W42AUTH\MC-HQ4142.DOC
CM-1r 19th BG personnel on Guam in 1945 who had been in the Far Pacific 19th BG in 1941-1942
CM-3 Clark Field
10-04-41: USA
Our group left the states today on the USAL Holbrook for a secret destination.
10-23-41: Clark Field, Philippines
The 19th Bomb Group arrived in the Philippines in Sept. & Oct. of 1941, and we had all our aircraft ready by late Oct. In Nov. we began getting up-grading of our alert status. This consisted of digging slit trenches in the barracks and flight line areas. In early Dec. we went on the highest alert and some one with foresight had us bash in the ends of several hundred empty gasoline barrels, located between the barracks & hangar areas. Also two Sqdns of B-17 (some 24 planes) were dispersed to an alternate field on the island of Mindanao.
12-08-41: Clark Field, Philippines
Early on the morning of 8 Dec (7 Dec U.S. time) we were given the information that Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese and that we were now on a war footing, but no overt action could be taken until the US officially declared war on Japan. We were issued gas masks, rifles & pistols, but I don't remember being issued any ammunition. We went to our usual work stations and as I was a QC Inspector my place was in a squad tent back of the corner hangar bldg. At noon-time (11:45-1.00) I went to the mess hall & after eating went to the barracks to lay down. At approximately 12:00 somebody called out that there was a large formation of planes approaching the field, so those of us in the area went outside to see. Some remarked that it must be Navy planes as we certainly didn't have that many; about this time I heard the whoosh of falling bombs (I had previous service in the field & the Coast Artillery so had a little knowledge of that sound. The bombs started exploding and we speeded up our run for the fox holes. Those of us in the Barracks area (1/ 2 of our work force) were very fortunate in that the quality of bombing by the Japs that day was excellent; bombs started hitting at the Officer's Club, on one end of the field and continued to the far end covering from the hangars to the far side of the field where our planes were dispersed. A quick count came to some 54 bombers and guessing that they carried 300 pounder's x 6 or 8, means we had a lot of damage done. Practically all our B-17s (2 Sqds) were either demolished or badly damaged. The Japanese had a lot of luck that day (1) no sighting warning was given (we were on a regular telephone hook-up, probably messages had to go through Manila on commercial lines operated by Philippine natives; (2) Around 8.30-9.00 we did receive a message of unidentified aircraft over the Baguio area and our CO had all operational plans aloft and about 11:00 they were brought in for refueling & bomb loading for possible mission so the B-17s were on the ground at the time of the attack, but not because we had made no attempt to protect them.
After the attacking bombers disappeared, (4) of our P-40s got airborne but were of little effect as they had to gain altitude (not a P-40 strong point) and I don' t think any of them reached the Bombers as they had Zero escorts. We came out of our holes and took a look around finding the barracks had not been hit but the rest of the field was covered with fires & smoke. We were not out of our holes for more than 10 min before the strafers bore down on us, sending us back into our trenches. They must have made several passes as they kept it up for some 30-40 min; again they by-passed the barracks area. After enemy plane had disappeared we were sent out to the runway (an open area grass field) and proceeded to pick up scrap metal & throw it into the bomb craters after which the bull-dozers went about the job of filling in the craters and tamping down the dirt. In the middle of this milling around, we heard aircraft approaching from the direction of Mt Araraf and we needed no warning to take cover so we hopped into the holes. The planes turned out to be a flight of P-40s but as they were coming in low and fast we were taking no chances (neither were the anti aircraft units so they opened up but were no better then than they were earlier on the bombers. Some good came out of that incident, as they concocted a standard procedure for approaching one of our airfields, which was: let down some distant away, lower the landing gear & circle the field close in so we could properly identify the planes.
CM-17 Mt Ararat CM-19 Bambin Hills
Things quieted down after that but plenty was still going on, what with the various things to do like help clearing areas and of course medical activities as we had a fair amount of casualties, killed and injured. We were able to see the idea behind the barrel bashing as the strafers made many passes at that field, riddling the barrels, but no fire or explosion.
