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| USAAF 5th AF 345th BG 499th BS  345th BG c1943 |
Pilot 1st Lt. Edward L. Reel (rescued) Los Angeles, CA Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. Charles Yackiw (rescued) Navigator 1st Lt. Robert E. Driscoll (rescued) Radio SSgt Corydon M. Johnson (rescued) Gunner SSgt Rosaire A. Dubois (rescued) Ditched September 19, 1944 MACR none Aircraft History Built by North American Aviation (NAA). Constructors Number 87-8329. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-25D-5 Mitchell serial number 41-30164. Ferried overseas via Hickam Field then across the Pacific to Australia. Wartime History On August 7, 1943 assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 345th Bombardment Group (345th BG), 499th Bombardment Squadron (499th BS). Converted into a B-25D-1 strafer by the 4th Air Depot at Garbutt Field at Townsville. Assigned to 1st Lt. Kenneth D. McCulure with crew chief Salzman. Nicknamed "Doodle, Jr." with the "Bats Outta Hell" motif painted on the nose. Previously, McCulure was the co-pilot of B-25D "Doodle" 41-30015. Later added to the nose art was "Bluto" from the Popeye cartoon and the crew's nickname "The Brutes". Mission History On September 19, 1944 took off piloted by 1st Lt. Edward L. Reel on a mission against Sidate Airfield on Celebes. Nearing the island, this B-25 experienced an oil leak and aborted the mission. When the oil drained out, the engine became hot and was shut down but the propeller could not be feathered. The bomber quickly lost altitude before ditching 30 miles west of Halmahera Island into the Molucca Sea. Afterwards the B-25 sank before the crew could deploy the life rafts. Rescue Thirty minutes after ditching, a B-24 Liberator piloted by Lt. Harry E. Pennington, Jr. returning from the same mission spotted marker dye released by the downed crew and dropped a life raft to the crew and radioed their location to air-sea rescue then circled them for two hours. Three hours after their ditching, a PBY Catalina rescued the entire crew. References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-25D-5 Mitchell 41-30164 The Evening Times "Reveal Dramatic Rescue Of Airmen from Pacific" October 7, 1944, page 1 "Headquarters, 5th Air Force, Southwest Pacific, Oct. 7 (UP) Another dramatic rescue of airmen forced down at sea was disclosed here today as Lt. Edward L. Reel, Los Angeles, Related how a Liberator bomber hovered over his downed B-25 crew for more than two hours until a navy Catalina flying boat could be summoned to their aid. Reel crash-landed his Mitchell bomber while returning from an attack on the Celebes. The Liberator, piloted by Lt. Harry E. Pennington, Jr., Krypton, KY., dropped a life raft to the B-25 crewmen and flashed distress signals to an air-sea rescue unit." Warpath Across The Pacific (1996) pages 190-191, 193 (color photo), 387 Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated
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