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UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET AIR FORCE, PACIFIC FLEET
NAVAER Air Operations Memorandum No. 12-43 3 July 1943
Re-issued by Bureau of Aeronautics, Air Information Branch 27 July 1943
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UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET FF12-5/A8/(KE)
3 July 1943. U. S. CONFIDENTIAL
0. L. THORNE,
Copies to:
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST - COMAIRPAC Air Operations Memorandum No. 12-43
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UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET AIR FORCE, PACIFIC FLEET
AIR OPERATIONS MEMORANDUM NO. 12-45
A CASTAWAY'S DIARY
The remarkable document which follows is a very detailed day-by-day account of the experiences of an aviator who was forced to parachute into the sea in the middle of the Solomon Islands. It is felt that the resourcefulness of this pilot, and his intelligent utilization of the equipment he possessed, were in large part responsible for his return to his squadron. The fact that he knew where he was, where he wanted to go, and how best to go about getting there saved him a great deal of futile wandering and mental distress. The names of persons and places have been deleted.(This was then-Lt (jg) William Robert Maxwell of VF-11 'Sundowners' and the mission was flown from Henderson field on Guadalcanal)
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL CASTAWAYS MAY 2 At about 1600 the division in which I am leader of the second section was weaving over the bombers at about 14,000 feet, alternating in the weave with another division. I was stepped down about 10 feet and to the left of the division leader when his wing tank ran out and he lost altitude, dropping out of sight below my wing, as he switched to main. I maintained level flight for 30 seconds and when he did not appear, motioned my wing man out so that I could slide out to the left to take a look. At this instant my plane came into collision with another plane below me, which I later found out was the division leader's. My plane went out of control and I threw back the hood at once. The plane nosed up in a half loop and as it was on its back I loosened my safety belt. By the time I had it loose the plane had fallen off, right side up, in a flat leaf-like spin. I climbed up on the seat, put my right foot on the cockpit side, and tried to jump out, but was held back by my oxygen mask and radio gear. I gave another lunge and everything broke free -- the mask came off and the head phone cord broke loose from the box -- and in a fraction of a second I had found and pulled the ripcord. The opening of the chute snapped me up short and I was able to look around and see my plane falling in two pieces -- the tall section and about 6 feet of fuselage was drifting crazily downward and the fore part fluttering down like a leaf. I tried to ease the pressure of the leg straps on my thighs by pulling myself up to sit on them, but was unable to do so because of the weight and bulk of my life raft and cushions. As a result my thighs were considerably chafed. I was so preoccupied with looking around that I did not notice how fast I was descending and before I knew it I had hit the water. The wind billowed the chute out as I went under and I was able to unfasten my chest strap and left leg strap at once; the right strap took about 45 seconds, and I continued to hold on to the straps, being pulled along under water by the chute. I couldn't understand why I didn't come to the surface -- then I remembered that I hadn't pulled the CO2 strings of my life jacket. As soon as I had done this, my belt inflated and I came to the surface. I immediately slipped my life raft off the leg straps, ripped the 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL cover off and inflated it. During my descent I had hooked an arm through my back pack strap so as not to lose it, but during the time I was struggling under water it must have come off because when I came up I saw it floating about 20 feet away. I paddled over and picked it up, along with two cushions - one of which was merely a piece of sponge rubber 15 inches square and 2 inches thick. After I was in the boat I took the mirror from the back pack and discovered a deep gash about an inch and a quarter long on my chin and another deep gash about 3 inches long on my right shin. I took out my first aid kit and examined the contents and read the instructions. I found that there was no adhesive tape in the kit -- apparently it had not been replaced when I had had my first aid kit gone over on the ship coming down from Pearl Harbor. I sprinkled sulfanilamido powder on both wounds and put one of the two compress bandages on my leg. I haven't any idea how I got either one of these cuts. During this time I was having brief spells of nausea, but did not vomit. However, in a short while I had a sudden bowel movement, probably as a reaction from the shock and excitement. I felt very weak and dizzy. I began to take stock of my equipment and to figure out where I was from the strip map (NACI ComSoPac Patrol Chart 2A) which I had in my pocket. My chief thoughts were directed to how I could reach the nearest land. At the same time I was worried about what had happened to the other pilot -- I was pretty sure it was - - - - and this continued to worry me until I got back to Guadalcanal and found him the same as over. Just before wo had taken off that afternoon our Air Intelligence Officer had briefed us on the location of the coast watchers. As I sat in the boat, still dazed and faint, I realized that with the distance and prevailing northeast wind I wouldn't have much chance of making one of the larger islands. As nearly as I could