ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 59277
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| Date: | Thursday 18 February 1943 |
| Time: | 11:30 |
| Type: |  North American B-25D Mitchell |
| Owner/operator: | 18 Sqn ML-KNIL (RNEIAAF) |
| Registration: | N5-144 |
| MSN: | 87-7882 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Timor Sea, 140 mi S of Dili -
 East Timor
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Darwin |
On 18 February 1943, six B-25s of 18 Squadron NEIAF, a Dutch unit operating from Australia, took off from Darwin for a strike mission against a 6,000-on cargo ship reported at Dili on East Timor. At roughly 1045 hrs the formation was intercepted by five "Zeros" and the air combat lasted until 1130 hrs. The Japanese fighters were actually five Ki-43 of 1 Chutai, 59 Sentai, based on Timor. Sho-i (2nd Lt) Onozaki Hiroshi was flying one of the new Ki-43-II recently received by his unit, with improved engine, weapons and protection. Far more agressive than the other pilots, he did five close range attacks on the bombers and returned to base claimin a B-25 shot down as his 13th victory. His unit shared the victory between the five pilots having taken part in the battle.
During the attacks, the B-25D N5-144 (US serial 41-29717) received a direct hit from gunfire that killed the Dutch pilot Tlt.KV.Vlg. (2nd Lt) Bernardus Johannes Quinera Grummels, and knocked out the right engine and damaged the tail. Likely, the Australian nose airgunner, Sgt Robert Gordon Tyler, was killed in the same attack because he did not reply when ordered into the center section. The co-pilot, Vaandrig (Ensign) C M Fisscher NEIAF, ditched the bomber into the Timor Sea approximately 140 miles south of Dili. Fisscher and another crew scrambled through the hatch and clambered to the top gun blister. Fisscher smashed the thick pastic glass with his hand, dragged out two other members of the crew and put them in a rubber dinghy. The bodies of Grummels and Tyler went down aboard the aircraft when it sank.
The four survivors (Fisscher, Cpl Van Der Weert (radio, NEIAF), Sg Hoek (mechanic, NEIAF) and Flt Sgt Ronald Stuart Horridge (air gunner, RAAF), all sustained injuries in the air combat or ditching but survived the landing and deployed their life rafts and drifted at sea awaiting rescue. They had to beat off a shark, which snapped at their dinghy. At 0100 hrs on the 19th they were spotted and rescued by the Australian destroyer Vendetta and brought back to Darwin. Horridge and Van Der Weert, both seriously wounded, were sent to Darwin Naval Hospital.
The other Allied bombers returned to base undamaged and their crews claimed one "Zero" shot down and another probable, but the Japanese suffered no loss in this battle.
Sources:
https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/N5-144.html
"Soleil Levant sur l'Australie", by Bernard Baeza, ISBN 2-914017-43-X, page 217
https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/persoon/55215/bernardus-johannes-quinera-grummels
Casualty file of Robert Gordon Tyler (available on the Australian Archives website: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=1082021&isAv=N)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Apr-2009 07:52 | Harmy | Added |
| 23-Jan-2012 05:03 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Operator, Narrative] |
| 29-Jan-2020 10:44 | Uli Elch | Updated [Operator, Country, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Nov-2021 01:11 | Ron Averes | Updated [Country] |
| 30-Nov-2021 00:08 | Ron Averes | Updated [Country] |
| 02-Dec-2021 03:28 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 18-Feb-2022 15:20 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
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