CM-18 Clark Field 1948 CM-29 Barber, McClelland, Rose at Del Monte CM15 Bagio Lookout
CM-27 Karlinger left; Hank Buller front center CM-28 Renick, 93rd Clark F.
CM-16 Fighter Sqd Mechanics on Batan
Most of our Sqdn men had no stomach for sleeping in the barracks that night so we grabbed a couple blankets and proceeded to a field about 1/2 mile off the base and settled down for a restless night; made more restless because some of the tanks (from Ft Stotsenberg) took the time to maneuver around the area. With the total black-out we was unable to tell what direction they were headed for, or how far away they were.
12-09-41: Clark Field, Philippines
We finally made it through the night and next morning marched back to the barracks for some breakfast. During the meal somebody outside hollered "Airplanes" and the panics was on again. We bolted for the doorways, some carrying their mess-kits full of chow, and back into the slit trenches. There weren't enough trenches for all of us but all of us got into them anyhow (one on top of the other), which caused several near battles as a few of the guys didn't appreciate their breakfast covered with dirt. Just a false alarm anyhow.
That day was spent doing what we could; I was with a crew stripping parts from a B-17 that was badly damaged landing after the long trip across the Pacific. The day was overcast at some 3/4 thousand feet so we felt pretty safe; but about noon we heard a formation of planes overhead, and as we were sure that they were not ours we appreciated the overcast. They keep circling and soon found a break in the clouds & down they came (2 flights of 9 each); on nearing the field they split, one flight coming straight across the field (toward us) and the other flight turning to go the length of Stotsenberg, but their aim was off as they hit very little. The ones after Stotsenberg did some damage to the Army Tank area and a lot of the bombs were duds. For the rest of the day we could hear a blast about 20/30 min apart, maybe the low altitude of the drop may have been the reason for it.
12-10-41: Clark Field, Philippines
We got brave that evening & slept in the barracks again.
12-11-41: Clark Field, Philippines
I was notified that a friend named Light and I were to go down to Del Monte the coming night, but no plane was available and I wound up spending the next night on flight line alert.
12-12-41: Clark Field, Philippines
Didn’t go last night, spent the day digging trenches on the Mait Line. Hand an attack at 10:30 by 18 twin tailed bombers in two flights of 9 each; one took Stochenberg & the other Clark field. They didn’t do much. One B-17D destroyed & 3 bldgs damaged. A lot of the bombs were duds. It cost them one of their bombers. The following night a B-18 came in & we loaded an air-compressor and a booster pump aboard.
12-13-41: Del Monte, Mindanao
Flew to Del Monte Field early this am in an old B-18. 4:00 to 9:00 am; 5 hours.
Four of our Hdq Sqd men got aboard around 3 in the morning and the plane took off for Mindanao about 4 am at some 130 MPH. We got there around 9 am, 5 hours, and they were glad to get the tools but asked us where Maj Gibbs was; he was coming down to take command of Del Monte and had departed Clark about an hour ahead of us in another B-18. At the time of their take-off the weather was bad and our pilot opted to wait. The Maj was never heard from.
12-14-41: Del Monte, Mindanao
Did nothing today but some of the gang came down: Light, Jonassen , Moore, Tornswick, Ricchini, Rhatighm. Operating from Del Monte was like being out on maneuvers as equipment was scarce; we mechanics had our hand tool boxes but many more things are necessary to maintain large aircraft. We would back up our truck to the engine for a work stand, and that is taking a chance on bumping into the nacelle (which we did) tearing the skin & making patches necessary. We 4 Hdq men were quartered out in the Del Monty pineapple plantation in a squad tent. All of us seemed to like pineapples though, and the native workers kept us well supplied with them. We were about a mile from the mess hall so we seldom ventured in for the morning or evening meals. We spent only a few days there before they made up crews to fly the planes out to Australia.
12-17-41: Del Monte, Mindanao
Light and I were notified we were to fly to another field.
