22nd Bomb Group - The Red Raiders

- Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron
- 2nd Bomb Squadron
- 18th Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium) later 408th Bombardment Squadron on 22 Apr 42
- 19th Bomb Squadron
- 33rd Bomb Squadron

Attached units
- 46 Ordinance Co., 3 Platoon
- 453 Ordinance Co.,
- 484 Ordinance Co.
- 1 Chemical Co Detachment

B-26 Marauder #40-1503. One source indicated that this was the third B-26 built. Tom Hall has advised that it was the 143rd one built and that # 40-1363 was the third Martin B-26 built. The 22nd Bomb Group had a number of the first production and prototype B-26's.

The B-26 Marauder was built by the Glenn L. Martin Company and initially had a bad reputation as being a "Widow Maker", due to its fast landing speed of 140 mph, which led to many accidents during landing and take-off. It acquired nicknames such as "Martin Murderer" and "Flying Coffin". Crews were eventually retrained and accident rates dropped dramatically.

The typical crew of seven comprised pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, wireless operator, top turret gunner, waist gunner and tail gunne

The 22nd Bomb Group was constituted on 22 December 1939 and activated on 1 February 1940. They moved to Langley in the summer of 1941. The 22nd Bomb Group was given the first B-26 Marauders off the production line. But there were problems with a weight distribution issues and the B-26's were grounded. They were then temporarily re-equipped with B-25's in which they undertook Army Manoeuvres in Louisiana. They were based at Ellingtom Field in Houston, Texas.

In November 1941 they were ordered to Savanna, Georgia. They mobilised within 16 hours of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941and re-assembled at Muroc Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert where they were re-equipped with 44 brand new B-26 Marauders. The number was later increased to 51 Marauders. From Dec 1941 through January 1942 they trained in B-18's and B-26's and patrolled the southern coast of California and Mexico.

The ground echelon of the 22nd Bomb Group left San Francisco at about 1430 hours on 31 January 1942 onboard the "USAT Hugh L. Scott" (AP-43). They were part of Convoy 2030 (6 ships) escorted by USS Honolulu, USS Morris and USS Ellet; with USATs Ancon, Tasker H. Bliss, Hugh L. Scott and Maui for destination "XRAY"; and SS President Taylor to destination "BIRCH" and SS President Johnson to destination "HOLLY".

About a week after the ground echelon left San Francisco, the air echelon of about 400 personnel left San Francisco for Hawaii onboard the USN transport "USNT Grant. Another ship in its convoy included the USS Kittyhawk, a USN Seaplane Tender carrying the 22nd Bomb Group's disassembled B-26 Marauders as deck cargo. Others included a tanker, a Matson liner, a smaller passenger ship and a freighter. They were escorted by three destroyers.

On 9 February 1942, two destroyers and two transports left the convoy, but two British destroyers soon took their place. On about 22 February 1942, more ships left the convoy and a merchant ship painted white joined the convoy.

The air echelon arrived at Honolulu at about 1130 hours on 15 February 1942 onboard the "USNT Grant". The B-26 Marauders were to be reassembled and tested ready for the 22nd Bomb Group air crew to fly them to Australia. They disembarked and caught a small train to Hickam Field where their tented barracks were located. The B-26s were sent to Hickam Field and re-assembled at the Hawaiian Air Depot. The first B-26 was almost finished about four days after their arrival in Hawaii, however a ground crew member made a mistake which caused the main gear to retract, damaging a propeller and bomb bay door. The B-26 was then used as a source for spare parts. It would take about a month before the B-26s were ready for the flight to Australia.

Another B-26 crash landed in the sea off Fort Kamehameha after an engine fire. Another B-26had a nose wheel break while being taxied by it Crew Chief. It was available again to fly to Australia after both engines and propellers were replaced. Another B-26 blew a cylinder head on 3 March 1942 requiring it to have an engine change.

The 22nd Bomb Group had shipped enough B-26s to allow all 57 air crews to fly to Australia even after allowing for the loss of two aircraft.

On 24 February 1942, the escorting destroyers of the convoy carrying the ground echelon to Australia dropped depth charges near the convoy and claimed to have sunk a Japanese submarine. Robert Levendusky, a 2nd Bomb Squadron combat crew member noted in his diary that a Japanese torpedo had missed their ship by a mere 8 feet. Japanese records indicate that there was no Japanese submarine sunk in that area.

The convoy arrived off Brisbane on 25 February 1942. The USAT Ancon led the way into Brisbane closely followed by the "USAT Hugh L. Scott" which docked next door to the USAT Ancon. The men of the 2nd, 19th and 33rd Bomb Squadrons disembarked and moved to their camp at Camp Ascot by truck. The men of the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron were trucked to their temporary barracks at the Rocklea State School at Salisbury in Brisbane. On 1 March 1942, the ground echelon of the 22nd Bomb Group moved by truck to a camp at Amberley Airfield where they assembled P-39 Airacobra, P-40 Warhawk fighters and A-24 dive bombers.

It would take about a month before the B-26s were ready for the long flight to Australia. The first flight of B-26s of the 19th Bomb Squadron were ready for the 5,100 mile flight to Australia on 15 March 1942. They were scheduled to depart on 16 March 1942. It was then planned to have three to six B-26s take off every day after that, until all 57 crews had left Hawaii. The Southwest Pacific air route from Hawaii left Hickam Field for Palmyra Atoll, then Canton Island, on to Nandi on Fiji, then Tontouta, New Caledonia and finally Archerfield Airfield in Brisbane. The 33rd, Headquarters, 2nd Bomb Squadrons and the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron were to follow the 19th Bomb Squadron to Australia in that order.

The 22nd Bomb Group was the first complete Air Group of men and aircraft to reach Australia. It was also the only Group totally equipped with B-26 Martin Marauders. Fifty one USAAF B-26 Marauders from the 22nd Light Bombardment Group started to arrive in Brisbane on 22 March 1942 on their way to Townsville. Two crashed into the sea near Palmyra and another one was lost somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The thirteen B-26s of the 19th Bomb Squadron left Hawaii in four elements over successive days starting on 16 March 1942. Each B-26 carried a "guest" Colonel who they believed carried gold credits to help pay the Philippine Guerillas. "A" Flight comprising four B-26s, took off at dawn on 16 March 1942. There were originally going to be five B-26s in the flight but one could not start its engines due to a battery failure.

The first B-26 Marauders of the Air Echelon started arriving at Archerfield airfield on 22 March 1942. The air crew stayed at Lennons Hotel that night and partied on. They then flew on to Amberley Airfield where their aircraft were serviced and any required maintenance was carried out. The last three 19th Bomb Squadron B-26s arrived at Amberley on 26 March 1942 after being delayed by mechanical problems. After a few days rest and some maintenance on their aircraft, the 19th Squadron B-26 Marauders flew up to Townsville on 28 March 1942. The 19th Squadron B-26 Martin Marauders taxied down Duckworth Street at high speed from Garbutt airfield to their new home at the northern side of the Stock Route Airfield on 28 March 1942 outside the home of the Cardell family (see photo below).

Duckworth Street was used as a taxiway between
Garbutt Airfield and the Stockroute Airfield

On 29 March 1942, orders were received for Frank Allen and John Cooper to fly to Perth in Western Australia to set up a torpedo training program for the 22nd Bomb Group. This later led to the establishment of a Torpedo Training School at Nowra in New South Wales, which the 22nd Bomb Group crews were rotated through. They flew to Amberley Airfield on 29 March 1942 and picked up B-26 Marauder #40-1409 that had been flown to Australia by Lt. Fletcher. Two days later on 31 March 1942, they flew to Sydney with co-pilot 2nd Lt. Robert S. Thompson piloting the aircraft. After landing at Mascot Airfield, Thompson asked Lt. Cooper to raise the flaps but he raised the landing gear instead. This led to one of the main gear legs on B-26 Marauder #40-1409 collapsing. The wing and propeller on the right side were both damaged and the B-26 Marauder was eventually salvaged. They picked up a replacement B-26 in Brisbane a few days later and resumed their flight to Perth.

On 5 April 1942, the ground echelon boarded trains for the slow journey north to Townsville. They arrived in Townsville on 7 April 1942. By that time, the Air Echelon had flown their first combat mission on 6 April 1942. The rest of the ground echelon arrived in Townsville in a large vehicle convoy.