figure it out, I was about 10 miles east of one small island and about 10 or 15 miles south of another. Beyond reaching land I hadn't formulated any plans. About 50 minutes or an hour after I'd crashed, I saw an F4F coming toward me from the west about 50 feet off the water. I immediately grabbed my mirror and sighted at the 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL plane through the small hole, endeavoring to give him a flash. As soon as I did this he wobbled his wings and came in and circled and I saw that it was my wing man. Five other Wildcats came down and cirled, apparently trying to get a fix on me, and I waved to them. Soon they went off toward the east and I noticed to my consternation that dark cumulus clouds were moving in quickly from the northeast and the sea was getting quite rough. I was resigned to the certainty that no planes would come out for me then because of the approaching dusk. Just before the sun went down it began to rain and blow and the waves got higher and higher. There wasn't much I could do -- I was still weak and not a little scared. About all I did was to throw out my sea anchor -- a small rubber bracket on a seven foot line -- and covered myself with my sail. It rained and blew all night. Sometimes it literally came down in buckets. I bailed the water out six or seven times during the night with the small cup that the concertina pump fits in and also with my sponge rubber cushing, but there were always 2 or 3 inches of water in the bottom. The rest of the time, I just huddled under my sail. MAY 3 When it began to get light, the rain stopped, but the sky was cloudy and the sea still choppy. Off to the east I saw what appeared to be 2 F4Us in the distance about 8,000 feet up. The thought occurred to me that they were part of a patrol a little off their "beat", but I knew they wouldn't see me. As it got lighter I saw that I had been blown about 10 miles south of the center of the island I was making for. The wind was still from the northeast and I knew I would have to paddle like the devil even to hold my own and not be blown farther out to sea. I broke out one of my six chocolate bars and ate part of it but I wasn't hungry. I also took a swallow out of my 27 ounce canteen, but I wasn't particularly thirsty. All day long I paddled with my hand paddles, sitting backward in the raft. By four in the afternoon my forearms, were raw and chafed from the friction with the sides of the raft as I rowed. Only two or three times during the day I had stopped paddling momentarily to eat a bite of chocolate and take a swallow of water. During the day I saw a flight of Zeros and bombers totaling about 30 planes going east, very high, and then returning west in about an hour or so. The Zero cover seemed to be all at one level with little or no organization. Some seemed to be in 3 plane divisions, with one 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL of them straggling and some appeared to be in two plane divisions. It began to rain about four and I hit a new low point of discouragement when I saw that I had apparently made no headway at all during the day. After night fell, the rain continued in intermittent showers until dawn. The sea was still rough and the wind was from the northeast. I tried to continue paddling, but a large fish hit my hand -- I don't know what kind of fish it was -- in fact, I didn't even see it, but the experience dissuaded me from rowing any more in the dark. I threw out my sea anchor again, this time with the two cushions tied on the line' for additional weight, and huddled under my sail for the rest of the night. I don't recall that I slept this night or any night before I got to shore -- I just seemed to lie in a sort of coma.MAY 4 When the sun came up, I found that I was south of the west end of the island and about two miles farther out than I'd been the previous morning. I broke out another chocolate bar for "breakfast" along with a little water and began to paddle again. Some time during the day I got the idea of getting in the water and swimming along with the raft. The only result of this maneuver was that I lost one of my hand paddles, and I went back to paddling with the remaining paddle and my bare hand. Several fish came quite close to the raft but I didn't try to catch them although I hit one with my paddle just to see if I could do it. The results of my continuous paddling were more heartening this day and by about three o'clock in the afternoon I could see that I had covered quite a little distance. Just about this time, however, a big storm came from the northwest and it began to rain again. Again I put out my sea anchor with the cushions tied to it and settled down under my sail. It rained off and on all night and the wind was from the northwest. Although I was never very thirsty I would catch rain on my sail and funnel it into the pump cup, drink some of it and use the rest to keep my canteen filled. Before the storm came in that afternoon, the sun had been quite hot and I kept my head covered with my sail and applied zinc oxide to my face. Earlier that day I had seen 4 P-38s going west along the south shore of this Island. I also saw single PBOs which passed over early every morning and late each evening very low, but because the sun was so far down each time, I was never able to signal with my mirror. 