12-18-41: Bachelor Field, Australia
They put 2 or 3 mechanics on each plane. I was on the planes leaving the second night so Light & I got aboard #40-3097 "The Swoose" and away we went. We didn't think we would be going very far though as we had just cleared the island when the #3 engine began missing. Our pilot said he had no intention of returning so on we went; had to feather that engine but again our pilot (Godman) said that we only had about a thousand miles to go, but if another engine acted up that we would look for someplace to land as Ambon was not far away. Took off at 2:00 and at 10:00 we landed at Bachelor Field, Australia. Crossed a lot of pretty islands. 8 hours.
Our flight ended at Bachelor Field in far north Australia, some 60/70 miles south of Darwin. The runway seemed to be of red clay but adequate for B-17 operations; we bunked in small 2 man tents and found living conditions very limited. Only 2 or 3 small buildings, one was a mess hall and one was a latrine. The water supply came there through a metal line laid on top of the ground and as it was summertime there the temperature of' the water was such that during the days one could only wash hands, and then you had to grit your teeth to endure it. Showering had to wait until into the night. Here we began to get our teeth into "mutton", which seemed to taste worse each day.
12-23-41: Bachelor Field, Australia
Our few planes went back to PI today. Light and I took trip to Darwin for some ice cream. Had a nice time.
12-25-41: Bachelor Field, Australia
“Christmas” Worked this morning & some of our planes came back from a successful raid on Davao. We lost no planes but one of the men were killed and two wounded. We celebrated Xmas day with a pork & bean dinner.
Again servicing facilities were practically non existent and with only 2 mechanics per plane the combat crews had to work with us. Refueling was done with a 400 gal tank mounted on a trailer, but with no suction side of the pump; so we had to improvise a system of getting 55 gal drums up to the filler hole, pour the fuel into the tank (no fire fighting equip available) tow the unit out to the planes and pump it into the planes. The unit did have a small output pump (attached to an obsolete fly wheeled put-put engine) and a length of hose that would reach the wing tanks. We did put up a mission a few days after arrival, they went to Del Monte on 22 Dec. and returned to Bachelor 25/26 Dec.
12-29-41: Bachelor Field, Australia
We spent all night 29 Dec servicing the planes. Rolled hundreds of gas drums. With the system we had there at Bachelor, it was impossible to re-fuel rapidly. We went to the fuel dump, which some forward thinking person had supplied that field with hundreds of barrels of gasoline, we went at darkness & came back after daylight. Something major was brewing and we found out that the 19th was moving up a few hundred miles.
12-30-41: Malang, Java
All of the planes and crews took off for Java Dutch East Indies today at 8:30. Passed by Timor & Bali. Landed at Singosari at 13:30. 5 hours. We found a wonderful setup, good hangers, good barracks, good refueling facilities, sorry food. It was a very good place but the sod runways were a handicap as it rained a lot and with the short length of the runway we had some unusual accidents.
12-31-41: Malang, Java
1st wedding aniversary and am 10,00 miles from my wife. Light and I went to Malang for the evening.
CM-20 Street Shops, Malang, Dutch East Indies CM-22 Local Laundry, Malang, Java
CM-21 Sgt Erfuth, our Medic, at Malang CM-23 Street scene Malang.
01-02-42: Malang, Java
Up at midnignt to service all planes. We took off at 8:00 but was forced back by bad weather 11:30. 3 1/3 hours.
01-03-42: _____ Borneo
Took off at 9:30 and made it to a field nearly in middle of Borneo. Loaded and serviced all the planes.
01-04-42: _____ Borneo
Planes took off early this morning (1:00) and came back this afternoon after their most successful raid on Davao.
01-05-42: Malang, Java
Flew back to Java today. 3 1/2 hours.
01-08-42: Kendari, Celebes
Flew to Kendari, Celebes this morning & ran into the hottest weather I’ve encountered as yet. 3 hours.
01-09-42: Kendari, Celebes
The planes went out this morning and came back in the afternoon after a none too successful raid.
01-10-42: Malang, Java
Flew back to Java. 3 hours
01-12-42: Malang, Java
Some good old USA Field Artillery arrived today. (3) B-24 bombers came in.
