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| USAAF 5th AF 19th BG 30th BS   Clark September 6, 1942 |
Pilot Major William R. Humrichouse Radio Sgt Elvin Thomas "Spec" Hart (Broken Arrow, OK) Force Landed September 5, 1942 MACR none Aircraft History Built by Boeing at Seattle. Constructors Number 3111. On June 29, 1942 delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-17F-5-BO Flying Fortress serial number 41-24428. Ferried overseas via Hickam Field then across the Pacific to Australia. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 19th Bombardment Group (19th BG), 30th Bombardment Squadron (30th BS). Nicknamed "Miss Carriage" on the right side of the nose. Mission History On September 5, 1942 took off from Mareeba Airfield piloted by Major William R. Humrichouse as one of nine B-17s on a mission to bomb Japanese shipping in Simpson Harbor near Rabaul. Inbound, the formation experienced bad weather. Around 9:45pm while landing at Mareeba Airfield, the right landing gear leg collapsed causing the right wing to skid off the runway and ran into a line of trees that impacted the left wing at the no. 2 engine bending the propeller blades. The right wing's no. 3 engine propller was bent backwards and the no. 4 engine propeller broke off. Diary of Lt Col John Rouse (via Elvin Thomas Hart, Jr.) "Returned to Mareeba at 2145. Very tired. Almost cracked up on landing. Found on landing that Humrichouse had a landing gear collapse on landing and ran into woods. No one hurt but a near thing plane washed out (a new F)." On September 6, 1942 the bomber was photographed by Lee N. Clark. Afterwards, written off and stripped for usable parts. Ultimate fate unknown, likely scrapped. Relatives Elvin Thomas Hart, Jr. (son of Sgt Elvin Thomas "Spec" Hart) "Note: This one line is the only record available from the USAF records for this plane. It only lasted Two months in combat. Contrary to this report, Sgt Hart was thrown violently into his radio control panel, losing four teeth and receiving a back injury that would bother him the rest of his life. Sgt Hart took his 'last flight' 11 Aug 88, just as I was starting to piece together his war history. It wasn't until I found the photo from your website, credited to the Lee N. Clark collection, that all the pieces started falling together." References Note, some sources list the date of the force landing as September 6, 1942 the day the photograph was taken. USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-17F-5-BO Flying Fortress 41-24428 "24428 (19th BG, 30th BS) w/o on landing at Mareeba, Qld Sep 6, 1942." Pride of Seattle (2001) page 8 Fortress Against The Sun (2001) pages ? (41-24428) Diary of Lt Col John Rouse (via Elvin Thomas Hart, Jr.) Page 47-48 (Note: PM is Port Moresby, New Guinea) "9-5 [September 5] Mission to Rabaul. Departed here at 245 with 9 ships. Arrived PM at 740 with only 8 ships. Holdridge had to go back and land. We hit coast 135 m. N .of PM. Bad weather all the way. 6 ships took off at 910 for Rabaul (ships in harbour). Quick repair job on my left elevator. Hit bad weather right away and had it all the way to within 100 miles of Rabaul. First one ship and then another became separated and returned for one reason or another. Terrible weather, snow, rain, and icing. Finally returned to PM after getting within 100 miles of Rabaul. Turret frozen, supercharger acting up, and all alone. Arrived back at 1333. Took off with Giddings on my wing to locate and bomb enemy cruiser and destroyers near Milne Bay at 1600. Found them at mouth of Milne Bay just at dusk at 700 feet. Almost ran over them. Opened up on us with everything they had including a broadside. Came pretty close. Tried to bomb them at 3300 ft but couldn't find them because of darkness and clouds. Returned to Mareeba at 2145. Very tired. Almost cracked up on landing. Found on landing that Humrichouse had a landing gear collapse on landing and ran into woods. No one hurt but a near thing plane washed out (a new F). 9-6 [September 6] Slept most of day." Thanks to Elvin Thomas Hart, Jr. and Steve Birdsall for additional information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated April 19, 2021
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