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18 MAY 1945 - First
Lieutenant Archie A. Yelvington, pilot of "Playmate
Four Seven", departed Zamboanga
at
0710 hours and proceeded to toward his orbit point off the west coast of Borneo. When West
of Palabac Strait at 1010, he received a radio message stating that a B-24 crew was down
in the vicinity of Cagayen Sulu Island. Lieutenant Yelvington altered his course and
contacted the B-24 which was circling the survivors, took a radar bearing on it and went
directly to the south of Carayaen Sulu Island at 6°50'N, 118°00'E. Lieutenant Yelvington
landed his rescue ship on five to six foot swells and took eight survivors aboard. During
the landing procedure his shipped dropped into a hollow between the swells, striking with
such force that the nose was wrinkled and the entire hull just forward of the leading edge
of the wing buckled. In spite of the damage to his ship, Lieutenant Yelvington took off at
1410 and headed for Zamboanga, landing at 1630. The ship,
44-33880
was so badly damaged that is was declared a total loss and salvaged. (Per
INIDIVIDUAL
AIRCRAFT RECORD CARD she was salvaged 27 June 1945)
The survivors, all members of the
72nd Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group were as follows: 1Lt William R. Silvers, 2Lt Gordon A.
Schmidt, 2Lt Robert J. Thebault, 2Lt Norbert Pearl, F/O Edward L. Mowles, S/Sgt Kenneth
Withers, Sgt Robert M. Harry, Pfc Donald L. Diboye. The following men went down with the
ship: S/Sgt R.M. Shannon, S/Sgt J.A. Golmen, and S/Sgt R.J. Tebbits. The pilot stated that
while on a bombing run over the target, jis engines were badly damaged. One engine went
out almost immediately, and on his way home, two more engines went out and he crash-landed
on the sea. The ship exploded soon after hitting the water, eight men miraculously
escaping. None of the survivors was injured. The lost airmen were killed in the crash and
went down with the ship.
RESCUED AIRMEN:
1Lt William R.
Silvers, 2Lt Gordon A. Schmidt, 2Lt Robert J. Thebault, 2Lt Norbert Pearl, F/O Edward L.
Mowles, S/Sgt Kenneth Withers, Sgt Robert M. Harry, Pfc Donald L. Diboye.
AIRCRAFT
TYPE: OA-10A
USAAF SERNO:
44-33880
(CV-332)**
CALLSIGN:
"Playmate
Four Seven"
CREW:
(Pilot)
1Lt Archie A. Yelvington,
(Co-Pilot) 2Lt Richard E. Costine, (Navigator) F/O Robert Siperstein, (Engineer) T/Sgt Mark M. Rose, (V) S/Sgt
E. Collins, (Surgical Tech) D.W. Renner, (Asst) S/Sgt Ortman
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*
Aircraft produced at Canadian Vickers Ldt, Cartierville, Quebec, Canada
** Canadian Vickers contract number that was unique to each
aircraft produced by at Cartierville
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