SUNDAY, 16 APRIL 1944
BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 B-25s hit a bridge over the Mogaung
River while 9 others, along with 12 P-51s, hit a warehouse and railroad station
at Mohnyin; 9 P-38s destroy 3 medium bombers at Zayatkwin near Rangoon while
two P-51s hit Anisakan Airfield, destroying two airplanes.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (XX Bomber Command): 768th Bombardment Squadron (Very
Heavy), 462d Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), arrives at Piardoba with
B-29s; first mission is 5 June.
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s staging through Eniwetok strike Truk; B-25s from Abemama hit Maloelap and Mille,
using Majuro as a rearming base between the strikes.
SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): 15 B-24s bomb the runway
at Satawan. On New Britain, 24 B-25s hit the
Ratawul supply area and alternate target of Raluana. 30+ fighter-bombers
attack area inland from Toboi Wharf at Rabaul. 23d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th
Bombardment Group (Heavy) moves from Munda to Momote with B-24s.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): Meanwhile, P-39s hit a wooded area and communications targets along Hansa
Bay and attack villages and supply dumps from Bogia to Uligan Harbor; P-38s
hit Madang area; B-24s fly a light strike against Wakde; other aircraft, operating
singly or in pairs, attack targets of opportunity on the north coast of New Guinea
and southeast coast of New Britain. Other B-25s bomb Koepang.
Royal Navy: The British Eastern Fleet Task Force 69 (TF 69) under the command of Admiral James F. Somerville departs Trincomalee with battleship HMS QUEEN ELISABETH, HMS VALIANT and French Richelieu, cruisers HMS NEWCASTLE, HMS NIGERIA, HMS CEYLON, HMNZS GAMBIA and Dutch Hr.Ms. TROMP and destroyers HMS ROTTERHAM, HMS RACEHORSE, HMS PENN, HMS PETARD, Dutch Hr.Ms. VAN GALEN, HMAS NAPIER, HMAS NEPAL, HMAS NIZAM and HMAS QUIBERON joined by Vice Admiral (later Admiral of the Fleet/Sir) Arthur J. Power's (former CO of ARK ROYAL) British Eastern Fleet Task Force Task Force 70 consisting of carriers HMS Illustrious (87) and USS
Saratoga (CV-3), battlecruiser HMS RENOWN, cruisers HMS CEYLON and HMNZS GAMBIA and destroyers HMS QUILLIAM, HMS QUADRANT, HMS QUEENBOROUGH, USS CUMMINGS, USS DUNLAP and USS FANNING.
"Black Sunday"
170+ B-24s,
B-25s and A-20s bomb Hollandia town and airfield and numerous other targets
in the Hollandia area. Returning from the mission, the aircraft meet a massive weather front of cloud, rain and thunderstorms that causes 46 aircraft to be lost due to bad weather while others managed to land at Saidor Airfield and other forward airfields.
Afterwards, the mission was dubbed "Black Sunday"
and was the largest operational loss suffered by the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) during World War II. In total, forty-six planes were lost due to all causes. Forty-five American pilots and air crewswere killed and missing on "Black Sunday". A total of eight were Killed In Action (KIA) and their bodies recovered. A total of thirty-seven were listed as Missing In Action (MIA). Today, after decades of accounting efforts, fourteen remain listed as Missing In Action (MIA).
