Warbird Information Exchange

On Nov 2, 1943, the 5th AF visited Rabaul and Simpson Harbor. The 3rd Attack Group sent their 3 B-25 Squadrons, the 8th, 13th and 90th from 4Y at Dobodura to join the 345th and 38th. Some photo's of that day courtesy of Jack Heyn, the Payson family, Ed Shook and other Reapers.

































90th Pilot Chuck Howe in "Here's Howe"



8th Sqdn plane

That was one big hornets nest they kicked, target rich environment for sure! Great batch of pics!! A bunch there that I had not seen before, it is quite amazing what comes out of private collections.

Love those Air Apaches!!!

_________________

Aviation Illustration Website
http://shepartstudio.com/illustration/

fantastic set of photos!

AMAZING set of pics, probably some of the most dramatic I've seen in a long time...in one of them you can follow the splashes across the water of the skipping bombs into the back of the freighter....I read somewhere they scored like 25 direct hits with 37 dropped bombs by skipping them across the water into their targets on one particular mission...dangerous stuff, tho....

Mark

_________________
Mark Morris

wow there are water blasts everywhere!! great pics & they give you the visual perpective of skip bombing.

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I have always found the pics from these "up close and personal" B-25 strikes just plain amazing! And the quality of the photography documenting the strikes are just outstanding.

_________________

Aviation Illustration Website
http://shepartstudio.com/illustration/

Couple more pics....
Bill Webster supplied these maps of Rabaul. One he marked to show the paths flown by the 3rd. Pic of Bill in his shorts and Aussie boots by "Sting Of Death" Dad flew between 10- 15 missions with Bill as a gunner

Fantastic pictures... thank you very much for sharing

12th picture, aircraft "Patton" is circled left... what is circled right and lower?

Round from the Cruiser fired at Patton's plane!!

Awesome Combat Photo's!!!
I am always amazed at the Courage it took to fly these machines into the Valley of Death, not really knowing how many guns would be trying to blow them out of the unfriendly sky. That low, didn't take much to cartwheel a B-25 into the water. Man, I wish I could go back to the mid- 60's and thank every Vet I ran into. Courage, too bad that a lot of the population of our now floundering Nation, forgot what it took, and takes to be a great Nation. Courage. Man....what a time.

_________________
Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

Two of my good friends that flew this mission..

L/R:

B.G. (Ret) William "Wild Bill Webster" and

Col (Ret) Ed Shook

Talk about old war horses!. Bill flew 51 missions, the last being the Nov 2 mission then returned home. He flew the Berlin airlift and flew in Korea. He retired as a Wing Commander in 1962. Bill's wearing one of his original flight suits.

Ed started out as a flying non-com! Received his battlefield commission and ended up flying over 120+ missions before the war ended! He ended up as the Commanding officer of the 8th Squadron. He went to Japan with the occupation troops and later flew combat again in Korea. The 8th Sqdn flew some of the first combat missions in Korea and Ed was part of the initial effort . Ed also retired as a Wing Commander!

Have you ever asked them their thoughts on today's Fighters and Bombers?

_________________
Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

the 25 with japanese letter characters on the nose...... can anybody translate it?? paging rosetta stone!!

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Tom,

"THE STING OF DEATH" is what it's supposed to say. Per Bill webster and Martin Radnick. There were 5 or six 8th Sqdn. planes that carried that nose art.

Gary..

In talking with the guys, They're impressed with the modern equipment the A.F. has today, and all would be willing to strap back in and give it a try!

Couple more pics..

another "Sting" from the Farrow family via my Dutch connection Jan, and Ed's A-20





Bill

Thanks for sharing the info! There must be countless untold stories and photos out there.

_________________
"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!" R.R.

Welcome to the USSA! One Nanny State Under the Messiah, Indivisible with Tyranny, Higher Taxes, Socialism, Radical Environmentalism and a Loss of Income for all. Boy I'm proud to be a part of the USSA, what can I do to raise taxes, oh boy oh boy!