On 6 April 1942, the 19th Bomb Squadron at the Stockroute Airfield conducted its first combat mission from the Townsville area. The last flight of four 2nd Bomb Squadron B-26s left Hickam Field on 9 April 1942 piloted by 1st. Lt. George R. Anderson, 1st. Lt. Otto B. McIver, 1st. Lt. John N. Ewbank, Jr., and 1st. Lt. John R. East. Two of the B-26s were delayed enroute due to mechanical problems but Anderson and McIver arrived at Amberley Airfield on 16 April 1942. 1st. Lt. John R. East was delayed at Palmyra until 21 April 1942 and finally flew into Amberley Airfield on 2 May 1942. 1st. Lt. John N. Ewbank, Jr., was held up at Noumea, New Caledonia waiting for some spare parts and finally arrived at Amberley Airfield on 22 April 1942.

After Larson's collision and another collision by 1st Lt. "Willy" Garnett of the 33rd Bomb Squadron (see below), Archerfield Airfield was closed for the rest of the day and the 22nd Bomb Group decided that all future B-26 arrivals from Hawaii would be into Amberley Airfield rather than Archerfield Airfield.

The first flight of three B-26s for the 33rd Bomb Squadron left Hickam Field, Hawaii on about 20 March 1942 piloted by 1st Lt. "Willy" Garnett, Lt. Ford and Lt. Kahle. They arrived at Archerfield Airfield in Brisbane on the morning of 25 March 1942. B-26 Marauder #40-1389 crashed after landing at Archerfield. "After skidding across wet grass, the Marauder clipped the tail of a DC3, took out a fence, crossed the road, and wiped out another fence before sticking her nose through a kitchen. Pilot: Lt. William A. Garnett." Lt Larson from the 19th Bomb Squadron was also involved in a collision at Archerfield on the same day (see above).

B-26 #40-1389 piloted by 1st Lt. William A. "Willy" Garnett,
the C.O. of 33rd Bomb Squadron, skidded into a house

Another five B-26s from the 33rd Bomb Squadron left Hickam Field on 22 March 1942. Lt. Jolly arrived at Amberley Airfield alone on 26 March 1942, followed by Lts. Almeida, Robinson, and Johnson on 27 March 1942. More B-26s arrived at Amberley Airfield on 29 and 30 March 1942. Lt. Gammon arrived at Amberley on 31 March 1942 and the last two 33rd Bomb Squadron B-26s piloted by Lt. Glenn and Lt. Oliver arrived on 2 April 1942. One B-26 of the 33rd Bomb Squadron piloted by 2nd Lt. Stewart Krauss disappeared during the long flight to Australia.

Five B-26s including three B-26s of Headquarters Squadron left Hickam Field at 0700 hours on 26 March 1942. The flight was led by Group Commander Lt. Col. Haskin with the Commanding Officer of HQs Squadron, 1st Lt. Hugh Manson on one wing and Lt. Leon "Gilly" Lewis on the other wing. Two B-26s of the 33rd Bomb Squadron piloted by Lts. Lanford and Coleman were also part of the five aircraft flight. Four of the B-26s arrived at Amberley Airfield on 29 March 1942. Coleman's B-26 arrived at Amberley the following day. The Headquarters Squadron aircraft stayed the night at Amberley and left for Townsville in north Queensland the following day.

Two other Headquarters Squadron aircraft piloted by Lts. Rockey and Hayes left over the next few days and attached themselves to flights from other squadrons. Lt. Rockey of Headquarters Squadron and Lt. Gammon of the 33rd Bomb Squadron arrived at Amberley on 30 March 1942. Lt. Hayes of HQs Squadron arrived at Amberley on 2 April 1942 accompanied by Lts. Crosson and Konopacki of the 2nd Bomb Squadron and Glenn and Oliver of the 33rd Bomb Squadron.

1st Lt. George A. Jacobi of the 2nd Bomb Squadron crashed on takeoff at Hickam Field on 29 March 1942 destroying his B-26 Marauder. A second B-26 caught fire at Bellows Field on the same day but the fire was quickly extinguished and the aircraft was repaired. The first flight of 2nd Bomb Squadron left Hickam Field in three B-26s on 28 March 1942 piloted by 1st Lt. Hubert J. Konopacki, 2nd Lt. Gerald J. "Gerry" Crosson and Lt. McLaren. They arrived at Amberley Airfield west of Brisbane on 2 April 1942. The second flight of six B-26s of the 2nd Bomb Squadron left Hawaii on 1 April 1942, piloted by 1st Lt. Richard R. Royal,, Jr., 2nd Lts. Arthur B. Wentzel and Charles I. Hitchcock, 1st Lt. George E. Sutton, and 2nd Lts. Carl R. Lancaster and Horace Palmer, Jr.

Lt Lancaster's B-26 could not find Palmyra on the first leg from Hickam and was forced to ditch. The B-26 split open near the Navigator's station and 2nd Lt. John D. Crawford, the navigator, was the only survivor. Another B-26 Marauder piloted by 2nd Lt. Horace Palmer, Jr. was never heard from and was declared missing. The remaining four B-26s were delayed at Palmyra for four days searching for the missing two crews. They left Palmyra on 5 April 1942 headed for Canton Island. They arrived at Amberley Airfield about mid afternoon on 12 April 1942.

It had been decided that the Headquarters Squadron of the 22nd Bomb Group including the five aircraft of Headquarters Squadron and the 13 Marauders of the 19th Bomb Squadron would be based at the 3,600 ft Stock Route Airfield which was located not far from Garbutt Airfield. Aircraft could taxy between Garbutt Airfield and the Stock Route Airfield using a gravel road called Duckworth Street. Lt. Bumgarner damaged the wingtip of his B-26 when he hit a pole whilst taxying along Duckworth Street. The 19th Bomb Squadron's Operations Tent at the Stock Route Airfield was located on a concrete slab which was originally the floor of a slaughter house. The 33rd Bomb Squadron was sent to Antil Plains Airfield and the 2nd and 408th Bomb Squadrons went to Reid River Airfield.

Antil Plains Airfield was located on a cattle station in open bush on the northern side of Antil Creek about 20 miles south of Townsville. Their campsite was located between the two runways. A tent camp was quickly established when the ground echelon arrived. Slit trenches and fox holes were dug and defensive positions were established with machine guns used to defend against ground attacks. Camouflage nets were used to hide the B-26s which were also dispersed amongst the trees. The area was very dusty and cattle were a hazard when aircraft were in use. The 33rd Bomb Squadron was in residence at Antil Plains for the next three months until heavy rains in June 1942 made the runways too soft for normal operations.

The Reid River Airfield with its three runways was a large mostly level area on the southern side of the Reid River adjacent to the same road and railway line that ran past the Antil Plains Airfield. A US Army Engineering Battalion had begun work on the Reid River Airfield a few days before the arrival of the 2nd Bomb Squadron at that airfield. By the end of the first week of April 1942, the ground echelon of the 2nd Bomb Squadron had reached the area, and had selected their camp site and were starting to erect their tent camp. Within a few days the first aircraft and crews began to arrive.

Most of the men of the ground echelon of the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron began to arrive in Townsville by train at 5am on 7 April 1942. They were initially housed in barracks under construction at Garbutt Airfield. After breakfast with the men of the 19th Bomb Squadron at the Stockroute Airfield, they started to unload their equipment. Colonel Haskins arrived by dark, when they were nearly finished unloading and he called a halt to the unloading.

After a meeting the next morning, all of the equipment was reloaded on to the train for the short journey to the dispersal base at Woodstock about 40 miles away. The next morning, the remainder of the ground echelon of the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron, about 70 men, arrived in trucks to setup camp at Woodstock. After lots of searching for a suitable site, they finally selected a site late that afternoon on a creek about five miles from the complex of three runways. They were almost completed unloading the trucks when Captain Markle from Group Headquarters told them to reload the trucks and relocate to Reid River Airfield!!

Owen R. Dooley, the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron Transportation Officer, proceeded to Reid River to locate a suitable camp site whilst the men were reloading the trucks yet again. He could not locate the US Army Engineering Officer who was in charge of construction of the Reid River Airfield. Dooley returned to Woodstock where he was advised at midnight that the squadron's equipment had arrived at Reid River Airfield and the "missing" Engineering Captain wanted it unloaded by 0600 hours the following morning.

The 18th Reconnaissance Squadron broke camp again early the next morning and by mid morning on 11 April 1942 they arrived at Reid River Airfield to find that their equipment had been unloaded in the wrong location!! The Engineering Officer thought he knew better and chose another location. With much practice of reloading and unloading under their belt, they relocated to the site they had selected, where they stayed for over a year. The rest of the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron arrived by train from Townsville the following day. Dooley travelled back to Woodstock on the same day (11 April 1942) to retrieve the rest of the Squadron's baggage. Whilst at Woodstock he saw a crashed P-39 Airacobra next to the road at the end of a runway. The deceased pilot, 2nd Lt. Bernard P. Gillingham, was still in the cockpit. He was the first American to be buried at the Townsville Cemetery.

