11.08.1944: The untold Story of F-7A Liberator crash at Molungkimong

In April 2020, the Molungkimong Village Council set up a WWII Memorial Development Committee to work on memorializing the fallen crew. As an immediate necessity, a memorial plaque honoring the crew was erected at the crash site and dedicated on December 22, 2020 with a traditional warrior song by the village elders and a prayer by the village Church Pastor. A footpath leading up to the memorial has been paved and directional and notice boards placed.

Talimeren Tzudir, Ex Indian Navy Aviation Technical Petty Officer

INTRODUCTION

Molungkimong, the misty village nestled atop the pristine hills of Nagaland, India, shares an important place in the history of the WWII. On August 11, 1944, a US military plane exploded near the village and crashed into a ravine killing all 12 on board. 76 years after the ill-fated crash, details have now been established through eye-witness accounts, Missing Air Crew Reports, Accident Reports, Archival data and significant information from former crew mates and family members of the fallen crew. Poignantly, the 12 fallen heroes, having traced their identities, are being venerated for their ultimate sacrifice through a memorial erected at the crash site by the Village Council on 22 December 2020.

THE CHINA BURMA INDIA (CBI) THEATER AND ‘THE HUMP’

The aircraft was part of the CBI Theater of WWII which was established on 22 June 1942 to halt Japanese expansion in Southeast Asia. The American strategy was to invade Japan by building up China as a source of manpower and the base for their bombers. But with the Japanese occupation of Burma in January 1942 and the resultant closure of the Burma Road, China was completely cut off from Allied supplies. In order to keep China supplied, the U.S. Army Air Force based in India started to haul military supplies 550 miles over the Eastern Himalayan Mountains from airfields in Assam, India to Kunming, China; a perilous air route that American pilots nicknamed ‘The Hump’. Flying over the Himalayan Mountains filled with impenetrable jungles, ‘Hump’ pilots faced threats of Japanese fighters and the extreme weather conditions with no provision for emergency landing or rescue. Furthermore, the terrain compelled them to fly above the plane’s service ceiling and carried cargoes that exceeded the designed capacity. Chick Marrs Quin’s The Aluminum Trail lists more than 700 planes that went down in the course of ‘The Hump’ operation costing some 1,200 lives. Lt General William H Tunner, the then Commander of the India-China Division of Air Transport Command, rightly commented in his memoirs: “It was safer to take a bomber deep into Germany than to fly a transport plane over the Rockpile from one friendly nation to another.”

THE AIRCRAFT

The F-7A Liberator with tail number 42-64189 was a photo reconnaissance version of the famous B-24J Liberator bomber from the 24th Combat Mapping Squadron based in Gushkara, India. The modification was achieved by replacing the bombing equipment with special cameras for aerial photography. On that fateful morning, it had embarked on an ‘Over The Hump’ Combat Mission enroute from Jorhat, India to Kunming, China.

OPERATIONAL BACKGROUND: 24TH COMBAT MAPPING SQUADRON (CMS)

The 24th CMS moved to India in December 1943. Flying over uncharted territories, the unit played a crucial role providing detailed aerial photography for the creation of detailed maps needed for the war. During the battle of Imphal, the 24th CMS made extensive mosaic of the Imphal-Kohima battle area enabling the British 14th Army and Royal Air Force (RAF) to pinpoint Japanese targets. By the end of the war, the squadron had covered some 455,000 square miles of territory in India, Burma, Thailand and Malaya (Malaysia), and 435,000 square miles in China. Apart from their primary role, the 24th CMS also had to carry their fuel and supplies over “the Hump” to China and in 1944, they made 182 ‘Hump’ crossings losing six planes one of which was in Molungkimong.

THE CRASH

Like the other hundreds of crashes in the region, the exact cause of the crash is not known. According to the Accident Reports, the ground rescue party which arrived at the scene of the wreck observed that the plane had possibly struck the trees while banking and fell into a ravine. According to media reports, the plane was hauling ammunitions, bombs and gasoline which resulted in heavy explosions after the crash. The search party found no large pieces of wreckage and the metals showed traces of being exposed to extreme heat.

EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE CRASH AND THE AFTERMATH

It was a rainy day in August, 1944 and most of the elders of the village had gone to the fields. “The cloud was engulfed in flames and thinking it was ‘hell’, we immediately hid in the basement scared. Occasionally getting up to check and finding the clouds still burning, we shut our eyes and lay down in the basement waiting for the flames to go”, recalls Sutsung Ozukum, a retired teacher. He was 8 years old then and was incidentally making traditional lanterns out of tree saps and tin cans with his friends when the plane crashed. Repayuba Tzudir recalls hearing an explosion louder than thunder and scaring him so much that he threw a child to the ground which he was carrying on his lap. Later, he could see the plane descending below the clouds in flames with parts and cargoes falling from the plane. Tongzuk Yaden and Majemshiba Tzudir, who were playing together then, recall the sight of one of the wings breaking off mid-air.

