ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 204265
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| Date: | Sunday 2 January 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  North American B-25G Mitchell |
| Owner/operator: | 820th BSqn /41st BGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-64893 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Jaluit Atoll -
 Marshall Islands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Hawkins Field, Tarawa |
On 2 January 1944 nine B-25s of 41st BG took off from Tarawa Airfield (Hawkins Field) for a low altitude strike against Emiej Island in Jaluit Atoll. During the attack the B-25G-5 42-64893 of 820th BS was hit by AA fire. It was reported to have lost part of its right wing which struck the tail and caused the plane to invert, then crashed into the lagoon off Imroij. After the war, the Japanese reported that the whole crew died in the crash.
Crew (all MIA/KIA, MACR 1586):
1st Lt Gerard J. Galvin (pilot)
2nd Lt John T. Moyer (co-pilot)
1st Lt Charles F. Jennings (navigator)
T/Sgt Steve J. Miko (radio operator)
S/Sgt John W. Major (air gunner)
Cpl Samuel A. Bush (air gunner)
The entire crew was declared dead the day of the mission. All are memorialized on the tablets of the missing court 7 at Honolulu Cemetery (Punchbowl).
According to his son Steven, Steve J. Miko enlisted on 2 February 1940 and was assigned to anti-submarine surveillance on the East Coast off of the Carolinas. He was awarded the Air Medal. His flight records show that he died on his 20th combat mission in the Pacific Region. All except one on a B-24, were flown on B-25s. Many were with the same pilot than his final flight, Galvin. The flight he died was the first from Tarawa.
The debris field of this aircraft was discovered in 1998 by Matt Holly. Interviews with locals by Matt Holly revealed that the bodies were originally brought onto the beach, and personal effects removed, then dumped on the far side of the reef, near the crash site by the locals under orders from the Japanese.
Sources:
1.https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/42-64893.html
2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaluit_Atoll
3.http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=5.905994&lon=169.604530&z=12&m=b
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Jan-2018 21:11 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 23-Mar-2020 08:45 | DG333 | Updated [Operator, Source, Operator] |
| 06-Jun-2022 07:19 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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