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Ceremony to remember pilots killed in WW2 rescue mission | Otago Daily Times Online

Seven New Zealand fighter pilots who died trying to save a fellow airman in World War 2 were remembered in a ceremony off the coast of Papua New Guinea at the weekend.

The remembrance ceremony was held aboard a Lyttelton-based yacht near PNG.

Yacht crewman Chris Rudge said the ceremony was to commemorate the lives of those who died trying to save Flight Lieutenant Frank Keefe whose aircraft was hit by a shell over Simpson Harbour in Rabaul on January 15, 1945.

"With his starboard wing shattered, he was forced to bail out at 2000 feet and landed in the water surrounded on three sides by Japanese forces," Mr Rudge said.

Fifteen aircraft unsuccessfully tried to rescue him before being caught in a tropical storm.

Two of the planes collided, three crashed into the sea, one crashed in the atoll and one disappeared leaving seven pilots dead, Mr Rudge, who is writing a book about the tragedy, said.

During the ceremony pounamu stones bearing the names of each pilot were lowered into the ocean.

Pottles of water collected from the pilots' home towns were also emptied into the sea.

Flt Lt Keefe was eventually captured and died two weeks later of blood poisoning in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

from: rnzaf units on green island | NZETC

In the early part of the year many bombing strikes were made on barges, camps, and other targets in the Rabaul area; but from March onwards operations over the Gazelle Peninsula were confined mainly to security patrols. Whenever the weather permitted, sections of four aircraft were maintained over the area from dawn to dusk, denying the Japanese the use of their aerodromes and reporting any untoward activities.

Enemy opposition was limited to anti-aircraft fire, which varied in intensity and accuracy but was seldom absent. The weather was often a more formidable hazard.

Nos. 14 and 16 Squadrons had a disastrous day on 15 January. Twelve aircraft from Green Island and twenty from Piva made a combined bombing attack on Toboi, a few miles south-west of Rabaul. Immediately after the attack Flight Lieutenant Keefe, of No. 14 Squadron, had his aircraft hit by anti-aircraft fire. He baled out and landed in Simpson Harbour.

Keefe was an exceptionally fine swimmer and struck out for the harbour entrance. For some time he made good progress, and reached a point midway between Matupi Island and Vulcan Crater. Then, in the middle of the afternoon, by which time he had been swimming for six hours, the tide and wind changed and he began to drift back up the harbour. All day he was covered by aircraft of Nos. 14 and 16 Squadrons. A Catalina stood by, but anti-aircraft fire prevented it from going in to rescue him. Two rafts were dropped, one falling within 100 yards of him, but he was not seen to attempt to use them.

At evening, with their petrol running low, the patrolling aircraft had to leave to return to Green Island. On the way they ran into a tropical storm which had developed with unexpected suddenness. Flying in darkness through torrential rain, five of the Corsairs crashed into the sea on the way home, and one crashed at Green Island when about to land. A seventh simply disappeared. An intensive search next morning failed to find any trace of the missing pilots or their aircraft.

The following account of the episode is taken from No. 14 Squadron's operations record book:

A combined strike was scheduled for targets No. 1 and 2 at Toboi, on the Western side of Simpson Harbour. Twenty Piva-based Corsairs were to lead in on No. 1, followed by eight aircraft from 16 Squadron and four from us on No. 2 target. Flying Officer Corbett's aircraft went unserviceable so we had only three aircraft, each carrying 2 - 500 lb. bombs. Just after release, and when between 2,000 and 2,500 feet, Flight Sergeant Cook, the last man in, saw Flight Lieutenant Keefe, who was immediately ahead of him, get hit by anti-aircraft fire in the port wing. There was a burst of flame and the aircraft climbed steeply to 3,000 ft. with black smoke pouring from the engine and pieces of the aircraft flying about. At 3,000 ft. it did a wing-over and went straight down. Flight Lieutenant Keefe managed to bale out, landing in the water between half a mile and a mile North of Beehives. Apparently he was unharmed, as he started to make immediate progress towards the entrance of the harbour. When he was about mid-way between Matupi Island and Vulcan Crater the tide and wind changed. This was mid-afternoon. Remaining more or less stationary for at least an hour, he then started to drift gradually back into the harbour. If there was any possibility whatsoever, Dumbo was going in, but as a precaution two small bamboo rafts were sent up by Ventura. As Flight Lieutenant Keefe was losing ground, it was considered to be suicidal for Dumbo to do anything, so the rafts were dropped at about 1800 hours. One landed 100 yds. East of him and the other 100 yds. West, but no-one observed him making any attempt to reach them. Squadron Leader Green of No. 16 Squadron made two low runs over Keefe and saw him lying across a log. He could not say for sure, but it appeared as if Keefe's head was under water. There were 15 Corsairs patrolling overhead at the time. They were ready to give protection should Dumbo put down, but as there was nothing more they could do they set out for base at about 1845 hours.

Flight Lieutenant Hay, leading our two sections and followed by a section from 16 Squadron, came round Cape St. George and, as there was a front between there and base, he set course for Feni Island, no doubt in an attempt to get round it. The front developed very rapidly just before the aircraft left Rabaul and there was no means of knowing how thick or wide it was going to be. When just South of Feni, Hay received a course of 125 degrees from Shepherd Base and decided to turn on to it. As they entered the front, Flight Sergeant Walther noticed that his altimeter was reading 300 ft. although, because of high pressure, their height was estimated to be about 450 ft. In a flash of lightning, only a minute or two after entering the front, Walther, who was No. 4, saw Hay and Flight Sergeant McArthur collide. With the latter's aircraft burning at the wing-roots, they dropped behind. Immediately after the collision he saw the lights of Flying Officer Steward, No. 3, go down. This left Walther on his own and he put up a magnificent effort in getting home. Pilot Officer Crump's section, led by Flight Sergeant Munro, as Crump's R/T was not working, became separated from the others, but Munro did a grand job in bringing them home as it entailed nearly twenty minutes blind flying after dark and in heavy rain. Unfortunately, fate was still against them. Munro, with Flight Sergeant Mitchell8 on his right, were going down the down-wind leg at 500 ft. before landing with a ceiling of less than 600 ft. when the former was seen to pull up sharply and disappear into cloud. What happened to him, nobody knows.

No. 16 Squadron did not escape. Of their section, which had formated with Hay, two were seen to hit the water and explode immediately prior to the collision. The remaining pair managed to get home but they were extremely lucky. Squadron Leader Green led his pair home almost on a direct course at low level. One got lost and was lucky to fluke base as his R/T was out of action. The other pair reached the island safely but in a turn Flying Officer Randell1 lost height and crashed.

After the war it was reported by Japanese captured at Rabaul that Keefe had swum ashore at Vulcan Crater, and later had taken a small boat and tried to row down the harbour. A wounded arm made it impossible for him to row properly, and he was taken prisoner by a Japanese naval party. He died of his wound while a prisoner of war.