Moments after the mid-air explosion, the villagers heard the plane impacting the ground with a loud explosion and saw smoke billowing from the forest of ‘Lungbanglu’, which is around two kilometers from the village. A series of explosions ensued and the forest was engulfed in flames. Papers and burning fuel had fallen from the plane leaving patches of fire all over the village. “The whole village would have burned that day had it not been for the rain”, opined Molung Nokdir.

When the menfolk of the village went to douse the fire at the crash site, they found the debris scattered over a large area. Four dead bodies were recovered which were given a proper Christian burial. Further, under the directive of the village council, the salvaged wreckage parts were brought to the village and kept in a warehouse near the village church.

Few days later, an American military plane flew over the village searching for the wreckage site. From the plane, they communicated with the villagers by throwing down messages written on pieces of paper which was translated by the Molungkimong village teacher, Yaryongdang. In reply, he wrote on a board indicating the location of wreck. The board was tied to a bamboo pole and four sturdy youths suspended it from the top of a banyan tree located at vantage point of the village. With the wreckage site confirmed, a ground search party arrived in the village from Jorhat, Assam on the evening of August 24 and conducted a search of the crash site the following day. In The Aluminum Trail, the author Chick Marrs Quinn writes that the villagers gave gifts of food to the ground party and also accompanied them to search the crash site. The hospitality shown to the American search party and the Christian burial accorded by the villagers was something unexpected of a people misconstrued as head hunting savages. The inscription on the crude cross which the villagers had erected over the grave read, “The noble and brave men of America, like the stars of heaven of their lives, leaving their sweet homes, sacrifice their lives for our country in the falls of this happy shining stream.” The dead bodies were exhumed and the villagers even helped in carrying it down to the American Military cemetery in Jorhat, Assam.

Later, under the directive of the British Administration, around thirty youths from the village carried the large and significant wreckage parts all the way to Mokokchung on foot, a distance of about 40 Kms, which was the British Headquarters then.

LOCAL MEMORIAL EFFORTS

In April 2020, the Molungkimong Village Council set up a WWII Memorial Development Committee to work on memorializing the fallen crew. As an immediate necessity, a memorial plaque honoring the crew was erected at the crash site overcoming logistic hurdles and rough terrains. The memorial was dedicated on December 22, 2020 with a traditional warrior song by the village elders and a prayer by the village Church Pastor. A footpath leading up to the memorial has been paved and directional and notice boards placed.

On 11 August 2021, a memorial service was held to commentate the day of the crash. Arrangements were made for relatives of the fallen airmen as well as other people in the United States of America to place flowers at the memorial. A similar memorial service was held on August 11, 2022.

The next objective of the committee is to set up a museum in the village which will accommodate a scale model of the plane and the wreckage parts which have either been collected from village households or freshly excavated from the crash site. Most importantly, the museum will reconnect us to an almost forgotten history of the fallen heroes by displaying their pictures and stories. The 11 feet fiber glass scale model of the plane, which is under construction, will be one of the largest of its kind in the world and will take visitors on a flight back in time over ‘The Hump’. On the whole, the humble museum is envisaged to serve as a research center for researchers and scholars and a fitting tribute to all the airmen who lost their lives while flying over ‘The Hump’.

THE FALLEN HEROES

1st Lt James Thomas Caraway, Service No. 0-674558, 24 years, Pilot.

2nd Lt Raymond William KurzawskiJr, Service No. 0-685944, 24 Years, Navigator.

2nd Lt Daniel Stuart Longfellow, Service No. 0-795786, 25 Years, Co-pilot.

Capt Joseph Earl Haynes, Service No. 0-854989, 27 Years, Engineering Officer (Passenger)

M/Sgt George Burton Abbott, Service No. 39248235, 45 Years, Engineer

T/Sgt Glenn Beuford Carnes, Service No.18064510, 31 Years, Engineer

S/Sgt Leon Marshall Winslow, Service No. 31135350, 31 Years

S/Sgt Walter Haddon Jones, Service No. 32423888, 37 Years, Radio Operator

Sgt Alford Hollis Gray, Service No. 18178954, 23 Years, Gunner

Sgt A D Whaley, Service No. 14158991, 28 Years, Gunner

Sgt Emery Delmar Crouch, Service No. 151178954, 30 Years, Passenger

Cpl Jerome B Brenner, Service No. 15071442, 25 Years, Passenger.