I am looking into the loss of a "Dumbo" that doesn't appear in any historical databases including MACR. I even have the names of the crew (all survived) but none of them show up anywhere except in the US Submarine's War Patrol Report (USS PETO). Here is what I have: "[SIZE=11pt]Learned from cover that PLAYMATE 26, who turned out to be a DUMBO, had found his position, landed and picked up survivor, but had been damaged on landing and could not take off. This was discouraging because we now had 9 survivors instead of one but luckily JUKEBOX 24 is on hand. He dropped his boat and all nine survivors got in and started the long haul to us." The Sub Report goes on to ID the lone Hellcat pilot they Dumbo tried to rescue and the names of the crew. Maybe the "(MC)" after the person's name is a clue but I don't know what that means. By saying AAF I'm also presuming USAAF but maybe it was an Australian or NX crew? Anyway, the Sub Report says: "[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Nine tired but happy survivors climbed out of the JUKEBOX life boat: Lieut. H. H. Brock, USNR, VBF-94 [Actually VF-94]; Capt. L. J. G. Mead (MC), AAF; Lieut. H. G. Morgan, AAF; Lieut. S. M. McCabe, AAF; Lieut. K. K. Kelly, AAF; Sgt. L. L. Yeaman, AAF; Cpl. J. R. Rogerson, AAF; Cpl. I. C. Tjapkcs, AAF; and Cpl. H. T. Rusnak, AAF. Can anyone lead me to who these folks are so I can find the exact type plane and serial number? Thanks![/SIZE] [SIZE=11pt]Doug Campbell[/SIZE]
The USAAF didn't fly PBYs as far as I know. They were USN aircraft. Australian Air Force would be a better bet.
Knew I missed something! It was 30 July 1945. Place was[SIZE=11pt] south of Omai Saki near [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Hamamatsu Airfield in the western part of [/SIZE]Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
The MC probably means Marine Corps particularly since the other names are followed by AAF. A captain in the Marines is the equivalent to a Navy lieutenant. A Navy captain is the equivalent to a full colonel. A captain/lieutenant would more likely flying combat missions.
I do know that Morgan was the pilot, I figured the higher-ranking? Captain would maybe be Medical Corps, but USMC sounds right as well.
Found a Cpl Henry T Rusnak who's tombstone says he was with the 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=77066768 He was killed in an accident on Saipan in September '45. Although the thread is old, some contact information for a person associated with the 4th ERS from 2011 here: http://www.armyairforces.com/Emergency-Rescue-Squadrons-m44879.aspx This link has a 2014 date, but little information: http://www.royalthemovie.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=93 I think (MC) is probably Mission Commander