01-13-42: Malang, Java
One of the B-24s crashed today.
01-14-42: Palembang Sumatra
Flew to Palembang Sumatra today. 8:00 to 10:30. They put us up at the BPM Club (Shell). The Dutch really treated us swell here. 2 1/2 hours
01-03-42: _____ Borneo
Took off at 9:30 and made it to a field nearly in middle of Borneo. Loaded and serviced all the planes.
01-04-42: _____ Borneo
Planes took off early this morning (1:00) and came back this afternoon after their most successful raid on Davao.
01-05-42: Malang, Java
Flew back to Java today. 3 1/2 hours.
01-08-42: Kendari, Celebes
Flew to Kendari, Celebes this morning & ran into the hottest weather I’ve encountered as yet. 3 hours.
01-09-42: Kendari, Celebes
The planes went out this morning and came back in the afternoon after a none too successful raid.
01-10-42: Malang, Java
Flew back to Java. 3 hours
01-12-42: Malang, Java
Some good old USA Field Artillery arrived today. (3) B-24 bombers came in.
01-13-42: Malang, Java
One of the B-24s crashed today.
We were still far from the fighting and had to use forward fields for refueling to make it to the Pilippines & Back. Using fields in Borneo & Celebes islands we made several missions back into the Pilippines to hit back, with good success, against the enemy.
Our big drawback during this period was shortage of aircraft. The month of Jan. 42 was carried on with a total of (14) B-17C & D model planes. Late in Jan we began getting a few B-17E which greatly increased our defensive fire-power from 6 50cal guns to 9, some in power driven turrets. Some of the in coming planes were replacement ones but most were the 7th B.G. which had been in movement from 6 Dec. 41. The 19th was stationed in eastern Java and the 7th in central Java, and most of our missions were combined as we still didn't have a lot of planes until mid Feb and at no time was the total over 40.
We were finding our travels was giving us an education as each area had a variety of customs that differed from what we were used to. Over there reference to sleeping with a Dutch Wife was a common saying & had nothing to do with going to bed with someone else's wife, but was referring to using what we would call a bolster pillow to curl around to reduce the uncomfortable feeling of sweating due to skin-to-skin contact. Another was using the toilets; on entering all you saw was some concrete supports, about the size of a foot, sticking up out of the floor with an elongated hole through the flooring. We learned to stand on two of the supports (about 4" high), drop your drawers, and let go. No toilet paper was in evidence and we finally found out that they washed, in lieu of wiping, as there was a single water faucet on the wall and we had noticed that the Dutch guys entering had a hand towel around their neck. Of course we complained and in a few days a supply of paper was obtained. At Kendari we inquired about showering and were told to go to the building down closer to the river. Upon arriving we found a good sized cement container, approximately 15' across & open on top. No showers were in evidence and we supposed that it must be a communal bath, as the sides were only about 4' high. So we stripped & dove in. In a few minutes a Dutch Officer showed up and had a few harsh words for us as he informed us that we had just ruined the field's water supply and the reason for low walls was to allow bathers to dip their water cups into the tank & pour the water over their bodies; so much for not being kept informed on local habits.
Our first mission from Java we refueled at Samarinda and ran into another odd routing; 5 gallon cans of gasoline so refueling took forever as it takes a lot of 5 gallon tins to service (8) B-17s (something like 160 per plane) and we had to strain the fuel through large funnels, lined with chamois cloth. Of course they had many local natives helping so overall time was probably about the same as we refueled all the planes at once instead of one at a time. At Kendari refueling was accomplished with hand pumps from 55 gal drums, with a crew of natives doing the hauling & pumping. The Dutch frowned upon whites doing manual labor that the locals could do, no complaints were lodged. Food was our main complaint as those people just didn't eat the same stuff that we were used to.