The first flight of three B-26 Marauders of the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron from Reid River Airfield piloted by Lt. Col. Divine (Squadron C.O.), 2nd. Lt. Milton C. Barnard and Lt. Bob McCutcheon, left Hickam Field at 0700 hours on 12 April 1942. When they arrived at Canton Island on 13 April 1942, McCutcheon's B-26 blew a tyre while taxiing and was delayed at Canton Island. Divine and Barnard arrived at Amberley Airfield on 16 April 1942 and McCutcheon eventually arrived at Amberley on 1 May 1942.

The next flight of three B-26s from the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron took off from Hickam Field on 14 April 1942 but they were turned back just before the "point of no return" due to a report of a bad storm over Palmyra Island. They took off again three days later led by Lt. Ralph Michaelis with Lt. John Augustine and Lt. John C. O'Donnell in the other two B-26s. The autopilot on Michaelis's B-26 failed and he had to fly manually for the rest of the journey to Australia. Lt. Augustines's B-26 developed serious engine problems in the left engine after landing at Fiji and was forced to remain at Fiji. Michaelis and O'Donnell continued on and Michaelis arrived at Amberley on 20 April 1942 and discovered that what he thought was a failed autopilot was actually a rudder that was close to a major failure. O'Donnell arrived at Amberley a week later delayed by mechanical issues. After an engine repair at Fiji, Augustine finally limped into Amberley Airfield on 11 May 1942 where it underwent an immediate engine change.

"C" Flight of the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron left Hickam Field on 19 April 1942. The three pilots were Captain Shanty O'Neill, Lt. Dill Ellis and Lt. Marvin C. Hughes. They arrived at Amberley Airfield on 22 April 1942. By this time fifty B-26s of the 22nd Bomb Group had made it to Australia with another three lost enroute. The arrival of these fifty aircraft more than doubled the allied offensive air capability in the Southwest Pacific Area SWPA. Back on 18 March 1942, there were only 39 USAAF bombers including a dozen B-17 Flying Fortresses and twenty seven A-24 dive-bombers in the whole of Australia.

The 18th Reconnaissance Squadron at Reid River Airfield was redesignated as the 408th Bomb Squadron on 22 April 1942

By mid-May 1942 there were still four 18th Reconnaissance Squadron crews remaining at Hickam Field. At the end of May 1942, two B-26s of the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron were rushed to Midway. One aircraft crashed and the other was written off due to battle damage. After Midway there were still three crews and three B-26s left to fly to Australia. 2nd. Lt. Pren Moore piloted one of the original B-26s to Australia arriving at Amberley on 12 October 1942. He was accompanied by 1st. Lt. Paul E. Pollock who managed to obtain a B-26B Marauder for the long flight. On 14 October 1942, 1st. Lt. Rufus O. Miller landed at Amberley Airfield in one of the original B-26 Marauders.

The last B-26 Marauder at Hickam Field suffered serious mechanical problems which could not seem to be resolved. The pilot assigned to this problem aircraft was 1st. Lt. Chamblis Keith, who attempted a flight to Australian in October 1942 but had to return to Hawaii after fuel system issues on Canton Island. 1st. Lt. Chamblis Keith and his crew members eventually flew to Australia in a B-24 Liberator in mid November 1942. 1st. Lt. Keith later went on to become the Commanding Officer of the 408th Bomb Squadron. His troublesome B-26 was later belly landed on Hawaii and salvaged.

The 18th Reconnaissance Squadron and the 2nd Bomb Squadron both operated from Strip #1 at Reid River Airfield.

On 6 April 1942, about 9 days after the first B-26s arrived in Townsville, the 22nd Bomb Group successfully bombed Rabaul. This was the first B-26 Marauder combat mission during WWII. Ten B-26s were armed with four 500-lb demolition bombs each at Garbutt Airfield on 5 April 1942, and the aircraft were flown the four hour flight to Port Moresby so that they arrived late in the day just before dark to minimise the chance of being attacked on the ground by Japanese aircraft from Lae or Rabaul. After refuelling, the air crew would then sleep under or on the wings or near their aircraft ready to take off at dawn the next morning for the 600 mile bombing raid to Rabaul. There were no fighter escorts during the six hour round trip to Rabaul.

On the same day, the 3rd Bomb Group staged six B-25 Mitchells through Port Moresby to attack Gasmata.

One B-26 Marauder returned to Townsville with engine problems and a B-26 of the 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield piloted by 1st Lt. Richard W. Robinson was sidelined when it burst a tire when landing at Port Moresby. They had breakfast at 0100 hours on 6 April and eight B-26s took off just after 0300 hours. A B-26 from the 19th Bomb Squadron at the Stockroute Airfield and another from the 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield were unable to find the formation and eventually landed back at Port Moresby. That left six B-26s all from the 19th Bomb Squadron piloted by Lts. Reed, Bumgarner, Moye, Craft, Herron and Hatch. One of the B-26s piloted by Moye crashed in the water with fuel problems. One crew member was killed. The other five aircraft returned to Port Moresby by 1035 hours. Some of them only had about 10 minutes of fuel left. Four of them refuelled and managed to take off for Townsville before a Japanese air raid on Port Moresby.

The fifth B-26 piloted by Lt. Herron was still refuelling when an air raid alert was sounded. Herron took off as fast as he could and travelled a number of miles up the coast and circled for about and hour and returned to Port Moresby. They stayed there another night and the aircraft was damaged in another Japanese air raid the following day and was eventually salvaged.

Also on 6 April 1942, a 19th Squadron B-26 Marauder led a group of five P-39 Airacobras from Townsville to Horn Island.

The 22nd Bomb Group air crew were forced to service their own aircraft at Port Moresby until approximately 50 maintenance and service personnel from the 22nd Bomb Group were based at Port Moresby. They became known as the "Aerodrome Squadron". They were subject to many Japanese bombing raids whilst at Port Moresby and survived in unpleasant living conditions.

Most of the aircraft in that first bombing raid to Rabaul were from the 19th Bomb Squadron from the Stockroute Airfield. Whilst taxying from the Stock Route Airfield along Duckworth Street to Garbutt Airfield on 5 April 1942, the right wingtip of Lt. Walter Krell's B-26 clipped an upright piece of railway line which had been used as a telephone pole. It took his crew three days to repair the damage to his aircraft.

On 8 April 1942, three B-26s from Headquarters Squadron at the Stockroute Airfield and two aircraft from each of the other squadrons (a total of nine aircraft) departed Garbutt Airfield at various times that afternoon for Port Moresby for another bombing raid on Rabaul the following morning. Two of the HQs Squadron aircraft piloted by Lts. Richardson and Lewis arrived in Port Moresby however the 3rd aircraft piloted by 2nd Lt. Howard A. Hayes left Townsville later than the other two and was lost by the time it neared New Guinea. The navigator 2nd Lt. Harold P. Beck was not sure whether Port Moresby lay to the left or the right of their direction. They flew up and down the coastline for at least two hours.

When their fuel became dangerously low, Hayes jettisoned his bombs and found a clearing where he performed a wheels up landing. The bottom of the fuselage was torn open by two hidden logs. It slid for a long time before coming to rest. The crew scrambled from the wreckage and were surrounded by many natives all armed with large knives. The natives turned out to be friendly and the crew were soon dining on native fruits and vegetables. An Australian Patrol Officer arrived the next day and organised a Catalina to fly-in to rescue them. The PBY Catalina from 20 Squadron RAAF was unable to land due to rough conditions off the coast.

The Australian Officer then led them to a native village one mile away. They stayed at this village for the following nine days. During that time a salvage crew arrived at the crash site onboard the 89 foot sloop Matoma. Within a day the salvage crew had stripped the B-26 Marauder of all usable parts and equipment and took them onboard the Matoma which then took the crew to the village of Kerema several miles down the coast where they stayed for two days before reboarding Matoma for the 30-hour trip to Port Moresby. They stayed at an Australian Camp and were driven to Seven Mile Strip the next day and caught a ride in a B-26 returning to Townsville from a bombing raid. They arrived back in Townsville on 23 April 1942.

The other eight B-26s that had left Townsville on 8 April 1942 reached Port Moresby by early evening. They were delayed taking off the next morning until about mid morning. Four aircraft, each loaded with nineteen 100-pound demolition bombs, bombed the Japanese Navy bomber airfield at Vunakanau, about 12 miles southwest of Rabaul and three miles inland from the southwestern shore of Blanche Bay. The other four B-26s, each loaded with four 500-pound bombs, attacked Japanese ships in Simpson Harbour. The eight B-26s arrived back at Port Moresby by 1550 hours. All eight aircraft had returned to Townsville by early afternoon the following day.

