Pacific Wrecks Forum

I am trying to find any information I can on my Uncles B25 that was lost over Bougainville in I beleve 1943. His name was 2nd Lt Daniel W. Davis and his National Archives ID is 0-796788. He was reported MIA for a long time then changed to KIA but his body was never returned and he is listed as FOB now on the National Archives site. I am new to researching this information but I am trying to find out what unit he was with and even his aircraft name if I can ever get that far. I beleive his records are part of the ones distroyed in the 70's by the guardians of all the records in St Louis where there seems to be a fire about every 50 years or so. So a lot of his information is now lost but not forgotten. His whole crew was lost as far as I can tell and I am not sure if the wreckage was found or not. Even to know that would be help.
you can feel free to email me piperL4@aol.com with any hints on where to search for more info. I understand there was like 8 B25's lost on Oct 18th 1943 over Bougainville which happens to be my birth date. With all the research there has been into wrecks on Bougainville there must be some information on his B25 as I know a number of them were lost there but certainly not so many that he would be lost forever. Vertually all the family is gone now and only I am left to carry on the quest to find out what happend to him and his crew. I say his crew and I mean the men that were with him as I do not know if he was a Pilot or Co-Pilot so by using the term his I do not mean any offense to his other crewmenbers. I have 2 tours in VN and understand the sensitivity of such things and do not take lightly that there were other men aboard that air craft and I would love to know who they were and more about the men he lived with and died with. I am having a rather large B25 model made but I do not know the Wing or the Squadron to properly identify the aircraft with. So anyone's help would mean a lot to an old coot who now has ALS and limited time in which to gather and pass down the information so my Uncle and the men he was with are not forgotten. I have no problem being contacted at piperL4@aol.com if you have any ideas of who or where to contact to get even a splinter more information on him.
Thanks
Dave

He is part of group Burial at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... 589&df=all&

David,

1. The US AGRS visited the crash site of your uncle's B-25 41-13130 (lost Sept 16, 1943) and recovered three remains. These were stored in the AGRS Mausoleum in Manila as Unknows X-3847, X-3852 and X3853. A local said that several remains were recovered by Australians soon after the crash. They wrote to the RAAF Casualty Section on 28 April 1949 about these. Enquiries in Australia failed to find any record of a visit (by Australian forces) to this crash site or recovery of any remains. Because all crew members are listed as buried in a group grave, it would appear that even if the other remains were found, the AGRS could not separate or identify individuals.

2. Lt Davis was the co-pilot. Lt George E Gunson was the pilot.

3. I believe that the aircraft was from the 70th Bomb Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group, 13th Air Force.

4. Thanks for the service in VN.

I hope this helps,
one old coot to another,
David.

Wow I got chills just thinking of the fact he was found and the wreck was found. Now for my next dumb question did they keep lat and long records back then when they found wrecks. I had always thought he went into the ocean but glad he is burried with his mates. Sad as I have his official service photo and my grandmothers gold star still penned to it. I remember as a child reading the western union telegrame she had framed and next to her bed that he was MIA. I do not want the family to ever forget him that is why I am digging this all up. To many times the sacrifices of these men go unremembered unless someone keeps them alive. For now I am the keeper of the flame.
Regards
Dave

David
Thanks for the info and yep old coots are right. How time has flied and 40 years has passed like it was a week. I am not familiar with AGRS or how you were able to get the info you did. Do you know if they marked the location of the wreckage by lat long or by any other means so that I could go on google earth and find the location. I returned to VN in 1994 and was able to go back to our crash site. It was very emotional and for some reason I found myself not wanting to leave as if I was supposed to stay there. I guess there is a lot of guilt when you walk away and someone else dosen't. I would like to go to Bougainville but have limited time as being diagnosed with ALS and about 5 other service connected diseases that in a very short time are going to change my life so whatever I plan to do I must do it soon. But Bougainvillis is a large island and without somewhere to start would be an impossible task. I was going to order the wreck report but do not want to waste money if there is nothing there. I did find the Buin airstrip that he was strafing on Google Earth and it is all overgrown now but gives me some idea of where he was, and until your post thought they had never been found and most likely were in the ocean. Sorry to keep pestering people but it is the only place I have found to get answers to help me preserve his memory.
Thanks
Dave

Dave,
sorry for the delay. I have been out of action for awhile.
My information came from the Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF) Searcher Unit files. This unit was responsible for search and recovery of missing personnel in the SE Asia region after WWII.
There is a letter for the US Philippines Command stating that three bodies were recovered from B-25 41-13130 by the AGRS (American Graves Registration Service). The letter says that the aircraft was found during a search of the Kangu Hill and Malabita Hill area of Bougainville. There are no coordinates given but there is reference to a search report (which I do not have) which may give the location of the wreck.
I will send you copies of the letters and other info via email.
Regards,
David.