Aircraft History
After its construction at Boeing's Seattle factory, the bomber was scheduled to be flown by Lt. Frederick Eaton, but instead was delayed due to an engine change.  Instead, Lt. David G. Rawls waited for the repairs to be completed, and ferried it to Fort Douglas on November 29, 1941. Nicknamed it "Naughty But Nice" by either Lt. Harold Caffin or T/Sgt Russell Mackey.

Ferried to Australia by Lt. Chaffin, arriving at Archerfield Airfield on February 16, 1942. The following day some Dutch airmen in three Lockheed Lodestars. On that same day, six B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 88 Reconnaissance Squadron of the 7th Bomb Group arrived at Archerfield via America. An Australian civilian aircraft DC-3 VH-ACB piloted by Keith Virtue, collided with this bomber while taxiing. This B-17 suffered damage to its starboard wing, tail and part of its fuselage. The civilian aircraft also badly damaged a Dutch Lockheed Lodestar LT922, parked beside the bomber. This damage prevented this B-17 from participating in the first American bombing mission, February 22/23, 1942 from Townsville. The damage was repaired by February 27, 1942. 

Flew on a mission to Koepang on June 23, 1942 and claimed a Zero shot  down. Piloted by Hal C. Winfrey (Harian, KY) "Naughty but Nice" for 36  missions beginning roughly in January 1943 until June 25, 1943. He had either a slight wound, on the day/night of the 37th mission planned for Rabaul.  Instead, Lt. Trimingham flew in his place.

Mission History
Herman Knott flew as a trainee that mission. Staged from 7-Mile Drome near Port Moresby and refueled and loaded bombs at Dobodura, taking off again at 1:45am to bomb Vunakanau Drome near Rabaul.  After dropping their bombs, the B-17 was fired on by intense anti-aircraft fire, but not hit. They loitered in the target area for another 30 minutes, and were about to return to base. From below, a J1N1 Irving piloted by Shigetoshi Kudo, made three firing passes at the bomber with its upward firing cannons. The second firing pass killed Sarsfield. The third set fire to the left wing and disabled the plane. Also lost that same night was B-17F "Taxpayer's Pride" 41-24448.

Their unit was unaware of the cause of the disappearance, and assumed it was lost to anti-aircraft fire or weather. The next day, two 43rd BG B-17s flew search missions down the north and south coasts of New Britain, but found nothing. In fact, the bomber crashed into the Bainings Mountains south-east of Rabaul. Sometime later, the Japanese visited the crash site and buried some members of the crew in a shallow mass grave.

Holguin's Survival Story
Only one crew member, Jose L. Holguin was able to bail out of the stricken bomber and parachuted into the jungle. Severely wounded, in the jaw and back, he survived without food or medical treatment for weeks until discovered by local people. Because of his severe injuries, the villagers later handed him over to the Japanese, as they could no longer care for him without proper medicine and knew he would die. He became a POW on July 17, 1943 until September 1945. During that period he received no medical attention and lived a brutal existence as a POW. His epic ordeal in a captivity is expressed in a letter he wrote as after the war to testify about his captivity. As the sole survivor of his crew, Holguin made it his personal quest to find his fellow comrades and their crashed airplane.

Brian Bennett adds:
"Jose Holguin was adamant that the Japanese walked into 41-2430 as he was shown a leaf from his flight log or similar during a later interrogation. The recovery of some remains from a shallow grave [where the Japanese buried them] post war is perhaps further evidence of a visit."

Post War Recovery, Unknown Remains
After the war, the crash site was reported by natives to the US Army 30th Engineer Battalion, doing survey work in the area in early 1949. In April of that same year, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company members Sgt Sotan and Cpl Cramer were sent to Rabaul via C-47 to recover the remains. At the crash site, they found three set of partial remains in a shallow grave, and a ring with 'H.G.' (Henry Garcia) engraved on it. The remains were flown back to CILHI and assigned IB-28 Unknown (Group). No further investigations were conducted and remains were recovered from the crash site by US Army AGRS, and the site was designated IB 28.  The remains were interned as 'unknowns' in a group burial in Hawaii's Punchbowl cemetery.

Veteran Holguin Returns to Rabaul to Find Crash Site
Jose Holguin returned to Rabaul over three trips beginning in 1981, 1982 and 1983 with his own funds, to attempt to locate the remains of his aircraft and his crew mates. On this first trip, he was accompanied by Hal Winfrey, who had blamed himself for the loss of the B-17 because he did not fly that day. Together, they met Brian Bennett in 1981 and Mrs. Inui, who tended to Holguin's wounds in Arumbum village in the Baining Mountains. During his 1982 trip, with the help of an elderly villager from the area who was aware of the wreckage, Holguin and two others, Bruce Hoy (PNG Museum Curator), and Brian Bennett of Rabaul discovered the crash site. Brian Bennett located the first piece of wreckage, a B-17 supercharger, then the main wreckage and cockpit section were soon discovered nearby.

Cockpit Recovery & Display
The cockpit section with nose art were recovered in early 1984 by Holguin. This section comprised most of the nose and the cockpit to the pilot's seats, with no windshield, side windows or cockpit roof. Heavy damage caused by the lifting straps, and was later brought to the Kokopo Museum for display. Brian Bennett and his son Lenny Bennett spent a week cleaning the relic with cotton balls and applying a museum quality lacquer to remove the jungle growth, and protect the original paint. Later, the nose art section was removed, and displayed separately from the cockpit area.

MIA Case & Remains
US Army CILHI investigated the crash site during September 7-9, 1983 and again in August 18 - 22, 1984. No remains were recovered during these visits and the site was declared cleared.

On August 7, 1984 the unknown remains in Hawaii grave were disinterred for reexamination, and five  sets of crew remains were positively identified. Winfrey and Holguin attended emotional burial services for their crew members. They revisited the site in 2000 to do additional research and review, while on site they did minor investigation.

Legacy of Survivors
Holguin lived in retirement in the Los Angeles area, and had many meetings with Japanese veterans, including his former POW guard. He passes away March 22, 1994. Hal Winfrey passed away in November 1998 in Atlanta, GA.

Relatives
Curt Holgin (son of Jose Holguin)

Bonnie Williams (daughter of Robert L Christopherson)

References
Thanks to Curt Holguin, and Brian Bennett for additional information
Paradise Magazine "The Lady And The Navigator" by Bruce Hoy
Moonlight Interceptor covers the shoot down incident on page 39 - 40. Reader's Digest April 1987 "Lt. Holguin's Final Mission" page 83.
The Siege of Rabaul has a chapter on the shoot down of this B-17
Forty of the Fifth also has a chapter dealing with this incident
ABMC lists 'remains recovered' for Peattie, Knott, Garcia, Griebel and Payne

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Last Updated
November 8, 2009

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