On 10 April 1942, nine B-26s took off from Garbutt for another bombing raid. There were six B-26s from the 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield led by Lt. Robinson and three B-26s from the 19th Bomb Squadron from the Stockroute Airfield. They took off at 0900 hours the following morning for bombing raids on Vunakanau and Lakunai airfields along with any ships in Simpson Harbour. Only eight B-26s left Port Moresby and a 33rd Bomb Squadron aircraft from Antil Plains Airfield pulled out with generator problems. After a three-hour flight, two 33 Squadron B-26s attacked each of the two Japanese airfields. Damaged by flak over Lakunai Airfield and running low on fuel, B-26 Marauder #40-1418, piloted by 2nd Lt. Louis W. Ford crash landed on the Tufi Peninsula approximately 4 miles inland in the middle of Muso Swamp on 11 April 1942. It took the crew around 6 weeks to get back to Port Moresby.

Lts. Stanwood and Hatch reported sighting a Japanese aircraft carrier at Rabaul on 11 April 1942. What they had seen was the Kasuga Maru, a 17,830-ton passenger liner which Japan had converted into their first auxiliary aircraft carrier in 1941. It had arrived at Rabaul on 11 April 1942 carrying 24 Zeros to partially re-equip Tainan Kokutai. Another ship, the Goshu Maru had arrived at Rabaul on 3 April 1942, with 12 dis-assembled Zeros. At dawn on 12 April 1942, three 19th Bomb Squadron B-26s from the Stockroute Airfield, armed with quarter-ton demolition bombs took off from Port Moresby to attack the Japanese Aircraft carrier at Rabaul. Led by Lt. Herron, they dropped nine bombs over Simpson Harbour after a three hour flight. They claimed a direct hit on the stern of the aircraft carrier. Four other bombs were nominated as "very near misses". The three B-26s were back at Port Moresby by midday.

Townsville Operations scrambled four more B-26s, one from HQs Squadron and three from the 19th Bomb Squadron, (all from the Stockroute Airfield), from Garbutt Airfield well before dawn on 12 April 1942. They refuelled at Port Moresby and took off before 0930 hours and headed for Rabaul. One aircraft encountered hydraulic problems and was forced to return to Port Moresby. The other three led by Lt. Richardson continued on to Rabaul.

They arrived over Simpson Harbour and there was no sign of the aircraft carrier so they bombed the other ships in the harbour and some of the harbour installations. As the B-26s left the area, they spotted the aircraft carrier Kasuga Maru steaming away through St. George's Channel. Neither of the two raids on Rabaul on 12 April 1942 caused any casualties or significant damage on the ground. The Marauders returned to Townsville by the 13 April 1942.

The 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield sent three B-26 Marauders on an armed reconnaissance to Rabaul on 15 April 1942. This time they flew the 1800-mile return trip to Rabaul all in the one day. They left Garbutt Airfield in Townsville before dawn. Lt. Kahle returned to Garbutt with a faulty fuel transfer pump. Lts. Johnson and Gammon arrived at Port Moresby after a 3-hour flight where their aircraft were refuelled and the crew rested for about an hour. They arrived over Simpson Harbour at 0830 hours and sighted seven transports, a cruiser and a medium sized transport steaming 30 miles south of Cape St. George. The two B-26s made separate attacks from 3,000 to 5,500 feet dropping their quarter-ton bombs.

Gammon's bombs missed the transport ships and hit the wharf area possibly damaging some buildings. Johnson appeared to have hit a medium sized motor vessel which trailed some smoke. Johnson's crew claimed a "near miss" and one "direct hit". The B-26s were back in Townsville on 16 April 1942.

The 22nd Bomb Group scheduled a squadron-size attack on Rabaul for midday on 18 April 1942. The Komaki Maru had arrived in Rabaul a few days earlier on 16 April 1942 carrying most of Tainan Kokutai aircraft. The Japanese were still unloading the men and equipment of this Japanese Navy fighter wing when the B-26 Marauders of the 22nd Bomb Group arrived on 18 April 1942.

Late on the afternoon of 17 April 1942, eight B-26s from the 33rd Bomb Squadron at Antil Plains arrived at Garbutt Airfield to load bombs. Two of them were scrubbed from the mission due to mechanical problems. The other six aircraft of the 33rd Bomb Squadron took off for an overnight stay at Port Moresby. They were led by the Squadron C.O. Lt. Willy Garnett. There was one other B-26 piloted by Lt. Lewis from Headquarters Squadron form the Stockroute Airfield and another piloted by Lt. Powell from the 19th Bomb Squadron, also from the Stockroute Airfield.

They took off from Port Moresby at approximately 0800 hours. Lewis, Almeida and Powell turned back before reaching Rabaul due to stormy weather. This left Lts. Garnett, Robinson and Glenn to finish the bombing raid on Rabaul Harbour and the adjacent Lakunai Airfield. Lt. Garnett had trouble getting his engines started at Port Moresby. After an hour's delay he left Port Moresby and tried to catch up with the other aircraft before they reached Rabaul.

B-26 Marauder #401486 piloted by Lt. Robinson dropped its 100-pound bombs on Lakunai Airfield and hit four parked Zeros and possibly some other aircraft on the runway. Some Anti-aircraft guns, a moored flying boat, a heavy bomber and some small ships were successfully strafed.

Lt. Kahle flew at about 1,000 feet over a small Japanese transport in Simpson Harbour and then over a larger ship, the Komaki Maru, moored to a jetty. Kahle's bombardier PFC David C. Lowe dropped his 500-pound bombs and scored a direct hit on the small Japanese transport ship and two near misses on the Komaki Maru.

As Robinson and Kahle left the target area they saw Lt. Garnett being chased over the harbour by two Japanese Zeros. Lt Garnett and his crew and B-26 were never seen again during the war. After the war, two crew members were released from a Japanese POW camp. After Garnett had dropped his bombs Lt. Jun-ichi Sasai attacked the B-26 setting one of its engines on fire. The flames spread quickly and Garnett's B-26 Marauder crashed.

Before it crashed, Corporal Sanger E. Reed, the Engineer on the B-26, who was operating the tail gun, managed to fire some shots at the two Zeros. S/Sgt Theron K. Lutz, the radio operator was manning the waist guns, and Cpl Reese S. Davies was in the gun turret. Davies' guns only fired one round and jammed. Reed fired at one of the Zeros which seemed to smoke a bit and then turned away. Reed and Lutz parachuted from the burning B-26 Marauder. Reed landed in a coconut grove on a hill near the beach, hid his parachute and headed for the shore. Reed saw Lutz out in the water but was captured by a Japanese patrol as he ran along the beach. Lutz was rescued by a native outrigger canoe.

A Japanese soldier stated that the Komaki Maru received a direct hit and fifty 800-kg bombs exploded together. The Tainan Kokutai had 11 men killed or missing and 31 wounded. Three men from the 4th Kokutai were slightly injured. 10 of the ships crew were killed or missing and 11 others injured. Lt Kahle's attack had done more damage than all of the other 22nd Bomb Group attacks against Rabaul for that month. The Komaki Maru settled in the mud and was later used as part of the jetty.

Seven B-26s left Garbutt Airfield in Townsville after bombing up with 500-lb bombs and arrived at Port Moresby on the afternoon of 18 April 1942. There were three aircraft from the 2nd Bomb Squadron at Reid River Airfield piloted by Lts. McClaran, Hitchcock and Wentzel, three aircraft from the 19th Bomb Squadron from the Stockroute Airfield piloted by Lts. Bumgarner, Larson and Ray and one aircraft from the 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield piloted by Lt. Coleman. They teamed up with Lt. Gilly Lewis of Headquarters Squadron from the Stockroute Airfield who was already at Port Moresby.

Five B-26s took off at 0830 hours on 19 April 1942 closely followed by two more aircraft a few minutes later. Larson's aircraft was scrubbed from the mission and returned to Townsville with mechanical problems.

The B-26 formation was spotted by the crew of one of five Japanese Betty bombers over the Solomon Sea off New Britain's Wide Bay. The chance of a surprise attack on Rabaul was ruined. As the B-26s approached St. George's Channel another Betty bomber fired approximately 600 rounds at the formation inflicting no apparent damage.

Nine Japanese Zeros were waiting for the B-26 formation in the Rabaul area. Lt Ray's bombs had to be salvoed, whilst Lewis and Hitchcock could not get their bombs to release properly. McClaran bombing run produced two misses and Bumgarner completely missed the target. Lt. Coleman started some large fires when he attacked the buildings and runways at Lakunai Airfield. Coleman then proceeded to strafe moored flying boats in the harbour possibly damaging two of them. Wentzel missed a ship with one of his bombs and straddled a second ship with two other bombs.

Lt Bumgarner in B-26 "Martin's Misscarriage" fell behind the others on their way back to Port Moresby and was being attacked by a number of Zeros. Lt. Ray dropped back to help Bumgarner.

