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| USAAF 5th AF 475th FG 431st FS     Shafer December 20, 1943  Eric Lindgren Sept 1, 1969  Richard Leahy Oct 1976  Bill Thompson Oct 1980 |
Pilot 2nd Lt John J. Durkin, O-7489321 (survived) Westfield, NJ Force Landed November 16, 1943 MACR none Aircraft History Built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (LAC) in Burbank. Constructors Number 1337. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as P-38H-5-LO Lightning serial number 42-66826. Disassembled and shipped overseas to Australia and reassembled. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 475th Fighter Group (475th FG) "Satan's Angels", 431st Fighter Squadron (431st FS) "Hades". Nicknamed "Hold Everything" with the nose art of a woman holding her clothes. Nose Number (Squadron Number) 117 in white on both sides of the nose. Assigned to pilot Paul V. Morriss with two Japanese rising sun flags indiciating his aerial victory claims. Mission History On November 16, 1943 at 7:20am took off from Dobodura Airfield No. 12 (North Embi Airfield) piloted by 2nd Lt John J. Durkin on a fighter sweep over Wewak. The weather was clear with overcast above 20,000'. Inbound, Durkin ran low on fuel and aborted the mission and turned back towards base alone. When he failed to return, he was listed as Missing In Action (MIA). Flying alone, Durkin was jumped by a pair of Japanese "Zeros" [sic Ki-43 Oscars] and took evasive action until he lost them in the clouds. Afterwards, his electric compass stopped working and he became lost and proceeded southward until he reached an unfamiliar coastline. With very little fuel remaining, one engine stopped and he force landed wheels up in what he thought was a field of kunai grass but turned out to be a swam and his plane submerged to the wings. Fate of the Pilot Durkin survived the landing unhurt and spent the night sleeping on the wing. The next day, he proceeded towards a nearby village and was met by locals and taken to their village roughly ten miles away. With their help, he was guided over the next two days to the coast where he was transported aboard a lakatoi (local double-hulled sailboat) to Daru Island where he was handed over to Australian forces. The same lakatoi proceeded to another location that had a radio to transmit his whereabouts and coordinate his rescue. Rescue An OA-10 Catalina piloted by 1st Lt. Leslie Lange from Port Moresby Flying Boat Base was sent to rescue him. Aboard was war correspondent and photographer Thomas Shafer who wrote about his rescue and took several photographs of Durkin being rescued wearing necklaces given to him by the local people and flying back to Port Moresby. On December 7, 1943 he returned to his squadron and was removed from their list of Missing In Action (MIA) personnel. Wreckage This P-38 force landed in the Bula Plains near Bensbach and area that is subjected to flooding. For at least half a year, in the wet season, the plane was submerged in a mix of brackish freshwater and saltwater, submerging the wreckage to the tips of the upper propeller blades. During the dry season, the aircraft was fully exposed on dry ground. On September 1, 1969 Dr. Eric Lindgren photographed the largely intact aircraft, which is the earliest known image of this wreckage. The tail had traces of the serial number with "26682?" (last digit is unclear), representing the complete serial number 42-6682?, a match to this aircraft. Although largely intact, many parts were removed including the nose section was deskinned plus spot corrosion on the booms and wings. The engine cowling and propeller hubs were missing. The left stub wing had fallen off or was removed. Dr. Eric Lindgren recalls: "My photo was a Kodachrome taken 1 September 1969, in the company of two of my assistants while we were doing research work on the Javan Rusa deer for the administration of TPNG. The two assistants are investigating the cockpit area in this picture. The aircraft was in reasonably good condition, and could probably have been restored if it was in a less remote area. It has progressively deteriorated since then. I have seen photographs taken about 10 years ago and there was just a heap of rubbish present. There is an indistinct serial number on the outer left tail fin and all I can make out is 2???2? [last digit unknown]." Bruce Hoy adds: "The serial number is actually incomplete. From what I have tried to determine from my limited eyesight available to me, it reads 2668 and possibly a 2, making the number 42-6682-. If the last digit is a “2” the aircraft