01-14-42: Palembang Sumatra
Flew to Palembang Sumatra today. 8:00 to 10:30. They put us up at the BPM Club (Shell). The Dutch really treated us swell here. 2 1/2 hours
Our second mission was through Kendari, and the third was through Pamembang. Here we got royal treatment; quartered in homes of the Shell Co officials, a royal banquet for the evening meal at their Club (5 courses with a waiter for nearly every plate). Those mechanics that wished to take in the town were provided an English speaking Dutch soldier and we had a nice tour; while the planes were out on the mission above Singapore. We congregated at the airfield to await the return but was told they had gone into a field farther to the west and would remain overnight. About this time we heard, what sounded like a B-17 approaching, but it was very cloudy and we couldn't see it. Finally we spotted it through a break in the clouds and was very surprised as the plane had a B-17 look except for the tail, which looked to be 3 times as large as the ones we had. A Dutch officer standing near us remarked that the plane was American and had missed the field. He said they were sending one of their fighters up to guide him in as he was scheduled to refuel here. A little Brewster Buffalo plane taxied out & took off, in about 20 min later here he came, buzzing the field & right on his tail was the B-17. Upon landing the Engineer stepped out, he was one of our crew chiefs from March Field days that had been selected to go to England with a batch of B-17s we were sending them in the spring of 1941. They had flown a replacement plane to us via S. America, West Africa, across Africa & to India, then to Dutch East Indies. And we learned that many more planes were en route.
We returned to Malang the next day to find a pair of LB-30s there. It had taken the US about six weeks to get some replacements in to us and we were mighty glad to get them as our original planes were just about ready for extended maintenance & we certainly weren't able to do that. In the following weeks we were getting some 6 to 8 planes per week and was able to put up missions of 12-15 planes. Most of the incoming planes were of the 7th B.G. & they were to be based some 60-70 miles to the west of Malang; those not of the 7th were replacement planes for the 19th. MacArthur finally gave us permission to bring several more men down from Del Monte so maintaining the planes improved somewhat except for parts. By mid Feb air raids were so numerous that we started working from dusk to dawn as we were not getting in very many hours work during daytime's. But we had learned not to take anything for granted and would clear the airfield area during the raids and it was taking a long time to get everybody back onto the field.
On one raid they set 4 of our B-17s afire. They were loaded up, ready for a mission, they burned completely up & the bombs (8) 500s just rolled out on the ground; then another time we had just one plane ready for a mission when they strafed us, setting the plane on fire which when engulfed in flames it erupted in a terrific explosion, throwing bits of airplane all over one end of the field. One day they held a meeting just outside of the hangar that the officers hung around in, we were in formation close to the steps leading up to the balcony area where they were. The officer in charge of the formation was giving us hell for running when the alarm went off, instead of seeking shelter in the hangar area. In the middle of his speech the alarm sounded and he ordered us to stand fast, when we heard the officers coming down the steps (on the double, or triple), they burst through our formation and that was all we need and we promptly stampeded with them. That was the last we heard on where you go during air raids.
One incident that several of us went through is worth recording, it is an example of either poor planning or just hard luck. About 6 or 7 of us were working on a plane for next days mission; we had pulled it into the hangar (we were working nights ) so we could get some light on the subject. When we were ready to pull the plane out to the flight line someone suggested that we load the bombs where we had some light, as we had found out that it was very difficult to anything outside in a complete blackout; so we got (4) 500s into the hangar and proceeded to arm them before hoisting. When we had the first bomb up to the top rack, we had a man up there to steady the nose & tail of the bomb for hooking it in to the rack (which usually takes some shaking of the bomb to seat it), well the hoist cable broke and down came the 500 pounder straight on its nose fuse (the tail fin man was able to hold on for just a second which up-ended the bomb). It happened so fast that none of us had a chance to move before it hit the concrete floor, completely crushing the nose fuse & falling over bent the tail fins which in turn made a pretzel out of the tail fuse. We just stood there looking at it for some minutes before we figured out what to do; one man finally went somewhere and obtained a long length of rope which we tied to the fins and we slowly drug the bomb to the outside of the hangar & notified operations office of what happened. I don't know what he did, but the next evening that bomb was gone.
