Aircraft History
Built by Consolidated at San Diego. Delivered to the U. S. Army. Ferried overseas via Hawaii to Australia.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 90th Bombardment Group, 400th Bombardment Squadron. No known nose art or nickname.

Mission History
Took off from 5 Mile Drome (Wards) near Port Moresby on a daylight reconnaissance mission along the eastern coast of New Guinea. No position report was given, but the time element places the aircraft in the Madang area, one hour and thirty five minutes after take off.

Ramming by Japanese Fighter
A radio message was received stating it was under attack by five enemy fighters. Five Ki-43 Oscars of the 24th Sentai attacked the bomber. One Japanese fighter rammed the B-24, killing the Oscar pilot, Sgt. Hikoto Sato, who became the first casualty of the 24th Sentai. Five to ten minutes later the last message sent stated the aircraft was going down. It is believed the aircraft went down in the vicinity of Karkar Island. No trace of the crew was ever found.

Memorials
The entire crew was officially declared dead on December 19, 1945. All are memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery.

References
PNG Museum Aircraft Status Card - B-24D Liberator 41-24269
"A Brief History of Wewak, Part II" by Richard Dunn

Last Updated
February 18, 2020