- A-20G 43-86563 pilot Dower force landed Yami Airfield
- A-20G "Barry's Baby I.N.S." 42-86768 force landed Saidor Airfield damaged striking P-47D "Dirty Old Man" afterwards repaired
- A-20G "Benny's Baby" 42-86772 pilot Benskin, crew resuced
- A-20G "Powerful Katrinka" 42-86713 damaged landing at Saidor Airfield, later repaired
- A-20G 42-86615 force landed Yamai Airfield
- A-20G "Hell'N Pelican II" 42-86786 pilot Davidson gunner McKenna, crew rescued
- A-20G "Joy Baby" 43-9039 pilot Sanders gunner force landed, crew rescued
- A-20G "The Texan" 43-9098 pilot Smart gunner Music (2 MIA)
- A-20G "Honeybunch" 43-9186 landing gear collapsed at Saidor Airfield, afterwards repaired
- A-20G 43-9399 pilot Aamodt impacted B-25D landing at Saidor Airfield, later repaired
- A-20G 43-9401 pilot Crow force landed Saidor Airfield
- A-20G 43-9488 pilot Jovanovich (1 rescued 2 MIA)
- A-20G 43-9491 pilot unknown (survived)
- A-20G "Lady Constance" 43-9628 pilot Gibbons gunner Rhodes, crew rescued
- A-20G 43-9629 pilot Davidson (survived) force landed Yami Airfield near Saidor
- A-20G "In The Mood" 43-9669 pilot Gresen gunner ? (survived)
- B-24D "Here T'is" 42-72946 pilot Cooley (10 MIA) wreckage found 2001, case resolved 2006
- B-24J 42-109977 22nd BG, 19th BS damaged landing at Saidor Airfield
- B-24J 42-100225 pilot Paschal (MIA) wreckage found 2002, case resovled 2005
- B-24J 42-109975 pilot Rayzor crashed near Gusap crew remains recovered
- B-24J 42-110000 pilot Robert C. Stone crew bailed out 20 miles northeast of Bogadjim some rescued others missing (MIA)
- F-7A 42-73042 pilot Harms force landed at Saidor Airfield afterwards written off
- B-25D 41-30337 while landing at Saidor Airfield collided with F-5A 42-67350
- B-25D "Sweet Jeanne" 41-30189 written off at Saidor Airfield
- B-25D "Seven Day Leave" 41-30611 written off at Saidor Airfield
- B-25G "Old War Horse" 42-64867 damaged at Saidor Airfield and written off
- B-25D "Stingeroo" 41-30020 ditced off Karkar Island, crew rescued
- B-25D "Tinkie" 41-30315 pilot Waggle (MIA)
- B-25D "Fer de Lance" 41-30527 pilot 1st Lt. Maturi force landed Yami Airfield, crew rescued
- F-5A 42-67350 pilot 1st Lt. Donald Christian while landing at Saidor Airfield collided with B-25D 41-30337
- P-38H 42-66668 pilot 2nd Lt. Robert R. Keown (MIA) remains recovered, case resolved December 13, 2018
- P-38H 42-66832 pilot 1st Lt. Lawrence Reeves (MIA)
- P-38H 42-66555 pilot 2nd Lt Walter H. Mikucky (MIA)
- P-38H 42-66??? pilot 1st Lt. Eugune Zielinski (rescued)
- P-38J 42-104310 pilot Lt. Stanley Northrup
- P-38J 42-104352 pilot 2nd Lt. Joe Price crash landed Saidor Airfield
- P-38J 42-104015 pilot 1st Lt Tomberg bail out returned to duty
- P-38J 42-104351 pilot 1st Lt. Wire ditched off Yamai
- P-38J 42-104355 pilot 2nd Lt. MacDonald, POW executed mid April 1944
- P-38J 42-104381 pilot 1st Lt. Yarbrough (MIA)
- P-38J 42-104385 pilot 1st Lt. Neely (MIA)
- P-38J 42-104390 pilot 1st Lt. Longman (MIA) reamins recovered, case resolved
- P-38J 42-67594 pilot 1st Lt. Hubner (MIA)
- P-38J 42-67605 pilot 2nd Lt. Luddington (MIA)
- P-39 Airacobra destroyed while parked at Saidor Airfield
- P-47D "Dirty Old Man" damaged parked at Saidor Airfield
References
General Kenney Reports page 387-388
(Pages 387-388) "April 16th went down in the records of the Fifth Air Force as Black Sunday. We took a beating. It was not administered by the Jap. The weather id us wrong. Forty-five B-24s, forty-nine B-25 and thirty-seven A-20s and forty fighters raided the Tadji [sic Hollandia] area and put the final touch on the place. On the way home, however, they found that the low clouds and fog that had been hanging offshore for the previous three days, had moved inland and blocked them from the home airdromes. That night there was gloom in the Fifth Air Force. Of 170 airplanes that had left on the strike seventy were unaccounted for. By noon the next day we had recovered thirty-six which had made emergency landings away from home and remained there until the weather cleared. Others were gradually accounted for, but the final costs was thirty-two kids [sic 8 KIA and 37 MIA] and thirty-one planes [sic 46]."
Black Sunday (2000) by Michael Claringbould
