Photos From My Uncle

Uncle John and his crew...

ARM1/c Gale H. French (Radioman), Lt. Jg. John S. Ireland (Pilot), ACOM Raymond.F. Monia (Gunner and only survivor)


Some of the TBF's he flew...




None of these shots involved him, and were from the USS Bogue library when VC-19 was aboard...
(We have them as actual photographs)







Prisoner Transfers...
(Note the sailor with the Thompson)





RIP Lt. Jg. John S. Ireland. KIA July 26, 1944

 

Thanks for share these photos, Gromit801!

What is the uboat attacked/showed in the photos?
Can you give us more details?

Thanks in advance!





Jan.

 

I don't have any details at hand, my Uncle didn't provide them to the family. I do recognize the 6th photo (you can see depth charges dropping) as it has been used in several books about the U-Boat war. He wouldn't have known at that stage what boats they were.

 

Thanks Gromit801......I joined two keywords and locate an article in PDF. Perhaps it solved this extrange question.


PRINCE OF WALES SEA TRAINING SCHOOL

Formato de archivo: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Versión en HTML
homing torpedoes from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft VC-19 off the American escort carrier USS Bogue and by some 200 depth charges from the American ...







Jan.

 

Interesting, thank you. I'm sure if my uncles had survived the war, he would have provided all kinds of information and fun stories.

 

Yes, that's my Uncle John. The pilot in the middle of the three in the top photo. Just added the names of the crew in the top photo.

 

No sorry, I am remiss in that. In July of 1944, VC-19 was assigned to the USS Guadalcanal. Capt. Gallery was a huge fan of night operations, as by that time U-Boats were getting scarce during daylight patrols.

My Uncle John was one of nine night qualified TBF pilots, and thus, the rotation was short among that group.

That being the case, the official accident report says the night was "very dark," and the seas "moderate." According to the report, his TBF came in high, but the LSO gave him the cut. He evidently hit the deck hard, didn't catch a wire, and bounced over the barrier into another TBF, and both planes went over the bow.

I would think that during night landing operations, you are almost totally dependent on the LSO to bring you in properly (especially on a little CVE), yet the LSO got very little of the blame. "Very dark" and a probably fatigued pilot needs a good LSO.

For the aviation enthusiasts among us, he was flying a TBF-1D, BuNo 24255.

 

Hi Gromit, I did a quick search of your Uncle's plane and came up with this website. I don't know if you have seen it before but it is organized chronologically, and if you go down to July 26, 1944 I believe that might be your uncle. At the top there is a link to order incident reports, don't know if you might be interested in that?

USN Overseas Aircraft Loss List July 1944

 

Thanks, I have that one. That was the site that started the trail for much of the information I have. The family never got the true story, or if my grandparents did, didn't pass it along to the next generation.

 

Gromit and Jeff:

I locate a list who contents at your beloved uncle John: MIA Personnel Table

P.S. Please, Jeff, explain me his tittle, please. I don't understand.
"Service Personnel Not Recovered Following World War II"








Jan.

 

Not recovered means lost at sea. They weren't able to recover the body.

Thanks for the link!

 

Great Photos, Gromit801.

 

How could I have missed these great pics! Better late than never, so thank you for sharing them

 

I agree, great pics! Thanks so much!

 

I think if it weren't for William T. Y'Blood's book "Hunter Killer" there would be little information out there concerning this aspect of the war. Even books dedicated to the TBF/M lightly touch the Atlantic war.

 

Great and interesting pictures, thanks for sharing!