Bumgarner put his B-26 into a steep dive to outrun the Zeros as he traversed St. Georges Channel. One of the Zeros put an explosive 20-mm shell into their right propeller hub and another into the cockpit. A piece of this second shell shattered Bumgarner's left ankle. The elevators on the B-26 were locked in the neutral position and they had no control of the rpm on the right engine. The right propeller gradually feather itself as they approached Moresby. They used the elevator trims tabs in reverse as delayed action elevators.

The co-pilot Barry Burnside managed to switch seats with Bumgarner and flew the B-16 back to Port Moresby. The navigator, 2nd Lieutenant John T. McChesney used a hunting knife to remove Bumgarner's shoe and then tightly bandaged his foot. When they tried to lower the landing gear over Port Moresby they found that a hydraulic line in the nose wheel well had been cut. They locked the landing gear in its partly-down position and decided to do a go-around.

The landing gear came down during their longer flatter approach with help from the wind and under its own weight. The co-pilot and pilot snapped a small cable connected to the auto pilot to break the elevators loose. They landed with a thud which flipped the nose gear down and forward into the locked position. Fortunately they rolled to a stop at the end of the runway as they had no brakes. They rushed Bumgarner to the nearest hospital in the ambulance that had been waiting at the end of the runway. He spent the next three months recuperating in four different hospitals.

The B-26 Marauder gunners were credited with shooting down six of the twelve Zeros that attacked the B-26 formation. However Japanese records show that none of the Zeros were lost or even damaged!

The B-26s spent the night at Port Moresby and they left early the next morning for the flight back to Townsville. Martin's Miscarriage had a prop motor replaced and temporary repairs to the hydraulic system and damaged wiring before it left several hours later. It arrived back in Townsville at dark after running into some bad weather.

B-26 Marauder, #40-1419 of 2nd Bomb Squadron from Reid River Airfield piloted by 1st Lt. Arthur E. Wentzel, did not make it back to Townsville as it ditched into the sea off Palm Island near Townsville, on 21 April 1942 en route from Port Moresby to Garbutt Airfield. The aircraft developed engine trouble and crashed into the sea at about 0925 hours. Flying Officer Kenneth Lloyd (RAAF), a passenger, was the sole survivor. Those killed were:-

Lt. Col. Divine had arrived at Amberley Airfield on 16 April 1942 and immediately flew on to Townsville. He was briefed by RAAF Headquarters in Townsville and stayed the night in a local Townsville Hotel with other Group officers. He received further briefings at 22nd Bomb Group Headquarters at Garbutt Airfield the next morning, then had a meeting with General Brett who was visiting Townsville at the time. Divine then flew over to the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron's camp at Reid River Airfield on the afternoon of 19 April 1942.

Two 18th Reconnaissance Squadron aircraft were ordered to be at Garbutt Airfield by 0800 hours on 20 April 1942. After a two hour delay due to bad weather Lt. Col. Divine and Lt. Barnard arrived at Garbutt Airfield and were briefed for their armed photo recce flight to New Britain the following day. They were scheduled to be woken at 0100 hours at Port Moresby the following morning 21 April 1942 for an 0330 hours takeoff.

Lt. Col. Divine and Lt Barnard were scheduled to take off at around the same time as a nine-aircraft bombing mission to Rabaul. The fist of those nine aircraft started taking off at about 0300 hours and Divine and Barnard were due to take off 45 minutes later with a flight of 33rd Bomb Squadron aircraft from Antil Plains Airfield.

A nine-aircraft bombing mission to Rabaul via Port Moresby started to take off from Garbutt Airfield at approximately 0300 hours on 21 April 1942. The B-26 flown by Lt. Almeida took off the end of the runway but at 200 feet it appeared to slide sideways and crashed into the trees and caught fire off the end of the runway. Less than a minute later one of the two 1,000-lb bombs exploded in the fire totally destroying the wrecked aircraft and killing the whole crew. The cause of this tragic crash was unknown.

War Correspondent Pat Robinson with the International News was on a 33rd Bomb Squadron B-26 from Antil Plains Airfield. He noticed that the runway at Garbutt Airfield was lit by only a small number of ground flares. When he saw the large red glow in the sky he initially thought it must have been a bush fire. The 1,000-lb bomb and other ammunition exploding made him realise that one of the aircraft had tragically crashed killing all onboard.

The aircraft that had already taken off were recalled to Garbutt and the Rabaul mission was called off.

Lt,. Col. Divine decided to proceed with their planned recce to New Britain in spite of the tragic loss of Lt. Almeida and his crew in the early hours of 21 April 1942. The two 18th Reconnaissance Squadron aircraft eventually took off from Garbutt Airfield at about 0500 hours. They arrived at Port Moresby in the middle of the regular morning air raid. They loitered for a while, then landed and refuelled and took off again and headed for Stockholm Plantation on the western end of New Britain. On arrival over the target, they bombed, strafed and photographed the area with no opposition from the Japanese. They were unable to carryout their other photographic mission at Rabaul as they were low on fuel and had to return to Port Moresby. As they were crossing the Owen Stanley range on their way back, the weather closed in and they only just managed to get through landing at Port Moresby with only 100 gallons of fuel left.

The two B-26s stayed overnight at Port Moresby. That night they discovered a fuel leak on Barnard's aircraft. Divine ordered Barnard to return to Townsville the next day. Divine took off the next morning for his photo recce mission. The weather was too bad over western New Britain so he diverted to Madang, then to Lae taking photos at 10,000 feet through the breaks in the clouds. The Japanese anti-aircraft guns fired a few unsuccessful shots at them. Divine then flew over Salamaua where he took his last photos of the mission. His photos showed the presence of 15 Japanese aircraft on the ground at Lae Airfield.

It was on this day, 22 April 1942, that the 18th Reconnaissance Squadron at Reid River Airfield was redesignated as the 408th Bombardment Squadron and was formally incorporated into the 22nd Bomb Group. Now that the squadron was officially part of the 22nd Bomb Group, this created an issue, as Lt. Col. Divine was senior by date of rank, to the then 22nd Bomb Group Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Haskin. The situation was resolved by transferring Lt. Col. Haskin to another command in the SWPA and making Lt. Col. Divine the new 22nd Bomb Group Commanding Officer. Shanty O'Neill then took over as CO of the 408th Bomb Squadron at Reid River Airfield.

At 0830 hours on 23 April 1942, Lt. Col. Divine left 7 mile Airfield at Port Moresby for Townsville. On board he had a special passenger in Deputy Chief of the Australian General Staff, General George A. Vasey. Divine took off behind seven of the eight B-26s taking off on their bombing raid on Rabaul on 23 April 1942 (see below).

The mission that was called off due to the crash of Almeida's aircraft in Townsville was rescheduled and during the early afternoon of 22 April 1942, three B-26s from the 19th Bomb Squadron from the Stockroute Airfield and five from the 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield left Townsville for Port Moresby. Four B-26s were each carrying two 1,000-lb demolition bombs, while the others carried a dozen or more clusters of 40 six-pound thermite sticks. They arrived at Port Moresby late on the afternoon of 22 April 1942. Their target was Japanese shipping in Simpson Harbour and merchant ships berthed at the wharves plus the adjacent dock installations.

Seven of the eight B-26s took off before 0830 hours on 23 April 1942. Lt. Glenn's aircraft stayed behind with mechanical issues. Hap Jolly of the 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield was in charge of the mission to Rabaul. Lt. Oliver of the 33rd Bomb Squadron from Antil Plains Airfield lost formation after takeoff and returned to Port Moresby. The right engine on Jolly's aircraft was starting to cut out. He landed at 3 Mile Airfield and burst the left main tyre on touch down.

The remaining six aircraft headed northeast across the Solomon Sea to Gasmata, located in the south central coast of New Britain. They then planned to head inland then turn northeast overland towards the target. This was a different approach to previous missions in an attempt to avoid early detection. Halfway across the Solomon Sea, a weather front closed in, leading to two B-26 flights to lose visual contact with each other. One report stated that three 33rd Bomb Squadron aircraft from Antil Plains Airfield turned back to Port Moresby at that stage. However another report stated that at least two of them independently reach the Rabaul area and dropped four 1,000-lb bombs from about 8,000 feet.

The three 19th Bomb Squadron aircraft from the Stockroute Airfield navigated to the target area by dead reckoning. Their leader, Chris Herron, broke free of the clouds near his objective but the target area was still partially obscured by an overcast sky. When he got his bearings after a break in the clouds he realised they had tracked to the northeast of Simpson Harbour. They dived down from 7,000 feet to just above the height of the masts of the Japanese ships at the main wharf area, which were being unloaded. There were seven large ships and a number of other smaller vessels. The B-26s dropped 57 incendiary bundles across the ships and a timber yard and their gunners strafed the warehouses. The Japanese were caught by surprise. One of the medium transport ships was seen to be emitting some smoke and one of the warehouses caught fiire.

