Lt GC Duncan OS2U kill?

[twocee]

Stig,

According to Moran it was Hendershott, with two ts, but the shoot-down was by his rsm, Hickman.

[Frank Olynyk]

Stig,
As George said, it is Hendershott, and it was actually shot down by his gunner/radio operator, ARM2/c Arthur Edward Hickman. It is the only claim I am aware of by VCS-13. I probably didn;'t have the reference to VCS-13 at the time I prepared the list.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Frank Olynyk]

With regard to George Duncan and Louisville and having thought about it, I do not think the records filed in RG 24 as "Deck Logs" are what is needed. Either Louisville's Action Report for the Aleutians, or the War Diary, both filed in RG38. It turns out that for most of the year 1943 the USN changed their deck log procedures.

A WW2 deck log consists of two types of information: Operational and Administrative matters. Operational matters would be things like changes in speed and direction, for a carrier launching and landing aircraft, and usually aircraft losses; plus damage to the ship. Administrative matters would be things like court martials, captain's mast, deaths or injuries, sailors leaving or returning to the ship from leave, etc.

In 1943 the USN decided to separate the recording of these matters. Administrative matters were in the deck log, and operational matters were in the war diary, A war diary was prepared each month of the war, and was basically a summary of the operational matters in the deck log. In 1943 the war diary was all the operational matters normally in the deck log, and in fact was recorded on the same oversize paper (10 by 15 inches) as the deck log. As far as I am aware the war diaries have not been digitized, and must be accessed in the original. So that is what I will have to check when NARA II reopens; I do not believe that are available on line through the catalog.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Frank/George

Thanks for the clarifications
Sure enough Hickman received the full claim and is shown as such in your book, Frank

Funny when Gremlins appear, they usually do so in style.... (page 70)

With regard to Hendershott, I got a bit suspicious about the correct spelling, since you both have him all of a sudden with one T above....

Cheers
Stig

[keith A]

I assume that Duncan was a member of VCS-4 but according to this site

http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_seria...ndseries1.html

USS Louisville appears to have operated the Curtiss SOC Seagull 1942-44.

regards

Keith

[twocee]

I didn't think to check that but you are quite right. Cruiser Division 4, of which Louisville was part, operated the Curtiss SOC right through into 1945. The Cleaver story now seems to be even more suspect.

[twocee]

It was on August 7, 1943, during the Kiska bombardment, that CruDiv 4 SOCs tangled with "float Zeros". The following is an extract I found in an old book:

"He (Lt. J.R. Brown) saw his wingman, Lt. George C. Duncan, twist and turn to escape the stabbing arc of fire from the Zero. The radiomen in the two Louisville planes, E.W. Shannon and W.P. Watson, said later that one time they caught a Jap pilot in a cross fire from their two Seagull guns. Lt. Duncan survived 10 passes from the enemy plane.....The two planes were sieves when they were finally lifted back aboard the Louisville".

There is no actual claim to a "kill" in this account.