from his crash off Chi Chi Jima, was a future President of the United States of America.

The exact details of what happened to this Avenger over Peleliu will never be known but many people saw an aircraft, presumed to be Waters', burst into flames and fall straight down in a long streak of flame, reportedly into Target Area 130. It is believed that Water's Avenger, which may have been carrying napalm, was hit by AAA in the bomb bay, igniting its contents and destroying the aircraft in mid-air. No parachutes were observed, which can be stated with confidence, as this loss (in all likelihood) was captured by multiple still and motion picture cameras from different (albeit it distant) angles (e.g., 3-15). Subsequent search efforts on Peleliu by the US Army American Graves Registration Service, post WWII, make no mention of finding this aircraft or its crew.

In spite of Peleliu being a small place, good reasons exist why this Avenger has not yet been found. As can be seen in 3-15, the aircraft went in vertically and fast. On P-MAN VII, we visited Area 130 which was, in 1944, and remains in 2005, a dense and dark mangrove swamp (See 13M and 13-3). One can easily hypothesize that an aircraft of Avenger's mass, at such a speed, might hit the wet mangroves and be instantly extinguished, with minimal smoke as it impacted into the black mangrove mud. And post-P-MAN VII, team member Dan O'Brien found a ~10 second strip of film at NARA which captures the same aircraft in 3-15 crashing down into Area 130 with rapid extinguishing of flames, suggestive of what would happen in a swamp. To this day, salt water crocodiles call Area 130 their home (now considerably bigger since 1944) and most Peleliu hunters have no interest in going into this mangrove. It is not hard to imagine that post WWII search teams would have been reluctant to search for this Avenger in such a location (even if they had known about it, which is unlikely), especially since the debris was most likely not visible on the surface. This is a key target for P-MAN VIII.

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Page last modified 21 August 2005