Anti-aircraft guns eventually opened fire and three or four Zeros from Tainan Kokutai which were on a patrol in the harbour area arrived on the scene and attacked the B-26 Marauders. Private Alvin M. Ethridge, the turret gunner on Lt. Walter Krell's "Kansas Comet #2" was awarded one kill.

While the 22nd Bomb Group was attacking Rabaul on 23 April 1942, the Japanese made two air raids on Port Moresby dropping six tons of bombs on the middle of the strip at Seven Mile Airfield and surrounding areas. An hour later three Zeros carried out a strafing run slightly damaging a 3rd Bomb Group A-24 dive bomber was it was landing with the C.O. of 75 Squadron on board. He had been rescued after being shot down.

The Marauders that had returned to Port Moresby from the Rabaul Raid of 23 April, stayed overnight in Port Moresby to carryout an early morning raid on Lae on 24 April 1942. Six B-26 Marauders led by Lt. Col. Haskin started to take off at 0600 hours. They ran into bad weather over the Owen Stanley Ranges and the mission was cancelled and the B-26s returned to Port Moresby. Whilst planning another raid to Lae for later that day, another Japanese air raid was identified approaching Port Moresby. Four of the B-26s scrambled to avoid the twelve incoming Japanese Zeros. Six of the Zeros attacked the 75 Squadron Kittyhawks that scrambled to intercept the Zeros. The Zeros had no success. The other six Zeros spotted six bombers, 15 P-40s and one P-39 Airacobra in the air. The Japanese claimed nine kills - five P-40s, one P-39, and two B-26s and another P-40 as a probable. They also claimed a Catalina in the harbour which caught fire and burnt out.

One of the B-26s claimed by the Japanese was "Hell's Angel" piloted by Lt. Kersting. Three of the B-26s in the air decided to return to Townsville arriving there that evening. The other B-26s stayed overnight at Port Moresby. Two of the B-26s were delayed by mechanical problems the next morning and were caught on the ground during another Japanese strafing attack on Port Moresby. Lt. Glenn's B-26 was hit whilst refuelling and caught fire and was destroyed. The other B-26 was damaged during the Japanese attack. Lt. Glenn was hit in the rear by a bullet fragment whilst taking photos of the raid with his camera.

Six B-26s were scheduled to leave Townsville for Port Moresby on 27 April 1942 for a bombing raid, possibly on Lae, on 28 April 1942. The six B-26s remained grounded at Garbutt Airfield due to bad weather and the mission was postponed for a day.

On 28 April 1942, radio messages from Port Moresby advised that Seven Mile Airfield was under attack from the Japanese so the four B-26s enroute to Port Moresby were recalled to Garbutt Airfield. Three aircraft successfully returned to Garbutt Airfield but Lt. Greer did not received the message and overnighted in Port Moresby and returned to Townsville the next morning.

On the afternoon of 29 April 1942, eleven aircraft from all the squadrons of the 22nd Bomb Group, except the 33rd Bomb Squadron were scheduled to take off from Townsville for a raid on Lae on 30 April 1942. Two failed to leave Townsville due to mechanical problems.

The other nine aircraft stayed overnight at Port Moresby. Overnight six aircraft were sidelined due to mechanical issues. Four of these six returned to Townsville via Horn Island, another was forced down near Innisfail and another one only made it to Horn Island. The three remaining serviceable aircraft piloted by Lts. Herron, Hatch and Ray of the 19th Bomb Squadron from the Stockroute Airfield continued on with the dawn attack on Lae.

The three B-26s dropped more than fifty 100-lb demolition bombs from 600 feet over Lae Airfield. Lt. Herron in "Diana's Demon" attacked a line of 20 to 30 Japanese aircraft. Herron claimed that all his bombs landed in a row within ten feet of the Japanese aircraft causing fires and secondary explosions. Lt. Ray in "Lil' Rebel" did not hit any obvious targets with his bomb load, whilst Lt. Hatch in "Dixie" hit just behind a Japanese twin-engined bomber, and another stick of ten bombs realising four direct hits amongst a group of five Japanese aircraft.

One Zero was burned on the ground, and another was badly damaged. Four other Zeros and a Betty bomber suffered shrapnel damage or bullet holes. Four 19th Bomb Group B-17 Flying Fortresses also bombed Lae Airfield later that same day.

The three B-26s that attacked Lae stopped over at Horn Island on their way back to Townsville on 30 April 1942 to refuel. On that same day eight Betty bombers from the 4th Kokutai left Rabaul early that morning to attack Horn Island. They rendezvoused with six Zeros near Lae about 2 hours 45 minutes into their flight. Less than two hours later whilst approaching Horn Island, two Zeros were sent ahead and they spotted two P-39s and two B-26s leaving Horn Island to avoid the Japanese attack. The two Zeros decided to attack the nearest B-26 Marauder.

Lt. Larson in #40-1363 was one of the six B-26s which had suffered mechanical problems and aborted the Lae raid and were on their way back to Townsville. They only made it as far as Horn Island. They were informed of the incoming Japanese aircraft and decided to make their bombs safe and drop them on the ground so they could take off quickly after the bombs were rolled away by ground crew. The other three B-26s that had attacked Lae had already taken off by this time. They had trouble with their nose gear after they took off from Horn Island. It was only part way up. S/Sgt Albert L. Catallo with a rope tied around his waist leaned own into the nose wheel well and successfully pulling up the nose gear into the locked position. This was the second time he had performed this dangerous procedure.

They were still at a low air speed and were not aware that the Japanese Zeros had arrived in the area. Their tail gunners were flight engineers and the waist/tunnel gunners were radio operators but during landing and takeoffs they were normally in the forward crew compartment, so the guns were unmanned that that time. The turret gunner Sgt. John S. Jones was charging his guns when the Zeros pounced on them. Jones shot down one of the Zeros and kept the pilot Larson informed of what was happening.

A 20-mm shell hit their B-26 in the bulkhead area between the forward and rear bomb bays whilst they were still at about 1,000 feet. The power went full forward and Larson managed to recover the aircraft. Three Zeros continued to attack their B-26, but they eventually withdrew and started to strafe Horn Island Airfield ahead of the Betty bombers arriving over the airfield. The Betty bombers dropped eighty 60-kg bombs on the main runway at Horn Island Airfield.

The Japanese raid on Horn Island destroyed a Wirraway on the ground, damaged another and one soldier was killed. None of the Betty bombers were damaged and one Zero was hit by a single bullet.

During May 1942, pilots and air crew from the 19th Bomb Group who had been fling B-17 Flying Fortresses in the Philippines joined the 22nd Bomb Group. On 1 May 1942, an evacuation flight from Mindanao landed at Batchelor Airfield in the Northern Territory carrying:-

The four pilots were assigned to the 33rd Bomb Squadron at Antil Plains Airfield.

By the start of May 1942 amenities at the bush airfields were well established. During a brief inspection tour of his old unit at Reid River Airfield, Colonel Divine noted that the 408th Bomb Squadron's Officers Club was a crude log cabin structure with a canvas roof. It had a bar, electric lights, radio, telephone and table and chairs. The men took turns manning the bar.

Seven B-26 Marauders flew from Townsville to 7 mile Airfield at Port Moresby during late afternoon on 30 April 1942. Each squadron supplied one aircraft except for the 2nd Bomb Squadron which contributed three aircraft. Their proposed target was Vunakanau Airfield at Rabaul. The B-26s carried either incendiary clusters or 100-lb bombs. Just before 0730 hours on 1 May 1942 aircraft began to take off. Four aircraft aborted from the mission due to either electrical or hydraulic problems. They returnedd to Townsville as soon as possible. This left the following aircraft for the bombing raid:-

Bad weather over New Britain forced them to change their target to Gasmata on the south coast of New Britain. They bombed various installations and a wireless station and then strafed the airfield area. They did not encounter and ant-aircraft fire or Japanese fighter aircraft. They returned to Port Moresby before lunch time. They were ordered to stay overnight in Port Moresby to carryout another bombing raid the following day.

Lts Lewis, Hitchcock and Coleman who had taken part in the Gasmata raid on 1 May 1942 were joined later that night or early in the morning of 2 May 1942, by Lts Herron, Hatch, Krell, Burnside and Ewbank who had flown in from Townsville. Squadron Leader Charles Raymond Gurney (160), the C.O. of 33 Squadron RAAF was flying as co-pilot for Lt. Herron. S/Ldr Gurney was a former Qantas Flying Boat Captain. He was familiarising himself with the area and the 22nd Bomb Group's operations.