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL MAY 5 When it became light, I saw that I had drifted to a point about six miles south of the east end of the island. I had another chocolate bar for breakfast and a little water and was considerably encouraged when I found that the wind was blowing from the southeast. This meant that I had a very good chance of reaching the island, so I pulled in my sea anchor and began paddling. Some time during the morning my remaining hand paddle slipped off in the water and, forgetting that I had my life belt inflated, I jumped overboard to retrieve it. Of course, I couldn't get under the surface and soon gave up. During the day I again saw a flight of Jap planes going east very high. There were about 30 of them, mostly Zeros, although there may have been some bombers. Again I noticed that the Zeros wero scattered all over without any apparent system in twos and threes. I stoppoed paddling only to take an occasional swallow of water and about six o'clock I came close to the shore. The surf didn't look too bad and I headed right in -- a mistake, as it turned out, for as soon as I got in closer I found that the waves were at least fifty feet high, the biggest surf I've ever seen. It was too late to turn back and the first big one broke in front of me -- I felt as if I were 50 foot in the air when it broke and all I could see in front of me was the jagged coral of the beach. I tried to beat the next one in but it caught me just after it broke and tossed me end-over-the-kettle into the coral. Fortunately, I missed hitting the sharpest coral and received only a few cuts on my hands. My boat landed about 50 feet away in a sort of channel leading into the beach. I tried to stand up and found that I couldn't walk. Finally, I crawled over to the little channel, got my boat and dragged it up on a small sandy beach. Since I had tied my belongings rather securely to the raft, the only items that were missing were the concertina pump, the two cushions and the can of sea marker. I was very tired and very weak; I turned my raft upside down and lay on it with my sail over me trying to sleep, but apparently I was too tired to sleep -- I think I only dozed for periods of a few minutes at the most. MAY 6 The first thing in the morning I began to look for coconuts on the ground and found one mature nut under a tree. The tree was about 25 feet high and I immediately set to thinking how I could get more of the nuts out of it. I was, of course, too weak to climb it and I thought of cutting notches in it. It was hopeless, and I fell to 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL opening the one coconut in the way I'd observed the natives in Fiji doing. The seed had already sprouted and there wasn't much milk in it and as I wasn't hungry I didn't eat much of the meat. Instead I had my usual "breakfast" of a chocolate bar, laid out my things to dry, cleaned my knife and gun as best I could, and rested some more. Although my .45 had been wet almost constantly and was quite rusty, the moving parts worked all right after I had applied more oil to them. Then I started out to find more pandanus nuts, having read and reread my "Castaway's Baedeker". I found some, but they were too high and I couldn't get to them. In the afternoon I sorted my equipment and rested. By this time I had decided to try to get to the western end of the island and, if possible, make contact with the coast watchers on the next island. I wasn't sure whether there were any Japs or natives on the island I was on, but thought I might at least run into some natives. During the day I ran across a crocodile in a channel in the coral beach but we parted company at once without incident. Toward evening it looked like rain so I made a coconut cup, imbedded it in the sand, and rigged my sail around it so that it would catch the water and funnel it into the cup through a small hole in the sail. The rain began when it got dark and I settled myself on the ground under a tree and piflled my rubber boat over me for shelter. MAY 7 In the morning I evolved a plan for getting some coconuts. I cut several notches in the trunk of the tree and then made a sort of rope ladder with my sea anchor line, placed this around the trunk so that it would slip and pushed it up as far as I could. Climbing up by these means I was able to reach and twist off two coconuts. This was pretty exhausting work so I rested for a while and then filled my canteen with the rain water that had accumulated in the coconut cup. I drank the milk fron the coconut and ate a little of the soft meat but still I was not very hungry. My store of chocolate bars was down to two so I decided to conserve them. I then packed all my gear in my back pack, rolled up my life raft and set out to walk along the coast to the west end of the island. There was a l00 yard stretch of coral between the water and the beach and it was not bad walking. Naturally, I was glad I hadn't discarded my shoes 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL in the water. Several times I came to channels in the coral, usually at the mouths of small streams, and then I would have to blow up my life belt and swim across. At one such place I saw more fish and tried to catch one with my fishing line and pork rind bait, but the fish declined to bite. Late in the day I came to a sand beach which I walked along until it got dark. Then I made a crude lean-to of palm fronds against a tree trunk, blew up my life raft and settled down on it with my sail as a cover. I smeared zinc oxide on my face -- I put either zinc oxide or vaseline on my face each morning and night for protection against sunburn, and also periodically put vaseline on the gash on my shin and on my hands, which were cracked from the salt water. The sulfanilamide powder was rather water soaked so I used vaseline instead. Aside from a daily quinine pill, that was the extent of my doctoring. Fortunately, the gash on my chin had closed pretty well. That night I woke up from one of my periods of dozing to find that the tide had come in. I scrambled around, moving my gear to a dry spot and discovered that the tide had carried away my sail and my shoulder holster. Luckily, I had my .45 close