May 17, 1946

On May 17, 1946 a C-47, # 43-48308, was loaded with 12 coffins containing the bodies of thirty-seven deceased Americans exhumed from the Rangoon Cantonment cemetery, the Catholic cemetery in Yandoon, and Naggion cemetery of Burma.  There were also five American unknowns exhumed from an isolated area about 11 miles south of Inye Village put on board this plane. 

Exhumed from Rangoon Cantonment Cemetery:
S/Sgt. Albert I. Malck (6942456) Died: 28 Nov 43
Sgt. Elias E. Gonzales (6570123) Died: 28 Nov 43
Sgt. Harold B. Cummings (6970825) Died: 28 Nov 43
1st Lt. Robert L. Kavanaugh (0-435791) Died: 22 Jun 43
T/Sgt. Edward R. Bodell (11031740) Died: 15 Jul 43
T/Sgt. Urvan A. Aubuchon (37183004) Died: 26 Nov 43
S/Sgt. Thomas S. Hopes (35305336) Died: 22 Nov 43
S/Sgt. Francis B. Jordan (19064268) Died: 27 Nov 43
1st Lt. John C. Kelley (0-726034) Died: 17 Dec 43
T/Sgt. Charles A. Pittard (39251123) Died: 8 Jun 44
F/O Gene Gambale (T-121948) Died: 3 Aug 44
1st Lt. James M. Grey (0-665192) Died: 12 Aug 44
Sgt. Norman E. Albinson (13176804) Died: 18 Aug 44
S/Sgt. Frank Rodriquez (6578491) Died: 27 Aug 44
Cpl. Julius F. Yackie (17072536) Died: 18 Aug 44
Capt. Wayne E. Westberg (0-732792) Died: 22 Aug 44
2nd Lt Everette E Briggs Jr (0-668189) Died: 28 Dec 44
S/Sgt. Jack R. Sheets (13067183) Died: 19 Nov 44
Sgt. J. Brown (Unknown) Died: unknown
Plus 13 bodies believed to be:
1st Lt. Joseph F. Zialavsky (0-664863) Died: 15 Jul 44
Capt. Hill Wright (0-725565) Died: 31 Mar 44
Capt. William R. Gilhousen (0-667062) Died: 16 Jul 44
1st Lt. Robert D. Drummy (0-815670) Died: 11 Jan 45
2nd Lt. Joseph C. Rich (0-739054) Died: 13 Sep 44
1st Lt. Burdett C. Goodrich (0-750504) Died: 27 Feb 45
2nd Lt. Burdette H. Baker (0-1698884) Died: 19 Nov 44
Capt. Armin J. Ortmeyer Jr (0-659326) Died: 13 Jan 45
1st Lt. Amil Baldman Jr (0-416094) Died: 11 Jul 44
1st Lt. Robert F. Angell (0-407635) Died: 15 Feb 44
1st Lt. Paul E. Almand (0-494774) Died: 27 Mar 45
2nd. Lt. Thomas P. Hogan (0-873571) Died: 20 Nov 43
1st Lt. Charles B. Listen (0-529445) Died: 5 Apr 44

Exhumed from Catholic Cemetery, Yandoon:
Lt. Col. Everett C. Plummer (0-300365) Died: 9 Dec 43

Exhumed from Maggion Cemetery, Burma:
G. R. Murphy (unkown) Died: 20 Jun 45

Plus 5 unknown remains exhumed near Inye Villiage

This aircraft was manned with a crew of three, including a pilot, check pilot and radio operator, all from 1304th AAF Base Unit, India Wing, Air Transport Command.  Also onboard were eight passengers, seven of which were American Graves Registration Service Personnel. 

Crew:
Pilot – 1st Lt. Horace J. Gabbart (0-769790)
Check Pilot - 1st Lt. Melvin L. Power (0-933431)
Radio Operator – Pfc. Eugene F. Ryan (17134187)
Passengers from AGRS:
USF-IBT – Captain Roy W. Corley (0-1587766)
USF-IBT – 1st Lt. Donald S. Dutton (0-1118713)
USF-IBT – 1st Lt. Henry E. Derbyshire (0-1116766)
USF-IBT – S/Sgt. Glenn F. Cox, Jr. (36961684)
USF-IBT – T/4 Warren R. Haines (42083730)
USF-IBT – T/5 Wallace J. Davis (33551295)
Other Passengers:
AACS – 1st Lt. Harry Chan (0-877552)
USNR – Lt. Commander James T. Campbell (205425)

The aircraft’s intended route was a routine flight from Rangoon, Burma  to Barrakapore/Calcutta, India.  The weather conditions were poor for flying, with severe thunder storms, line squalls and heavy monsoon rains.  The normal flight time for this route would have been about 4-1/2 hours, but due to the weather, the pilot estimated that it would take about 5-1/2 hours.

The C-47 #8308 departed from Rangoon at 0324 GMT.  The ship reported a position of 12,000 ft. above Akyab at 530 GMT, gave ETA Barrackapore of 0800.  The position report was received by Barrackapore Air-Ground Radio Station at 0610 GMT.  The plane requested and received a Barrackapore weather report at 0615 GMT.  At 0705 GMT Barrackapore Air-Ground Operator gave C-47 #5629 (inbound from Karachi) a long count.  #8308 Operator, thinking the count was for him, came back with a QRU “nothing for you”.  This was the last radio contact made with #8308.  According to the ETA it was still 55 minutes from Barrackapore.  Several messages were sent out to #8308 with no response.  At 1000 GMT the ship was declared officially “missing”.

Many search missions were conducted in the days and months to follow.  None of these searches were sucessful in finding this plane. 

Note: Passengers Lt. Dutton and Lt. Derbyshire were enroute to Calcutta to attend an American Graves Registration Service conference and had in their possession complete information of air-wrecks, Japanese executions and American isolated burials obtained after weeks of investigation in Rangoon, Siam, Malay Straits, Java and the Andaman Islands.  The loss of these records, together with the loss of these experienced AGRS officers and inlisted men, was a huge blow to the Search and Recovery activities occuring in the CBI theater.

© 2010 Leslie K. Roane
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