Last update: 14 August 2023

Crew 11

Eleventh plane to take off from the USS Hornet on 18 April 1942

Datasheet

- Aircraft Squadron:	89th Reconnaissance Squadron
- Serial number plane:	40-2249
- Name of the plane:	Hari Kari'er - individual marking : Angel with bomb
- Take off date:	18 April 1942
- Take off time:	Take off @ 08.56 am ship time USS Hornet
- Place in line to take off:	11th
- Take off direction:	Take off @ about 35 40 N 153 40 E
- Bombs on board:	4 cluster incendiary bombs
- Bombed area in Japan:	Nagoya (Achi)
- Bombing of Japan - local time:	01:15 pm
- Fate crew - 18 april 1942:	Bailed out above China - 10:05 pm
- Fate plane - 18 april 1942:	Crash west of Huangshan, China

The Crew

Mixed crew - 34th Bombardment Squandron and 89th Reconnaissance Squadron as part of the 17th Bombardment Group

Target

Nagoya (Achi)

The story of Crew 11

The crew dropped their 4 bombs in Tokyo @ Katori Airfield 35 43 43 N 140 36 37 E

After the bombing over Japan they flew direction China and bailed out of the plane. Hight about 10,000 feet (about 3 km) at a point about 40 miles (about 64 km) northwest of Chaozhou . Their bomber crashed on the border of Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. The Chinese resistance brought them to Shexian county 29°39'43.9"N 118°30'07.4"E in the Anhui province.

Bombers 1, 10, 11 and 12 crashed not far from each other. Between Hangzou and Quzhou. Crew 11 arrived safely in free China thanks to the Chinese resistance. Four days after bailing out the crew arrived in Chongqing

Sergeant Melvin Gardner was killed in action in the Philippines on 3 June 1942 while he returned from a bombing mission in Lashio, Burma (now Myanmar) His plane was shot down. His body was never found. Melvin’s name is on the tablets of the missing in Manilla, Phillipines. He has a cenotaph in Taylor, Arizona on the Taylor cementary.

Sergeant Omer Duquette (crew 12) was killed in action on the same day on the same place.

Crew 11 - Pilot report Charles R. Greening - click here - copyright @ nara-usa - public domain

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Picture 1 : Doolittle Raiders Frank Kappeler, Charles Greening, Kenneth Reddy, Lucian Youngblood, Eugene McCurl, Jacob Manch, Waldo Bither, and Rodney Wilder @ Chongqing, China, 29 June 1942.

Picture 2 : USS Hornet launching Doolittle raiders, 18 Apr 1942.

Crew picture : copyright @nara-usa - public domain - colored by : Our colorful history @ https://www.facebook.com/historyrestored - used with permission - Thank you so much for the wonderful crew pictures.