Amazing shot of B-25 just after being hit by flak
Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:06 am
A B-25J-10-NC Mitchell "Jaunty Jo," SN# 43-36192
348th BG, 498th BS, 5th Air Force
She was struck by hidden antiaircraft battery just after dropping 250-pound parachute-retarded demolition bombs on the Byoritsu Alcohol Refinery in Formosa.
The cockpit has been torn open (outlined in blue).
Unfortunately only seconds later the plane crashed, killing all on board.
Air crew: 2LT Robert J. Knauf, 2LT Martin H. Mulner, 1LT Lloyd E. Bodell, CPL Harold O. Montville, SGT Tennyson C. Harrell.
The aircraft was one of 16 B-25s that were attempting to destroy the Japanese factories that process synthetic fuel from sugar cane.
Byoritsu refinery was hit in March, May and July 1945.
Last edited by the330thbg on Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:29 am
This photo in it's original format shows the factory in it's entirety...a very small target in a built up area. There are also photos of the impact.
Targets in Formosa were many and just about every BG in the 5th had missions there in a long campaign that started when bases were established in the PI up to VJ day. The 14th AAF also targeted it and there were even B-29 missions from China.
Being closer to the Chinese mainland than Luzon some crippled B-25s headed for there where chances of rescue were very high...interesting link here;
http://www.b25.net/pages/southeasternchinastory.html
Targets in Formosa were many and just about every BG in the 5th had missions there in a long campaign that started when bases were established in the PI up to VJ day. The 14th AAF also targeted it and there were even B-29 missions from China.
Being closer to the Chinese mainland than Luzon some crippled B-25s headed for there where chances of rescue were very high...interesting link here;
http://www.b25.net/pages/southeasternchinastory.html
Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:25 am
I've seen a bunch of these photos but this one really grabs me. One frame in the life of guys who had hopes, dreams, families. We celebrate these wonderful flying machines and their heroic crews but I can understand why some don't ever want to see a B-25 again.
I was out flying low-level in a T-38 in late '92 when my IP and I heard a distress call. A guy was calling that he needed to make an immediate divert - could anyone tell him the Dyess TACAN freq. He was worried about the front seat pilot (another IP) and the tension was obvious. I later learned that it was another T-38 flying low-level also - his front seater had taken a fatal bird strike and the pilot in back safely landed at Dyess. I saw the safety photos later and the jet was a scary mess.
I look at that brief radio exchange the way I look at this photo - one frame in the life of someone lost suddenly and violently in the service of our nation. Proud and sad and many other things all wrapped up in a word I can't describe. I wish more of our fellow citizens understood and honored the sacrifices guys and gals like this have made and are making for our freedom.
Here's a toast to the crew of the B-25 Jaunty Jo - may they never be forgotten.
Ken
I was out flying low-level in a T-38 in late '92 when my IP and I heard a distress call. A guy was calling that he needed to make an immediate divert - could anyone tell him the Dyess TACAN freq. He was worried about the front seat pilot (another IP) and the tension was obvious. I later learned that it was another T-38 flying low-level also - his front seater had taken a fatal bird strike and the pilot in back safely landed at Dyess. I saw the safety photos later and the jet was a scary mess.
I look at that brief radio exchange the way I look at this photo - one frame in the life of someone lost suddenly and violently in the service of our nation. Proud and sad and many other things all wrapped up in a word I can't describe. I wish more of our fellow citizens understood and honored the sacrifices guys and gals like this have made and are making for our freedom.
Here's a toast to the crew of the B-25 Jaunty Jo - may they never be forgotten.
Ken
Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:06 am
This shot has always saddened me in regards to the cost of war and how fast things can go bad for such young men.
It's an amazing photo, but this is actually part of a sequence of three photos taken from the preceding B-25's rear entry hatch with an automatic camera designed to photograph the bomb hits.
In Lawrence Hickey's masterpiece of writing, "Warpath Across the Pacific", the entire three or four photo sequence is published. The photo posted here is the middle shot By the time the camera sequenced and took the third photo, the aircraft was already plowing into the ground and you can still see the Indian insignia on the rudder flying through the wreckage path.
These photos have always been in my mind since I first read Hickey's book back in 1980's.
Jerry
It's an amazing photo, but this is actually part of a sequence of three photos taken from the preceding B-25's rear entry hatch with an automatic camera designed to photograph the bomb hits.
In Lawrence Hickey's masterpiece of writing, "Warpath Across the Pacific", the entire three or four photo sequence is published. The photo posted here is the middle shot By the time the camera sequenced and took the third photo, the aircraft was already plowing into the ground and you can still see the Indian insignia on the rudder flying through the wreckage path.
These photos have always been in my mind since I first read Hickey's book back in 1980's.
Jerry
Last edited by Jerry O'Neill on Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:11 am
That airplane was shot down on 26 May 1945.
That photo is part of a series of at least four photos taken.