to my side, but one of the two clips in the holster contained all my tracer bullets. MAY 8 In the morning after I'd eaten half of my remaining chocolate bar, I started walking again. Most of the time I walked in the water up to my knees. Soon the coral ledge ended, and I had to strike inland because I couldn't get through the immense surf that was washing against the high rock and coral of the shore. I would go inland a little way, parallel the coast clambering up and down the ridges, and then go back to the shore to see if I could make my way along it. During the day I saw two more crocodiles in a small lagoon and my only snake, a small blue snake about a foot and a half long with a flat tail. During the day I found several coconuts along the beach and on the ground and drank the milk. As dusk came on, I was inland climbing one of the ridges when it began to rain. I put my life jacket and back pack on the ground under a log and lay on my deflated life raft. It rained all night and by morning I was lying in mud.12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL MAY 9 During the morning I continued crossing the ridges which run down to the shore from the central range. This was pretty tiring -- mostly I would zigzag up them and slip and slide down. I was always hopeful that I would be able to make my way along the coast, but this was impossible. During the day I ate some fern leaves and the remainder of my last chocolate bar. At dusk I came down to the coast to sec if I'd rounded a particular rocky point, found that I hadn't and decided to spend the night in a small cave in the coral which was about 100 feet above and 150 feet back from the water. I slept on my back pack and life jacket and used my deflated raft as a cover. After sleeping spasmodically, I was awakened at dawn by a wave breaking at the entrance of the cave. MAY 10 In the morning I got ready to move; It was raining and the wind blew and I could make little headway over the rocks and coral so I took to the ridges again. I ate some ferns and about 2:30 in the afternoon came onto the shore where there was a nice sandy beach. The hills had dwindled and there was a grove of coconut palms. I was near the end of the island and could see the next one about 2 or 3 miles the channel. In the shallow water I found two small crabs and about eight mussels. I ate the crabs raw, and putting the mussels in my pocket, headed for a small bay. It was a fine afternoon and I built a lean-to of sticks and palm fronds and blew up my raft. I then tried some of the mussels and found that they were rather unpleasantly slimy. The next day when I ate the rest I washed them first and they tasted pretty good. It rained that night and, my lean-to proving not to be as water-proof as I thought, I got under my boat. MAY 11 The next morning I rested and ate the meat and drank the milk of a few coconuts. I decided not to build a fire because of the possibility of attracting Japs, and had concluded to get to the next island and try to make contact with the coast watcher or natives. I filled my canteen from a stream. Late in the afternoon a number of SBDs escorted by F4Us came over at 6,000 to 8,000 foot going west and soon returned. Both times I used my mirror to try and attract their attention. (When I returned 1 learned that the SBDs had seen my flashes and thought I was sending "MA" in Morse. 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL They reported this on their return but for some reason nothing was done about it.) I was quite weak and tired, but built a new and better lean-to. That night I dozed fitfully and the mosquitoes were quite annoying. The only other noteworthy incident that day was my first bowel movement since the one immediately after crashing. MAY 12 In the morning I washed my clothes and set about making some oars. I found a couple of small pieces of lumber with a few nails and a screw in them, and using the nails and a screw I attached two sticks to the pieces of lumber and had a serviceable pair of oars. Then I ran my sea anchor line around my boat through the rings, and attached to it another "piece of rope I'd found in which I made two loops for oar locks. By looping the rope around my feet I could get leverage for rowing. I used some of my sponge rubber from my back pack to make pads for the oars and slit my back pack, which with the insertion of a couple of sticks, provided me with a sail. I rigged a rope so that I could hoist the sail by pulling up the "mast", the base of which rested in my crotch, and hold it aloft by means of a rope around my neck. When I had completed my preparations in the evening I gave my craft a brief shake-down cruise, dined on coconut and went to sleep. MAY 15 With the meat of two coconuts and my canteen of water as provisions, I set out early in the morning on my voyage to the next island. I stood out to sea through a break in the reef and soon found that, although my course was due west, my heading was northwest. This was due to a north-northeast wind and I rowed constantly as it looked as if I might be blown south of the hook of the island. About noon I headed into a sandy beach on the south shore of the hook and again found to my dismay that I had underestimated the size of the surf. The waves caught me and tossed me onto a fairly smooth coral ledge. I was under water for what seemed a, very long time -- actually about 45 seconds -- but managed to hold onto my boat. As I struggled to my feet I heard someone shouting and was overjoyed to see two natives in a canoe about 50 yards off shore waving to me. When we met on the beach, I asked to be taken to the "big white boss" and one of them then indicated they would take me, mentioning the coast watcher's name. I got into 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL