ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 98614
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| Date: | Friday 22 June 1945 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Boeing B-29A Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | United States Army Air Force (USAAF) |
| Registration: | 42-93955 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 11 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | North Field AAF -
 Guam
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | North Fld |
| North Fld |
Landing accident. Aborted bombing mission after takeoff due to engine trouble. Jettisoned bombs into the sea and attempted emergency return to airfield. Poor visibility and strong winds caused the aircraft to be misaligned with the airfield. To avoid a collision with fixtures, the pilot pulled up sharply but a power stall occurred and the bomber went over a 300 foot cliff and plunged into the jungle below. Ten of the eleven-man crew were killed.
1st Lt. Carl R. Bauer II, Pilot
Robert Mann adds: "Regarding K32, "Colleen". In our collaboration Tom Britton is the photo and text guy and I am the historian/data base developer. The story, as I get it from Bill Harris, the Historian at Andersen, is that K32 aborted the 6/22/45 mission, returned to North Field, crashed and went over the cliff beyond the end of the runway. The site of the wreckage is well known, in fact, I am almost positive that I visited that particular site in 1950 when I was stationed at North Field/Andersen with the 514th Recon Typhoon Chasers. The location, 300 feet down the cliffs on a terrace, north of the runway axis, matches my memory exactly and the wreckage was clearly visible at that time looking up from the base of the original Tarague Beach road. Apparently Typhoon "Paka" in 1997 opened up enough of the jungle to lead to the discovery of another portion of the plane which contained remains, probably the A/C and Pilot. These were recovered by the Hawaii recovery team in 1997 or '98. Part of the confusion concerning 42-93955, K32, lies in the misidentification of K37 as 93955 in the 330BG Crew/Plane rosters put out by Crowell and, recently, Smisek. With the misidentification came a listing that K37 was abandoned over Iwo Jima on 6/22/45, the same day K32 was lost on Guam. There is a real possibility that K37 was actually on June 1st."
Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated February 18, 2020
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71284215/carl-robert-bauer
Capt. Carl R. Bauer, A/C, killed in crash 1LT James D. Gilbert, P, killed in crash 1LT Jett W. Foster, B, killed in crash 2LT Gordon E. Kimball, N, killed in crash 2LT Leslie A. Evans, Jr., Rad Ob, killed in crash M. SGT Luther M. Justice, FE, killed in crash SGT Ralph W. Dugan, RO, killed in crash SGT Richard A. Morel, RG, killed in crash SGT Elmer Kalman, LG, killed in crash SGT Donald A. Olson, TG, killed in crash (but not riding in this position on landing) Lt. Wallace Howard.
Squad Gun Officer, survived the crash riding in TG's position. Bauer took off at 22/0210G and headed toward the assembly point with the B-29 gross weight of 68.93 tons. At five minutes out, at an altitude of 2,000 feet and estimated power settings of 43 inches of mercury and 2400 rpm, the oil temperature in engine #1 rose rapidly. Engine #1 was feathered and all bombs were salvoed. Bauer notified the control tower that he was returning to North Field. At 22/0330G, Bauer told the tower his intention to land. The rain had slackened and the ceiling was high enough for a visual approach. It was estimated that the landing weight was 59.19 tons. Tower gave clearance to land on South runway. Contact lights were on both North and South runways but the vertical lights were on only at the end of South runway. Witnesses stated that the approach appeared high but safe. Landing weather conditions, as opposed to the original weather statement from the tower, were heavy rainsqualls and reduced ceiling making an instrument landing necessary. The plane approached without landing lights. As K-32 approached the runway with flaps and landing gear down, Bauer must have realized that he was on the North runway and applied full power with flaps and landing gear slowly going up. At this point, the unbalanced full power caused the lumbering plane to veer to the left and the left wing to dip toward the radar tower to the left of the North runway. When Bauer realized that he might hit the tower light, he pulled the plane up suddenly and it stalled. It settled down over the cliff and into the jungle at the north end of the runway. The tail section split off from the main aircraft frame, which exploded and burned. Lt. Howard, riding in the tail on landing, was found by the rescue party alive but dazed with broken jaw and facial lacerations. Access to the crash site was difficult due to jungle conditions. Figures 8a and 8b show pictures of the tail section made by S/SGT Mathis on 24 June 1945. At the time, six bodies were recovered and identified. Two bodies were recovered from the site but not identified. Two bodies were not recovered at all. On Sunday, 24 June 1945 Chaplain Schade held memorial services for the ten dead crewmen. Initial burial was at the Marine cemetery on Guam with six identified gravesites and two unidentified graves. The investigation and accident report on the crash recommended that all landings on three engines be done in daylight if condition of plane permitted. Col. Reynolds was heard to remark that if he had been in the tower at the time, he believed he could have gotten Bauer down safely. An added twist to this story came in October 1997 and reported at the 11th Annual Reunion of the 330th BG Association in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. An Air Force sponsored archeological survey team was checking the jungle for native habitats north of Andersen Field (formerly North Field) when the team came across the wreckage of K-32 skeletal remains were found in the wreckage and have been identified as the A/C Bauer and the Pilot Gilbert. A memorial service was conducted on Guam in February 1998. Every plane loss is a saga but K-32's loss has more twists of fate than most. Bauer's original crew formed at W AAF included S/SGT Henry G. Mathis, CFC Gunner; CPL Donald F. Murray, Gunner; 2LT Thomas N. Gwyn, B, SGT Anthony Iacolino, Radar Operator and CPL Maynard E. Burkett, TG. Fate intervened on their behalf and they were replaced with others who lost their lives in the crash. Murray had a medical operation and he was off flying status for two months and missed the flight to Guam in March 1945. Burkett was replaced for unknown reasons in January 1945. These two gunners were replaced by Elmer Kalman and Donald Olson both of whom had survived a bailout from a B-29 in a training accident in which most of their fellow crewmembers perished. Gwyn went to Capt. Wells' crew in a swap for Wells' B, 1LT Jett Foster, 1LT Leslie Evans replaced Iacolino when officer radar observers replaced enlisted radar operators. 1LT Wallace Howard, Squadron Gunnery Officer, replaced Mathis on the fateful flight. Mathis stated that he was notified one half hour before Lt. Howard would replace mission briefing that he. All the enlisted men were surprised at the change and agreed to inquire about the reason for the swap when they got back off the mission the next day. It may have been just the case of a squadron staff officer wanting to get some combat time.
1st Lt. James D. Gilbert, Co-Pilot
2nd Lt. Leslie A. Evans Jr.
1st Lt. Jett W. Foster,
2nd Lt. Gordon E. Kimball
Sgt. Ralph W. Dugan
M/Sgt. Luther M. Justice
Sgt. Elmer Kalman
Sgt. Richard A. Morel
S/Sgt. Donald A. Olson
Sources:
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp
USAAFdata.com
FindAGrave.com
PacificWrecks.com
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Jan-2022 18:56 | Gumby778 | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Jun-2022 09:30 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 06-May-2023 05:31 | dlangfor | Updated [[Location]] |
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