Aircraft History
Built by Douglas. Constructors Number 6045. Assigned to USAAF on November 16, 1942. Assigned to the 5th AF in Australia on January 8, 1943.

Mission History
Crashed near Skindiwai, on a mission dropping supplies to support operations at Mubo. This C-47 clipped a tree and crashed, killing all nine aboard were killed in the crash, including American crew and Australians aboard. The remains of the crew were recovered after the crash by Australians in the area.

Phil Bradley adds:
"I talked with an Australian commando veteran, Bruce Lestrange, who saw the crash. He says there were 15 killed in the crash including Aussies helping to throw out the supplies. The wing clipped a tree went in."

Daniel Leahy adds:
"I've just done a quick search on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll, and there are a number of Australians killed on that day, two listed as 'Accidental' in 'New Guinea'. I can't find any other Australian deaths listed on AWM which meets this 'criteria' for days around March 11, suggesting that if other Australians were on board, they most likely survived. I've gone through them, trying to get their actual death details from service records, and both were confirmed as being killed in an air accident at/near Skindewai:
Pte Lawrence Oliver Clive Caldwell, VX90608
Pte Alma Mark Webb, QX31224"

Memorials
Two of the crew are buried at Manila American Cemetery Palma at Plot J, Row 1, Grave 25. Kelley at Plot H Row 3 Grave 101

References
2/7 Infantry record: March 11, 1943
Allied Air Transport Operations South West Pacific Area in WWII, Volume 2 pages 58, 71, 371, 400 (incorrectly lists as 41-18642)
Note, some sources incorrectly list the date of this crash as March 10, 1943
Thanks to Phil Bradley for additional information.

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009

C-47

7.19S 146.5 E