Late in Feb. 42 things we going from bad to worse. Night maintenance, with a black-out in force, was not getting things done. They got a bus load of men, combat & maintenance, together and bussed us to a remote field (Pasirian) to fly back the old C & D planes we had stashed there. Nearing the area we noticed several spirals of smoke coming from the field. Stopping at a roadside stand, lots of them in Java, trying to find out what happened and as we did not have an interpreter with us it was futile; they kept making motions that things were coming from the skies. We had already been advised that the Japs used parachutist at Palembang and we were leery, pistols were the only arms we had. We were pretty sure the 5 or 6 spirals of smoke was probably coming from burning aircraft so we beat a hasty retreat to Malang. I later talked to a fellow that was taking a truck, with drums of gasoline, and had arrived there after the strafing. He said that all the planes had been set on fire & destroyed; had we recovered those 6 planes it would have allowed us to evacuate just about all our personnel to Australia via air.
CM-25 Abbekerk Deck headed from Java to Australia CM-24 on deck Mess Hall, Sgt Folk
A day or two later, after the above event, some 130 officers & enlisted men boarded a train; went to Surabaja where we side tracked and had to sit through a bombing raid on the port city. Next we went west & then south to the port city of Tjilatjap (on the Indian Ocean). After unloading we got a look at our transport, a Dutch freighter with another ship alongside it. Most of the day was spent taking shelter on alarms, and watching the British getting a old truck of theirs onto the other ship. I don't remember the particulars of the task but it proved to be a slow one. That ship departed late that after noon while ours stayed in port till late at night. When we woke up the next morning the ship was well out to sea, all by its self. We later learned that two small conveys of boats were wiped out in trying for Darwin. Our voyage was not all smooth sailing as the second day a Jap plane spotted us and made a couple low passes over our ship. Nothing else happened, but that did not keep us from worrying about submarines; again, we later learned that at about that time the Japs had also spotted a small Carrier of ours and I'm sure they sent everything after it as the carrier was sunk and in a 2-3 day period. A couple more ships (Cruiser & Tender) was also sunk. After 4-5 day cruise on the Abbekerk we arrived in the western Australia port of Freemantle and were trucked to an Aussie base at Northam. Staying there about a week then a great train ride across southern Australia. Sleeping was done whenever & wherever one could accomplish it; in my compartment were 2 train seats & a baggage net overhead, one man on each seat, one man in the net, one man on the floor. Some 3 days & nights were spent like that. Food was the biggest problem as no dining car was to be found. I think we stopped at stations and somehow got us something to chew on.
Our next step was a week in Royal Park in Melbourne. They had a good sized tent city set up (2 man Tents) and conditions were pretty good. We really had a surprise on Sunday morning (our sleeping in morn) when our tent flaps were thrown open & there stood several people peering in at us. Seems that the Australian army got up on Sunday & went to church so that was the day that the visitors could look in on the quarters. I can imagine the sight they received in some of the tents. It sure did feel good to be in a city again where you had a choice of places to go & things to do; I even got in some tennis playing at a private residence. Of course good things seems to come-to end shortly and after 6-8 days we were on the train again, this time we ended up in a small town in central Australia by the name of Cloncurry. A miserable hot, dry place among the sheep ranches. Flies were so numerous & bold that we were issued nets to hang over our hats to keep them out of our eyes-ears-nose & mouth. When one went to the toilet and uncovered some additional holes they soon found them. Lots of high termite mounds was everywhere and a good many kangaroos were around, sometimes appearing on the airfield where we had to chase them off.
By this time we were beginning to operate like a real military unit as we had sufficient manpower, equipment, and assistance of other AF units. Another heavy bomber group was operating out of the New Caledrnia area and two medium groups were in operations (B-25 & B-26). And some fighter units were throughout the area, especially in New Guinea where they could give us some cover in the area, except the long missions to Rabaul. My job at Cloncurry was chief of the re-fueling units and at our next station, Mareeba, I returned to the flight line where I stayed until they returned us to the U.S. in time for Christmas 1942.