I have the location maps of my dad's B 25

[Kilroy]

My Dad made a wheels up landing during the war in his B 25 named Thumper. I have the maps the Aussi's dropped to him. He and his crew walked to safety. Anybody have an idea who might like to have theses maps and,I would hope go get the bird? From the Army Air Force photos I have, Thumper looked pretty good and was not burned or blown up by dad or the crew when they left.

[Anthony J. Mireles]

I am an aviation accident researcher and author.

What is the serial number of the airplane?

What day did it crash?

Who was on board the airplane?

Do you have an MACR number?

Maybe I can turn up some info in my data base of accidents.

If the airplane is still there, some one on this forum might know if it is still intact.

TonyM.

[Kilroy]

Crash ( He might object to that word) landed December 22, 1943
12 miles northwest of Dumpu Ramu Valley, New Guinea
345th Bomb Group 501st?
Model B25D-5 (d-1)
Serial 41-30071

Crew;
Capt. Walter D. Kilroy
1/Lt. Steven L. Marticorena
2/Lt Thomas C. Lipscomb
S/Sgt. Stanley L. Dale
Crew Chief - Greenquist
S/Sgt. Newton A. Arnold

The men who walked out of the jungle with Kilroy were Arnold, Dale, Richter and 2/Lt. Gordon l. Bedell

Hope this helps. I would really love to hear someone found and restored this aircraft

[Anthony J. Mireles]

Kilroy,

Those walk out stories are always good and exciting and I am glad they made it.

Were the other men in the crew who did not walk out with your father killed in the crash landing? And I noticed two men who walked out but were not part of the crew. These would be airmen from other downed airplanes making the trip with your father's group?

And was the airplane brought down by damage suffered by enemy fire? If it was a mishap/accident, there might be an accident report, which I would have on microfilm.

I'm really only interested in the information, not the maps so much, which I would guess are pretty neat.

Thanks. I bet it is an interesting story of the walk out. Maybe you can share some of it with the forum members.

Tony M.

[Kilroy]

Tony,

All of the crew walked out, together. Took a little time but they all made it. The other two men were not on the crew at the time.

One engine's oil line was shot out by hostile fire during a bomb and strafe run, the other engine finally overheated and gave up after the first one failed.

[Anthony J. Mireles]

Kilroy,

I noticed that you had a question mark next to the squadron info. Took a look for this.

According to Hickey's book on the 345BG, the B-25D # 41-30071 was assigned to the 501BS.

There is a photo of the airplane and information on page 100-101 in the text about this crash landing in Hickey's book:

WARPATH ACROSS THE PACIFIC. You may or may not have this one already. Also, the official unit history book WARPATH has been available. I"ll bet you have this one.


Thanks for the info.

Good Luck with your research.

TonyM.

[Kilroy]

Thank you Tony. I have that book and the maps the Aussis dropped to show the way and two photos of the aircraft in the grass and even a litter from my dad Walter Kilroy of how and why he picked this spot to put Thumper down. What I am looking for is someone who will take this info and go get the airplane. Any ideas of how I go about doing that?

[Air Apache]

Kilroy,

I just came across your post about "Thumper" which naturally piqued my interest. First, my dad was with the 501st as well, and I am the current president of the 345th BG Association. In the interest of preserving the 345th's history we've started a project to acquire and eventually exhibit artifacts such as those you described. Would it be possible to see those maps in some form or another? And we also have a project to scan as many photos as we can get out hands on with descriptions, for eventual exhibit somewhere, pershps the AF Museum. Would that be possible? Sure would be cool.

As far as retrieving Thumper that would be over the top! But from what I've been reading lately there are numerous legal ramifications to get that accomplished. in fact last I heard (correct me if I'm wrong) they do not allow wrecks out of the country anymore. BTW, can you release the location of Thumper, lat-long?

J. Bina
President, 345th BG Assoc.

[fritzrichter]

My Dad was on that B25. I enjoy reading this thread. I'm here because Captain Kilroy landed that bird on its belly in the tall grass.

[Justin Taylan]

Dear all, amazing thread and meet the relatives of some of the crew members! Please, feel free to email Pacific Wrecks any photos, maps or information you wish to share and we will add it to our page on this plane, credited to you and the source(s).

Here is the Pacific Wrecks page on B-25D "Thumper":

B-25D "Thumper" 41-30071
https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-25/41-30071.html

This plane is also extensively covered in the book Warpath Across The Pacific:

Warpath Across The Pacific
https://irandpcorp.com/products/345bg/

Best,
Justin