The whole four photo sequence of that shoot down can be found on page 325 of WARPATH ACROSS THE PACIFIC by Lawrence J. Hickey. A book worth having.
The sequence can also be found on page 42 of LOW LEVEL ATTACK: THE PACIFIC by John W. Lambert. Another book worth having.
TonyM.
That photo is part of a series of at least four photos taken.
The whole four photo sequence of that shoot down can be found on page 325 of WARPATH ACROSS THE PACIFIC by Lawrence J. Hickey. A book worth having.
The sequence can also be found on page 42 of LOW LEVEL ATTACK: THE PACIFIC by John W. Lambert. Another book worth having.
TonyM.
Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:15 am
Just went back and checked, my copy of WARPATH ACROSS THE PACIFIC features four photos of this shoot-down on page 325.
TonyM.
TonyM.
Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:53 am
Scan em!!!
Re: Amazing shot of B-25 just after being hit by flak
Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:06 pm
the330thbg wrote:
A B-25J-10-NC Mitchell "Jaunty Jo," SN# 43-36192
348th BG, 498th BS, 5th Air Force
She was struck by hidden antiaircraft battery just after dropping 250-pound parachute-retarded demolition bombs on the Byoritsu Alcohol Refinery in Formosa.
The cockpit has been torn open (outlined in blue).
Unfortunately only seconds later the plane crashed, killing all on board.
Air crew: 2LT Robert J. Knauf, 2LT Martin H. Mulner, 1LT Lloyd E. Bodell, CPL Harold O. Montville, SGT Tennyson C. Harrell.
The aircraft was one of 16 B-25s that were attempting to destroy the Japanese factories that process synthetic fuel from sugar cane.
Byoritsu refinery was hit in March, May and July 1945.
What you are looking at here is five guys about to, or already dying. There is nothing AMAZING about this photo. It is just sad. You should be more respectful with your caption titles. There is nothing to get excited about in a positive way here. Posting photos like this is certainly of merit, but only when accompanied by suitably sober commentary. At least you did name the crew.
Richard
Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:33 pm
Nice pictures Richard. Looks like the B-25 is only 20 ft off the ground!
Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:10 pm
Richard;
You are very correct in what you said about what photos like this actually represent.
My comment on an "amazing" photo is more about the sequence of photos, captured by the camera that was designed to record enemy "deaths", not the demise of one of their own.
As I said earlier, this shot sequence has always hit me with how much war really costs. This might sound weird, but many times over the years I have spent a lot of time looking at this sequence and what it represents. I've mentally put myself in that cockpit and tried to imagine what the ramifications would've been for me, and my family and friends, and how much of a sacrifice these young men made to free the world.
It was one of those images that brought home to me the why we must never forget the sacrifices made by earlier generations. It strengthened my interest in the personal aspect of history, as opposed to the hardware that first attracted most of us to our deep interest, or obsession, with history.
It's one of those photos that I'll never get out of my mind.
God bless them all.
Jerry
You are very correct in what you said about what photos like this actually represent.
My comment on an "amazing" photo is more about the sequence of photos, captured by the camera that was designed to record enemy "deaths", not the demise of one of their own.
As I said earlier, this shot sequence has always hit me with how much war really costs. This might sound weird, but many times over the years I have spent a lot of time looking at this sequence and what it represents. I've mentally put myself in that cockpit and tried to imagine what the ramifications would've been for me, and my family and friends, and how much of a sacrifice these young men made to free the world.
It was one of those images that brought home to me the why we must never forget the sacrifices made by earlier generations. It strengthened my interest in the personal aspect of history, as opposed to the hardware that first attracted most of us to our deep interest, or obsession, with history.
It's one of those photos that I'll never get out of my mind.
God bless them all.
Jerry
Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:25 pm
Is there a link to the entire sequence of photos anywhere on the web?
Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:25 pm
I've got the book at home, but I haven't looked at it in years. I bought it at the NMUSAF in '87 I think, when I was 16. Very sobering and humbling photo. I'll be sure to blow the dust off tonight when I get home.
Excellent book
Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:37 pm
Gentlemen,
Warpath Across the Pacific has to be the GREATEST action book of any USAAF/USAF unit history ever written. I am always amazed at how little has been published on the air force in this area of the Pacific war.
Norman Malayney
Warpath Across the Pacific has to be the GREATEST action book of any USAAF/USAF unit history ever written. I am always amazed at how little has been published on the air force in this area of the Pacific war.
Norman Malayney
Re: Excellent book
Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:30 pm
norman malayney wrote:Gentlemen,
Warpath Across the Pacific has to be the GREATEST action book of any USAAF/USAF unit history ever written. I am always amazed at how little has been published on the air force in this area of the Pacific war.
Norman Malayney
I absolutely agree!
It was actually the first unit history I purchased and still my favorite.
Jerry
Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:58 pm
Not til I started flying Tondelayo did know this book even existed...what an eye opener! I sat down one night and google earthed alot of the targets and mission routes using Warpath as a guide, including the mission that made Tondelayo so well known.
jim
jim