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30 JULY 1945 - Second
Lieutenant Bryan Guess, pilot of "Playmate 62", depated Morotai at 0300, setting
course for Balikpapan, Borneo where he arrived at 0930. Due to a delay in contacting the
station on Melintang Lake, departure was delayed until 1500 when, with an officer from
AIB, and one from the RAAF Rescue Squadron, course was set for Melintang Lake in Eastern
Borneo. Lieutenant Guess arrived over the lake at 1645 and landed in very shallow muddy
water, taxied up the river towards the village and awaited the arrival of the evacuees.
Five seriously wounded Indonesians with three excorts were taken aboard at 1730. Their
wounds were dressed and take-off accomplished at 1745. The evacuees were landed at
Seppinggang at 1900.
Due to weather and errors in navigation the
native village was strafed by a flight of Spitfires on 27 July 1945 killing six and
wounding five of the natives. The facilities of the rescue service were immediately made
available for the evacuation of the wounded survivors which, due to the small size of the
lake and the shallow water, was an extremely hazardous but successful mission.
AIRCRAFT: OA-10A CALLSIGN: "PLAYMATE 62" CREW: (P) 2Lt Bryan W. Guess
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