Re: Possible new G4M "Betty Bomber" crash site. Assistance needed!
Hi,
if it helps the decimal lat/long is:
-9.044933° S
160.823043° E
This is roughly 4.60 km N.N.W. of Fulo on the island of Malaita.
If plotted, there is a building around 80 mtres N.W. of the lat/long, and a river around 65 mtres east of the lat/long.
From a limited search of the web, the book, "Air War Pacific. America's Air War Against Japan in East Asia and the Pacific 1941-1945. Chronology", by Eric Hammel (Pacifica Press 1998, ISBN 978-0935553260), has the following information:
"June 10, 1943. Solomon Islands: G4Ms attack a large Allied convoy off Malaita. An 18th Fighter Group P-38 pilot downs a G4M and VMF-124 F4U pilots down two G4Ms, all over Malaita Island at 1148 hours."
I understand that on 26 August 1942, some three G4Ms were shot down while withdrawling from an attack on Guadalcanal (out of 13 claimed by USMC pilots), with at least one coming down in the sea off Malaita. I don't know if any of the other two crashed on the Island itself.
Cheers
Rod
Last edited by RodM; 1st October 2011 at 04:55.
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