Lt. Ray arrived from Townsville too late to join the mission and Lt. Lewis was delayed by mechanical problems. Seven B-26s took off in a hurry due to an imminent Japanese bombing raid on Port Moresby. Lt Herron was lead the first flight and Lt Coleman the second flight. Unfortunately Lt Herron became separated fro his flight and pressed on to Rabaul on his own. The other aircraft approached Rabaul from a different direction to earlier raids, which seemed to confuse the Japanese. They came under heavy anti-aircraft gun fire and pom pom gun fire from ships in Simpson Harbour.

Herron arrived over the target by himself. The 22nd Bomb Group aircraft dropped two 1,000-lb bombs, and twenty quarter-ton bombs against ships in Simpson Harbour and buildings near the wharves. The crews reported direct hits on a transport ship and a few buildings at the wharves plus three near misses within 50 feet of another transport ship. Lt. Larson's bombardier had to salvo his bombs when they failed to release during a bombing run on a transport ship. Lt. Hatch's B-26 continued on after being hit in the right wing and engine nacelle. Herron was hit by enemy gunfire and lost partial use of one of his engines.

The B-26s left the area chased aggressively by eight Japanese Zeros for 40 to 50 miles. Herron was unable to maintain altitude on only one fully-functioning engine. He was also being buffeted by a violent rain storm. He ordered the crew to ditch everything possible to lighten the aircraft. Herron managed to reach Kiriwina Island about 100 miles north of the eastern tip of New Guinea. Herron told his radio operator to message Port Moresby Operations to advise their situation. Squadron Leader Gurney realising that the message was sent in unencoded plain text, had the radio operator send another message to Port Moresby which read "Making a forced landing where Francine used to live". Both Gurney and the Australian Operations staff at Port Moresby knew a lady named Francine who lived on Kiriwina. Rescuers would then know where to start their search.

Herron selected an area which looked like a large open paddock, lowered his landing gear and attempted a wheels down emergency landing. The large open paddock was actually a marsh. The nose wheel immediately dug in and sheared off, flipping the B-26 on its back. Lt Herron and S/Ldr Gurney were trapped in the partially crushed cockpit area as the aircraft slowly sunk in the marsh. The five crew members who had braced themselves in the rear of the aircraft escaped with minor injuries and attempted to rescue the two pilots. Standing in waist deep swampy water, they desperately hacked and tore at the fuselage to try to free Lt. Herron. They badly lacerated their hands and arms in the process. Herron was wedged upside down in his seat with the water rising slowly. They could see that Gurney had already died. Herron drowned before they were able to help him. Prior to that he had asked whether the rest of the crew were all OK. The surviving crew members covered the cockpit area with Herron's parachute. The survivors were eventually picked up by an RAAF Catalina and flown to Port Moresby.

Lt Herron had recently been appointed as Commanding Officer of 19th Bomb Squadron at the Stockroute Airfield but had not heard the news before his untimely death. The airfield at Milne Bay at the eastern end of New Guinea was named Gurney Airfield in honour of Squadron Leader Charles Raymond Gurney (160) RAAF.

Japanese records show a different result. There were in fact three Claudes and four Zeros. None of these aircraft were lost and no damaged was reported to the Japanese ships in Simpson Harbour.

B-26 Marauder #40-1429, piloted by Lt. Greer, was delayed at 7 Mile Airfield overnight with mechanical issues. All the other aircraft in the bombing raid on Rabaul returned to Townsville that afternoon. Greer's B-26 was destroyed on the ground at 7 Mile the next day during a Japanese attack.

On 3 May 1942, six B-26 Marauders from HQs, 2nd and 408th Bomb Squadrons led by Lt Col Haskin left Garbutt Airfield with a full bomb load and arrived at Seven Mile Airfield later that afternoon for a bombing raid on Lae. A seventh B-26 Marauder was forced to return to Reid River Airfield with mechanical problems. During the briefing at Port Moresby on the morning of 4 May 1942 their target was changed to Vunakanau Airfield, at Rabaul.

As they approached the pass through the Owen Stanley Ranges, the weather turned for the worse and the flight if three aircraft of the 408th Bomb Squadron from Reid River, lost sight of the leading flight. They regrouped over New Britain and flew to a location 40 miles north west of Rabaul. As they reached the target they were flying in scattered clouds. They dropped down to 1,500 feet and jettisoned their bombs on 18 Japanese aircraft parked in a row on the airfield. They flew through a curtain of Anti-aircraft and machine gun fire. They claimed several direct hits on the Japanese aircraft and started many fires. They made a second strafing run across the airfield then headed for some rain squalls in an attempt to hide from the six Japanese fighters that were on their tails.

They returned to Port Moresby where they refuelled and flew back to their base at Reid River Airfield outside of Townsville. Japanese record show that five Nells were hit on the ground by machine gun bullets or shrapnel and were not badly damaged. Two fuel trucks and fifty drums of fuel and a utility truck were burned and one Japanese soldier was wounded.

Ten B-26 Marauders of the 22nd Bomb Group left Garbutt Airfield on 7 May 1942 to search for the Japanese invasion fleet. Some B-26s returned to Garbutt Airfield due to mechanical problems and some aborted the mission when they were advised that Port Moresby was closed probably due to another Japanese air raid. Only three B-26s of the 408th Bomb Squadron at Reid River Airfield made it through to Port Moresby. At sunrise on 8 May 1942, the three B-26s piloted by Captain Ellis, and Lts. Michaelis and O'Donnell took off to search for the Japanese fleet.

They located a large group of ships near the islands at the eastern end of New Guinea and climbed to bombing altitude. The ships took evasive action and anti-aircraft fire started to impact on the B-26s. The crews of the B-26s then noticed other unidentified aircraft attacking the ships below, which left them uncertain about the nationality of the ships. They decided to not release their bombs and continued on with their search for the Japanese fleet. A few weeks later in Brisbane, Lt. O'Donnell learnt that the ships was a force of Australian cruisers that were under attack from Japanese aircraft. Apparently some time later the Royal Australian Navy claimed that the B-26s attempted to bomb their ships but caused no damage.

Also on 8 May 1942 a further seven B-26 Marauders left Garbutt Airfield and headed for a location where a Japanese convoy was reported to be steaming towards Port Moresby. The B-26s spotted no Japanese ships.

Five B-26 Marauders flying out of Seven Mile Airfield on 9 May 1942 spotted what was believed to be Japanese ships in the DeBoyne Islands near the eastern end of New Guinea.

There were many more bombing raids carried out
by the 22nd Bomb Group from airfields in Australia

Until 24 May 1942, the 22nd Bomb Group, still based in Townsville, staged through Jackson's Strip, 7 miles from Port Moresby, concentrating their attacks on Rabaul. The last combat mission against Rabaul for the 22nd Bomb Group was on 27 May 1942. After that Mitchell bombers were used by the USAAF to attack Rabaul. During these raids on Rabaul they lost seven B-26 Marauders. They then continued their bombing missions from Townsville against Lae.

The 40th Squadron of the 35th Fighter Group moved in with the 36th Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group at Antil Plains on 17 April 1942. Within a very few days, the 36th Squadron packed up and departed for Port Moresby. Within walking distance of the 40th Squadron's camp was an airfield (pasture?) being used by the 33rd Bomb Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group. Teddy W. Hanks of the 40th Squadron knew one of the gunners in the 33rd Bomb Squadron and soon located him. Teddy's friend explained that it took three days for them to make a strike against the enemy:-

After this, they lost another seven aircraft in Australia during training flights. This included a ditching near Palm Island on 21 April 1942.

On 9 June 1942, B-26 Marauder, #40-1363, (Flying Cross" or "Rum Runner") of the 33rd Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group based at Woodstock, experienced undercarriage problems, and belly landed at Jacksons field, in New Guinea. They had just raided Japanese positions at Lae. Group C.O. Lt. Dwight Divine is standing on the aircraft on the left and pilot Pierre Powell is on the right. Divine took over the controls and made a perfect wheels up landing with both engines dead and props feathered. They were able to fly the B-26 back to their home base at Woodstock the next day with the engine bay tied up with wire. It was then flown to Tocumwal RAAF Air Depot for proper repairs, after which it was flown to Essendon, Melbourne where it is believed to have been used for administrative flights by (Col.?) Haskin. It is at this point it would have been named the "Rum Runner".

