# B-24 in Philippines



## vanmac (Nov 15, 2010)

Any way to trace this ship's serial number by its tail markings? Reports passed down through the years are that my uncle (and namesake) was a crew member on a plane took off from Luzon on June 6, 1945 and disappeared. I have no idea if this B-24 is the plane that he was on. Records indicate that he was with the 400 Squadron (Black Pirates). Walter Van McCarty was a T/Sgt. at his death.


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 15, 2010)

I can only find 2 x B-24's lost on that day. One in Puerto Rica and the other in England. How sure are you of the date?


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## vanmac (Nov 16, 2010)

vB,

Thanks for looking into this for me. We are pretty sure of the date -- just short on details of plane/crew/mission, etc.


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## timshatz (Nov 16, 2010)

Might've been the day he was declared dead and not the day he was actually deceased. 

Just a thought.


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## FLYBOYJ (Nov 16, 2010)

Have you tried this site?

B24BestWeb 10000⊕ PICs - AKA BBW - WWII B-24 Liberator Bombers


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 16, 2010)

vanmac said:


> vB,
> 
> Thanks for looking into this for me. We are pretty sure of the date -- just short on details of plane/crew/mission, etc.



Based on what I have been able to find, the plane in the picture is actually with the 319th BS. If so the dark area around the skull and crossbones would be blue. The 400th BS was black except the top 1/3rd of it was white.

On Jun 6, 1945 the FEAF (which included the 5th Airforce) did the following:

"SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: On Luzon Island,
A-20s and fighter-bombers blast bridges in Cagayan Valley and other fighter-
bombers pound the Balete Pass area. On Borneo, B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-
bombers hit Labuan Island supply areas, support troops on Tarakan Island, and
bomb Kota Waringin and Pontianak Airfields, areas along the Belait River,
around Brunei, and strike Miri, Jesselton, Kudat, and Beaufort. Bad weather
cancels all missions against Formosan targets."

from http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Jun.45.html


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 16, 2010)

Think I got it:

DATE.....................450606 
AIRCRAFT...................B-25
SERIAL................ 44-41482 
UNIT.............................90
LOCATION........South Pacific
MACR.......................14608

from Accident-Report.com - Missing Air Crew Reports Index

With the MARC number, you should be able to find all the info you need.


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## vanmac (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your help. Especially vB for ID'ing the plane in the photo as belonging to another squadron.

From the MACR I discovered several items:

The B-24J that went down with my uncle was 44-41482.

_41482 (90th BG, 400th BS) missing on flight from McGuire Fleld, Mindoro to Clark Field, Luzon June 6, 1945. A search was begun on June 7th and abandoned on June 11th. 24 MIA. MACR 14608._

It was called a "Routine" flight. For the first time I realized there were other passengers on board. I had it in my mind that they were on a combat mission and only the crew was lost -- not so. Another strange note is that one of the officers aboard was also a "McCarty", no relationship.


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## Violator (Nov 26, 2010)

Nice work, Viking!


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## vanmac (Nov 30, 2010)

I think you will enjoy this interesting history lesson. Please feel free to move to a more appropriate thread. Thanks.

For those who live outside of Michigan, Willow Run is near Bellville, Canton and Ypsilanti, MI.

It's amazing that one B-24 (built with over 1.25 million parts) came off the assembly line every 55 minutes

Take a few minutes to watch this snapshot of history. 


http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/15654030/1604819366/name/bomber_plant.wmv


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