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01 OCTOBER 1944 - "Daylight One One" departed base at 0345 to cover strikes on Balikpapan, Borneo. At 1100, while patrolling, Daylight heard over the radio that a B-24 was in trouble. At 1110, three "Mikes" were sighted and one had a fire in his number one engine. The crew of the stricken B-24 parachuted to safety and awaited the rescue ship's water landing. The ship landed in a straight line and began taxiing toward the downed crew. One man was placed on each wing and one man in the blister relayed signals to the pilot from the wing men. Each of the downed crew was showing sea marker and two were in life rafts. The rescue ship taxied to within 100 yards and lowered their landing gear to act as an anchor. The ladder was put out on the port side and a line thrown to the men. By 1300, all the men were aboard ship, but it was decided that the they would wait until the swells diminished some before attempting take-off. At 1400 a take-off was attempted both upwind and downwind, but the ship would not get on the "step". Guns, ammo, and 150 gallons of fuel were jettisoned and another try was attempted both upwind and downwind. On the next try, the ship slammed into five or six swells before bouncing into the air. There was no damage to the hull. (Read Official Report)

The rescued men were from the 23rd Bomb Squadron: Second Lieutenant Ralph L. Krueger, Lieutenant Richard Egelston, Second Lieutenant Gordon G. Shimke, Second Lieutenant Henry H. Brutzkus, Staff Sergeant Paul R. Benedict, Technical Sergeant Claude P. Thomas, Sergeant Rex H. Bowen, Staff Sergeant Warren R. Mills, Technical Sergeant Clayton J. Hunt, Staff Sergeant Richard B. Page

O F F I C I A L   R E P O R T  [submitted with October "History" to Headquarters]

DAYLIGHT #11 departed 0345. Mission:  Provide cover for Balikapapan strikes. Orbit: 1000 I to 1300 I at 1°00'S, 121°E. Position reports were sent until 0900 when transmitters failed. 1000 Orbit point was reached. "Daylight" circled this point at 1000 feet altitude. 1110 three "Mikes" were sighted. One had fire in No. 1 engine. "Mikes" spotted "Daylight" and circled, losing altitude. "Daylight" could hear Mikes but not transmit. 1120 crew parachuted from the damaged Mike from 1500 feet. "Daylight" landed on water in approximately a straight line spread out a couple of miles. The "Daylight" overshot the last man who bailed out and picked the rest up in order, then came back and got the last man. The pick-up process took took one hour and forty minutes. Procedure used: One man was placed on each wing to act as spotter. One man in blister relayed their signals to the pilot. Each of the downed crew was showing sea marker and two were in one man life rafts. The "Daylight" taxied to about 100 feet from each man, then lowered landing gear to serve as anchor. The ladder was put out on the port side and a line thrown to the man who was then pulled aboard. 1330 the ten men were all aboard but the sea was running swells and it was decided to wait before trying to take off. The wind was very light and at 1400 the swell appeared to be dying down. Takeoff was attempted upwind and then downwind but the plane would not get on the step. Guns and ammunition and 150 gallons of gas were jettisoned and then another try was made upwind and another downwind. On the next try the plane bounced up on the step, hit five or six swells and bounced into the air. There was no damage to the hull. Take-off was made at 1455. Two of the men picked up were slightly hurt. The others were in good shape.
     Course was set for base and at 1850 Auto was contacted on VHF while over Halmahera ETA of 2130 was given. At 1930 "Daylight" called "Auto" but the reply was not heard. At 2030, "Daylight" was 25 miles west of "Auto" and saw AA fire and explosions. "Daylight" orbited 20 miles north of base until 2100. Request to land was made and a green light was received in reply. Landing was made at 2110. Flight time including time on the water was 17 hours and 25 minutes. Area of mission was gulf of Torontalo.  A/C type and serial number. B-24, 5th Bomb Sqdn, 23rd Bomb, 13th AF. Sighted 4 B-24s at Orbit point. Remarks: Suggest two "Daylights" be given this mission so that the two can split the survivors, making water take-off easier. 5 attempts were made before getting off.

AIRCRAFT: OA-10A  
USAAF SERNO: 44-33??? 
CALLSIGN:  "Daylight One One" 
CREW: Unknown

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