falls within the P-38H range of 42-66820 to 42-66829, all of which were assigned to the 5th Air Force. P-38H 42-66821 was lost on 2 November 1943 in the Rabaul area. P-38H "Hold Everything" 42-66826 [this aircraft] was also missing on 16 November 1943, P-38H 42-66828 was missing on 23 June 1944 in the Milne Bay area." By the late 1970s, the annual submersion caused much of the aluminum to rapidly corrode. By 1980, only the wing section and portions of the tail booms remained at the site. What remains of the aircraft today is unknown. Richard Leahy adds: "In the 1980s, this wreck today has all but disappeared, sunk into the soil and nothing more than an outline from the air." References Previously, Durkin survived the ditching of P-38H Lightning at Porlock Harbor. Some sources incorrectly credit the rescue aircraft as a U.S. Navy (USN) PBY Catalina Patrol Squadron 101 (VP-101). NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - Paul V. Morriss NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - John J. Durkin USAF Serial Number Search Results - P-38H-5-LO Lightning 42-66826 E&E Report No. 19 "Mission Date: 16 November, 1943. Narration of Lt. John J. Durkin" page 5-6 The Courier-Mail "Lifetime of thrills in 6 weeks' flying" by J. E. Vine, Courier-Mail War Correspondent, Friday 10 December 1943 "NEW GUINEA, Dec. 9. — A Lightning pilot, Lieut. John J. Durkin, of Westfield, New Jersey, began his New Guinea flying in late October. He has packed enough excitement into the six weeks which have passed since then to last most folk a lifetime. Eight days separated two crash landings — one into the sea, the other into a jungle swamp. For the first there was a naval craft [USS Victoria] conveniently at hand to rescue him from the water, but it took 18 days and a series of adventures to get him out of the second jam. Life proceeded smoothly for Lieut. Durkin. who is 23, until November 8. It was then that he made his Bismarck Sea landing off Cape Nelson, after his unit had been scattered by a vicious storm. Four days later he was flying, again. On November 16, high over Wewak, he had to signal to his formation leader that his gasolene [sic gasoline] was low and he was returning to his base. He reached his base 18 days later in a Catalina. On the lonely journey home he was jumped by two Zeros. He eluded them after playing hide and seek in the cumulus clouds For 10 minutes. But if the Zeros were gone, so was his electric compass. Probably it had been smashed by tracer from the Jap planes. Lieut. Durkin set a course for what he thought was home. One engine had coughed and stuttered to a stop and the other was just about to cut out for lack of fuel as he nosed his ship down on to what seemed a verdant level stretch. He landed in a six-foot deep swamp. Lieut. Durkin spent that night on the wing of his plane, one of the few parts not submerged. Next day he started to pull himself through the slime and weeds toward a native village, and was picked up by natives in a crude native canoe. They took him to their village 10 miles away. Two days later with his native escort he reached the Dutch New Guinea coast. From then on he was passed from village to village. Natives fed him on bananas, coconuts, and fish, once on baked turtle. Finally he reached a village which boasted a seagoing lakatoi, and set out with his native crew for an island garrisoned by a small body of Australians. By day they were becalmed, but at night a storm arose and they ran aground on a reef. They reached the island next morning. Sig. Fred Turbit, of Sydney, and Sig. Ron. Burr, of N.S.W., made him at home. Meantime the lakatoi went to another island 50 miles away equipped with a radio transmitting set. A radio message went through and a Catalina picked up Lieut. Durkin. Tomorrow he will rejoin his unit." 475th FG, 431st FS History J B lists: "66826 (475th FG, 432st FS, "Hold Everything") damaged by enemy fighters and ditched in swamp in New Guinea November 17, 1943. Pilot returned." Flying Aces "War Flyers In The Headlines" April 1944 page 35 PNG Museum Aircraft Status Card - P-38 Lightning 42-66826 John Stanaway adds: "Lt John J. Durkin is listed in the 432nd FS, and his prewar address was 1001 Cleveland Ave., Westfield, NJ." Possum, Clover & Hades 475th Fighter Group in World War II (2004) by John Stanaway 107 (photo) FindAGrave - 1LT John Joseph Durkin (grave photo) Thanks to Eric Lindgren, Bruce Hoy, Richard Leahy, Edward Rogers and Keith Hopper 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 June 28, 2025
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