B-17 CC Additional Material by Robert M Stitt

onto the northern Solomons, New Britain and, most importantly, northern New Guinea. The necessary
build up of strength was met by dispatching a convoy of six destroyers and five transports from Rabaul
to the port of Lae on January 6, 1943, with a portion of the 51 st Division under the command of Major
General Tooru Okabe.
Anticipating this move, General Kenney ordered a major bombing raid on Rabaul for January 5, to
destroy as much shipping as possible before it could be used to reinforce Japanese positions on the New
Guinea mainland. Contrary to Kenney’s direct orders, General Walker flew on the mission and was lost
when B-17F 41-24458 San Antonio Rose was shot down by a combination of flak and Zero-Sen fighters.
Attempts were made to attack the Lae-bound convoy before dark without any results, though the
crew of a solitary Consolidated Catalina of 11 Squadron, RAAF, A24-1, under the command of Flt Lt
David Vernon, achieved a remarkable success that night when they stalked and sank one of the transports,
the Nichiryu Maru. The following day, the Allies launched a major aerial campaign to prevent
the convoy reaching Lae. Starting in the early hours of the morning, American and Australian aircraft
flew 154 sorties and dropped over 250 large bombs. Yet by 3:45pm, the four remaining transports had
reached Lae harbour and only one, the Myoko Maru, was seriously damaged and subsequently ran itself
aground. An estimated 4,000 Japanese soldiers and their equipment made it ashore.
With a substantial number of Japanese troops now landed at Lae, the focus for Allied operations on
January 8 became disrupting their movements, destroying their supplies and sinking the ships before
they left the harbour. As on the previous day, American and Australian units contributed a diverse force
of aircraft that included B-17s, Consolidated B-24 Liberators, Martin B-26 Marauders, North American
B-25 Mitchells, Lockheed P-38 Lightnings, Douglas A-20 Havocs and Bristol Beaufighters and Beauforts.
Ray Dau and his crew were assigned B-17E 41-9234 and tasked with bombing the escorting destroyers
– this was to be their first mission originating from Port Moresby and their thirteenth in all. Donald
Hoggan’s diary captures the start of that fateful day.
Friday, January 8: Arrived at operations 5am, waiting to strike convoy at Lae. Took off about 10am, 7
ships to go. We circle over airdrome at 6,000 waiting for ships to form but [they] do not [arrive] so take off
for Lae… in a two-ship formation.
Rau Dau formated 41-9234 on the right wing of B-17F 41-24381 Panama Hattie, flown by Capt.
William M Thompson of the 63 rd BS – the two unescorted bombers then set course across the Owen Stanley
Range, arriving at Lae harbour at 11:45. Ray Dau describes the reception. “Prior to reaching the harbor we
could see heavy ack-ack and a lot of fighters. It was the first time we’d encountered such heavy concentrations.
Our other missions had been fairly routine… but this one was different. We came into the harbor area
from the sea side and everything happened at once. I was concentrating on keeping on Thompson’s wing for
our run. The ack-ack was hitting us and the Zeros were coming in with head-on attacks and swerving up
over the plane… we were getting hit from every direction. I knew that bombardier ‘Bud’ Cole was hit almost
simultaneously with all this action... I knew too that our number 3 and 4 engines were shot out.”
Despite the mayhem around him, Cole remained focused on dropping his bombs on the Japanese
destroyers. As he squinted through the Norden bomb sight he became aware of an approaching
Zero-Sen and at that instant was hit in the face by a cannon shell. About the same time an anti-aircraft
shell smashed into the nose section, shattering the Perspex and filling both of Coles’ knees with shrapnel
– fortunately, the bomb sight protected the rest of his body. Though seriously wounded, Cole cou-
Hudsons of 1 OTU, RAAF
at Wau airstrip on either
January 8, 1942, the day of
the B-17’s crash-landing, or
January 10, the day of the
rescue mission. Note the
steep downward slope of the
airstrip behind the aircraft
and that the engines have
been left running for a quick
departure. (Owen Robinson
Collection via David
Vincent)
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