the canoe with all my gear except the back pack cover and we started east to the south shore of the point, when we met two more natives in another canoe and put into the beach. The natives fetched some- water and a taro from a hut for me. After a while we started around the point and along the shore. The natives asked me if I were thirsty and when I said that I was we again put into the beach and went into another hut, where I saw a Jap collapsible boat and two' phonograph records of Hawaiian tunes hanging by strings, apparently as decorations. One of the natives climbed a fifty foot coconut palm and brought me some coconuts. Finally we pushed on to a village about half-way up the coast. There I was greeted by the Chief, who asked me if I'd like to write a note to the coast watcher. I wrote a short note which was given to one of the natives I met first, and he went off with it. After being given pineapple and taro, I was taken to another hut where it was indicated that I was to sleep. I was given a corner of a low platform, a clean bamboo mat and a pillow and blanket. After eating more pineapple and taro I talked mostly with the Chief's son, who had been to the mission school and was quite interested in America. After dark we all went to sleep. Besides myself there were the Chief, his son, daughter, and several small children in the hut. MAY 14 After a breakfast of taro, we looked at maps and I showed them where I lived In the United States. Another Chief came to see me in the morning and in the afternoon a third Chief called. They brought me oranges, wild rice, and tinned Australian meat with some sort of eggs which I had for lunch and dinner. We talked all afternoon and turned in early. MAY 15 Breakfast was again taro. Shortly after that a boy arrived with a note from the coast watcher and a basket containing 10 packages of Chesterfields, 3 Type B, 3 Type D, 1 Type C and 3 Mixed Meat and potato U.S. Army rations. I passed cigarettes around and opened up several of the tins. The man who brought the note was a native constable who spoke excellent English. The coast watcher's note was as follows: "Dear - - - -, 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL out of action or I would have heard about you and sent for you. As it is, I am sending food and cigarettes and a constable to take you to the next place where you can be taken back. Hope you have a good trip. Tell - - - - I've had no luck with my charging engine. Yours sincerely, After supper, we set out in a sort of native dory, with 2 oarsmen and 4 paddles, a helmsman, and myself as passenger sitting in the bottom. During the night we stopped and built a fire to cook some taro and green bananas. Several hours later we paused while two of the natives slipped into the water, swam ashore and scouted a plantation clearing for Japs. They found none and we picked them up at a small dock and continued eastward. MAY 16 At dawn we stopped near the mouth of a small stream near the center of the north side of the island I first landed on, where we slept for a couple of hours. For breakfast we had taro and some of the Army rations, also some fish, which two of the natives speared upstream. After breakfast we paddled further along the coast, stopping to rest at noon and get out of the sun. Again two of the natives went up a little stream to spear fish. When I complimented them on their skill and asked to watch them, they insisted on carrying me up the stream a way to watch them. The natives wore extremely considerate at all times and did all the work -- they even insisted on carrying me out of and into the boat when we touched shore. They were all husky fellows with bushy hair of a reddish hue, probably from the use of lime to prevent insects. Their co-ordination and rhythm when rowing or paddling was beautiful to watch and I think they would give the best college crews a trimming. About 2:30 in the afternoon we headed across the open channel, passing between two fronts. About 11 p.m. we stopped on a small island for a few minutes, then pushed on to another small island where we stopped. There was a native sentry here and I dried my clothes in front of his fire. I then continued my journey in a small canoe with two natives and finally reached the coast watcher's headquarters at 1:30 in the morning. There I took a shower and shaved and had 12-43 |
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL some hot coffee and crackers. After about five hours' sleep, I was up and ready for breakfast. Unbelieveable things like fresh eggs, bacon and coffee appeared and I ate everything in sight. At lunch and again at dinner I ate colossal quantities of food, not to mention snacks at tea time in the morning and afternoon. During the day a radio message was sent to Guadalcanal and the next morning I was picked up by a PBY and escorted back - - - - - by eight of my squadron mates. I was certainly glad to see their faces as they flew along side and peered at me waving to them from the waist blister of the PBY.
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U. S. CONFIDENTIAL BUREAU OF AERONAUTICS DISTRIBUTION LIST (Air Operations Memorandum No. 12-43)
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SOURCE:
National Archives & Records Administration, Seattle Branch
Record Group 181, 13 Naval District, Commandant's Office, Central Subject Files, 1942-43
Pilot was identified using AviationArcheology.com and Barrett Tillman's "VF-11/111 'Sundowners' 1942-95.
Additional note - large portions of this text were also released in a December 1943 issue of the "Intelligence Bulletin" published by the US Military Intelligence Service as well as the book "Aces Against Japan II: The American Aces Speak" by Eric Hammel.
Transcribed by RESEARCHER @ LARGE. Formatting & Comments Copyright R@L