March 3, 1942 Babs Recon
Wartime photo of Broome showing the mile-long jetty and
the airfield. The deep channel with the word 'Roebuck (Bay)"
is where the two Empire flying boats are sunk.
Do 24 Serial Number X-1
Do 24 Serial Number X-20
Do 24 Serial Number X-23
Do 24 Serial Number X-36
DC-3 PK-AFV
Dutch PBY wreck
RAAF Hudson A16-119
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Air Raid March 3, 1942
(left) Planes burning on the water are -
from extreme right to left: Do24 X-1, Do 24 X-23, Dutch
PBY Catalina, next unknown, next Do24 X-20, extreme left
unknown PBY Catalina. Planes burning on the airfield can
also be seen. This water is known as Roebuck Bay and the
estuary is a mangrove-lined tidal creek. The curving mile-long
jetty can be seen just left of photo center.
Zeros Attack
9:20am Nine A6M2 Zeros swept
over the harbor for a low-level surpirse attack at 500
feet. Three provided top cover, and one C5M2 flew reconnassance.
Planes and people fleeing from Indonesia were staging
through Broome on their way down south to Perth.This attack
resulted in the destruction of 17 aircraft which included
3-engine Donier Do24 seaplanes, Catalinas, Empire flying
boats, Fortresses, Liberators, Hudsons and DC-3s.
A6M2 |
Lt. Zenjiro Miyano |
A6M2 |
3rd Air Sergent
Takashi Kurano |
A6M2 |
1st Air Private
Zempei Matsumoto (KIA) |
A6M2 |
Chief Air Sergeant
Masaki Okazaki |
| A6M2 |
2nd
Air Sergeant Susumu Matsumoto |
| A6M2 |
1st Air Sergeant
Juzo Okamoto |
| A6M2 |
2nd Air Sergeant
Yoshio Hashiguchi |
| A6M2 |
1st Air Private
Yasuo Matsumoto |
C5M2
(recon) |
Pilot - Akira Hayashi
Observer - Shinobu Nagasawa |
Dornier Do24 Wrecks
This is probably one of the rares aircraft types in the
Pacific. German engineered for the Dutch, this three engine
seaplane is a rare wreck in terms of history and type.
Sunk during the Japanese attack. I
have identified three Dornier Do24's including X-1, X-20
and X-23 at Broome and about 50 miles on the coast south
of Broome, the X-36 landed at night and the crew burnt
it thinking the Japanese were right behind them.
At very low spring and king tides some
of the seaplane wrecks can be reached by wading out
to them about a mile offshore. Once I saw these I wanted
to explore them, recover relics for the museum and look
for more wrecks.
| March 3, 1942 Allied
Losses |
|
USAAF
B-17E 41-2448 |
|
USAAF
B-17E 41-2454 |
|
USAAF
B-24A 40-2374 |
Dutch
Navy Do 24 X-28 |
|
|
|
US
Navy PBY |
|
US
Navy PBY |
KNILM
DC-3 PK-ALO |
|
|
RAF
PBY |
|
RAAF
Empire A18-10 |
|
Qantas
Empire G-AEUC |
Dutch
Navy Do 24 X-28 |
Dutch Navy PBY Y-59 |
|
Dutch
Navy PBY Y-60 |
|
Dutch
Navy PBY Y-67 |
|
Dutch
Navy PBY Y-70 |
|
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| March 3, 1942 Japanese
Losses |
A6M2
Zero |
Chief Air Sergeant
Osamu Kudo |
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This Zero was hit by ground
fire and it went into the sea but it was never found. The
pilots body was washed up later though.
Broome Airfield
On land near the airfield there used to
be bits and pieces of the B-17s and B-24s etc. There were
even 50 cal machine guns around the place back in 1976. Development
of the town as a tourist destination and obliterated everything
on land since then. The last time I was out on the mud flats
was in 1989 and I have never been there since. B-24A 40-2373
was destroyed at the airfield.
References
After The Battle
Magazine issues 28, Broome by Stan Gajda.
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