Future American President, Lyndon B. Johnson went on the above same raid. He travelled from Townsville to Port Moresby by B-17. The raid was delayed by an hour waiting for the VIP's that were to accompany them on the raid. The VIP's were Congressman Com. Lyndon Baynes Johnson (USN), General Marquat, Col. G. Anderson (Gen Staff), Lt. Col. Dwight Divine II and Lt. Col. Francis R. Stevens

Lyndon Johnson was initially assigned to Lt. Bench's aircraft, "The Virginian" #40-1508. But he apparently left the aircraft to retrieve his camera and on return he found that Lt. Col. Francis R. Stevens had taken his place on "The Virginian". Lyndon Johnson then changed aircraft from "The Virginian" to Arkie Greer's "Heckling Hare", #40-1488 just before he took off on the mission from 7 Mile airfield in Port Moresby. The crew of "Heckling Hare" apparently also knew their aircraft as "Arkansas Traveller".

This was a fortunate change for Johnson, as "The Virginian" piloted by Lt. Bench crashed into the sea off Lae on this mission with the loss of all on board the aircraft.

Another aircraft on the above mission with Lyndon Johnson was "Dixie", which was flown by Robert Hatch.

After the mission, Lyndon Johnson returned to Australia in General Brett's B-17 Flying Fortress, #40-3097 "Swoose" flown by Captain Frank Kurtz. They almost ran out of fuel when they became lost heading for Cloncurry. They landed in the bush on Carisbrooke Station near Winton. This B-17, "Swoose", then flew back to USA with General Brett. The aircraft is on display at the National Air and Space Museum (N.A.S.M), in Washington.

The 22nd Bomb Group also operated in their B-26 Marauders from Iron Range near the top of Cape York Peninsula, 16 kms inland from the port of facility of Portland Roads. The 19th Squadron were at Iron Range from 15 September 1942 until 4 February 1943 and the 33rd Squadron were there from 29 September 1942 until 4 February 1943.

#40-1488, "Heckling Hare" of 19th Squadron and #40-1446, "Miss Mercury" were written off after bad combat damage.

During an attack on Lae, B-26 Marauder, #40-1468, of the 33rd Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group, collided out to sea off Lae, with an attacking Japanese A6M2 Zero, flown by Leading Airman Mitsuo Suitsu. Both aircraft disintegrated leaving no chance of survivors.

"Rum Runner", #40-1363, of the 19th Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group, was shot up so badly during a mission that she was retired to being used as a ferry aircraft or "Fatcat" as they were called. She often flew around the Bismarck Sea area.

On 6 January 1943, B-26 Marauder, #40-1404, "Shittenengitten", of the 33rd Squadron of the 22nd Bomb Group, made a force landing at 7 Mile airfield at Port Moresby with its hydraulics shot up. The nose art from this aircraft is now on display at the Australian War Memorial. It was recovered from Milne Bay after the war.

#40-1521, "Yankee Clipper" was abandoned by the crew in bad weather near Port Morseby.

#40-1399 "The Avenger", #40-1437 "Shamrock" and #40-1499 "Wabash Cannonball" were destroyed during Japanese air raids.

B-26 Marauder, #40-1422, "So Sorry" was forced to crash land near Buna after being badly shotup by the Tainan Kokutai.

B-26 Marauder, #40-1406 ditched at Cape Killerton on 12 September 1942, when it was unable to climb over the mountains to return to Port Moresby, due to severe combat damage. This was the last casualty that the 22nd Bomb Group suffered during the war.

22ND BOMBARDMENT GROUP
On January 31st 1942 the ground echelons embarked from San Francisco for the south-west Pacific with all kinds of rumours floating around. Java, the Philippines, even Australia may be our destination. Then after almost a month at sea without touching a single port en-route the troops aboard disembarked to cries of "Sub-attack!" and "The blackout is in effect" at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

The lack of revetments for plane dispersal meant that the pilots had to take off often with cold engines and with bombs raining down, followed by Zeros diving and strafing them as they took off in an effort to save their aircraft from destruction. The lack of fighters in any numbers meant that there was little protection for the airfield and of course there could be no pursuit protection for the B-26 against the many Zeros that seemed always to appear from the clouds to attack. All missions were carried out therefore without fighter cover except for any special attacks on Lae and Salamua over the Owen Stanley Range. To the U.S. combat aircrews, the terrain was very un-familiar and maps were rarely available on time, while those that were found were usually inaccurate. Weather forecasting was practically nil, and whole formations took off time and again only to turn back because of the weather. Combat intelligence was just beginning to operate at this time and was of little use to any extent to the combat crews. In spite of the many difficulties and conditions prevailing at the time the Squadron carried out many of its missions inflicting damage on the enemy, achieving credits for 94 enemy aircraft shot down in the air in the first ten months of operations. When the B-26 Marauders passed their allotted number of flying hours and were due for major engine overhaul, this group changed over to B-25 Mitchell aircraft.

1942
The 2nd Squadron landed at Amberley R.A.A.F. Base, Ipswich the 408 Squadron. The 19th and 33rd Squadron landed at Archerfield. Upon arrival of the ground crews they immediately set about assembling the P-39 and P-40 aircraft, which were mostly sent to Darwin, the Dutch East Indies and to Port Moresby for combat.

The Forgotten Fifth
A Classic Photographic Chronology of the
Fifth Air Force in Action in the Pacific in WW2
By Michael Claringbould

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Collision of B-26 of 19th Bomb Squadron with a B-25 Mitchell at Archerfield Airfield on 25 March 1942	Collision of B-26 of the 33rd Bomb Squadron with a DC-3 and a house at Archerfield Airfield on 25 March 1942	B-26 Ground accident at Mascot Airfield, in Sydney on 31 March 1942
Taxiing accident on Duckworth St, Garbutt on 6 April 1942	Ditching of a B-26 Marauder of 22nd Bomb Group near Palm Island on 21 April 1942	Crash of a B-26 of 33rd Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group at Garbutt on 21 April 1942
Crash of a B-26 of 2nd Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group at Reid River on 22 April 1942	Crash of a B-26 of 408th Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group, at Reid River on 15 May 1942	Hard landing of a B-26 of 2nd Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group on 15 May 1942, at Garbutt Airfield
Crash landing of a B-26 of 408th Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group on 20 May 1942, at Reid River Airfield	Crash of a B-26? of the 22nd Bomb Group at Nowra, NSW on 1 June 1942	Crash of a B-26 at Garbutt Airfield on 3 June 1942
Crash of a B-26 about 4 miles S or SW of Archerfield Airfield on 5 June 1942	Crash of a B-26 at Bundaberg Airfield on 23 June 1942	Crash landing of a B-26 at Cairns Airfield on 5 July 1942
Ground accident of a B-26 at Antil Plains Airfield on 18 July 1942	Crash of a B-26 of 408th Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group at Charters Towers or 7-Mile, Port Moresby on 22 July 1942	Crash of a B-26 of 19th Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group at Iron Range Airfield on 13 September 1942
Crash landing at Reid River Airfield on 26 September 1942	Crash landing of B-26 at Iron Range Airfield on 30 September 1942	Ground accident with a B-26 at Iron Range Airfield on 10 October 1942
Crash of two B-26's of 408th Squadron at Williamtown, NSW on 14 October 1942	Crash of a B-26 Marauder, #41-17553 on North Stradbroke Island in about October 1942	Crash of a B-26B of the 2nd Bomb Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group on 3 November 1942 in the sea off Cape Helvetius, about 100 miles NW of Darwin
Crash of a B-26 of 408th Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group at Reid River on 23 December 1942	Crash of an A-24 at Reid River Airfield on 3 January 1943	Crash landing of B-26 at Garbutt Airfield in about January 1943
Crash landing of a B-26 Marauder at Garbutt Airfield on 10 Feb 1943	Crash of a B-26 Marauder of 2nd Squadron, 22nd Bomb Group a few miles from Woodstock Airfield on 9 March 1943	Crash of a B-26 at Woodstock Airfield on 15 May 1943
B-26 ground accident at Depot #2, Mount Louisa on 4 June 1943	B-25 Mitchell crashed on take-off into parked aircraft at Garbutt on 17 July 1943	B-25 Mitchell crashed during take-off at Reid River on 14 Sep 1943
Crash of a B-26 at Maroondan near Gin Gin on 5 Nov 1943	Crash of a B-24 Liberator into hill 15 miles SW of Charters Towers on 26 Jan 1944	Crash of a B-24 Liberator of 33rd Squadron near Innisfail on 28 February 1944
Crash landing of a B-24 Liberator at Cairns on 21 Aug 1944

1st Lt. Hugh B. Manson	H.Q. Squadron
1st Lt. George R. Anderson	2nd Squadron,
Lt. Col. Dwight Divine	11 18th Squadron

Airfield	Squadrons
Stockroute Airfield	Headquarters Squadron (5 x B-26s) 19th Bomb Squadron (13 B-26s)
Reid River Airfield	2nd Bomb Squadron 18th Reconnaissance Squadron (later 408th Bomb Squadron)
Antil Plains Airfield	33rd Bomb Squadron