USAAF
7th AF
41st BG
396th BS
Shot Down January 19, 1944
MACR 1900
Mission History
Shot down during a mission to bomb the Japanese airbase
at Mili. The plane was approaching Mili Lagoon at an altitude of
75-100 feet when exploding anti-aircraft shells damaged the forward
part of the fuselage. It went down in the lagoon just in front of
the Japanese headquarters. Two died in the crash but a Japanese patrol
boat picked up five surviving crew members who were badly burned
and injured. The five crew members received medical treatment and
were then brutally tortured and interrogated. After 10 days, Japanese
army and navy commanders who were later prosecuted for war crimes,
beheaded all five crew members. Their remains have never been located.
Wreckage
Located about a mile from shore, the bomber was discovered
during an underwater survey in 2001 by Matt Holly.
Matt Holly adds:
"The aircraft
is in excellent condition with the main fuselage and wings intact,
however, the tail and engines evidently detached on impact and
have not yet been found. The cockpit is also well-preserved with
controls, gauges, pilots'seat, radios, top turret with twin 50
caliber machine gun shells, piles of live 50 caliber machine gun
shells and both waist guns. The B-25 is protected by Marshall Islands
law and the Mili Atoll Local Government has banned diving at the
site until the aircraft has been thoroughly documented by the RMI
Historical Preservation Office."
B-25
107'
