CRASH OF A B-17 FLYING FORTRESS
NEAR HORN ISLAND, QLD
ON 13 JULY 1942

visits since 25 October 2003

USAAF B-17-E Flying Fortress, #41-2636, of the 19th Bombardment Group, crashed near Horn Island on 13 July 1942 at about 2.34am after taking off from Horn Island in heavy rain on a bombing mission to Lae, in New Guinea. The pilot was Lt. Curtis J. Holdridge (or Holdredge).

#41-2236 and five other B-17s were to take part in a mission to Lae in New Guinea. When the first three B-17s took off at approximately 2:30am it was raining with a high wind blowing across the island. When Holdridge attempted to lift his B-17 over the mangroves at the end of the airfield, it dropped suddenly into the ocean approximately 300 to 400 metres from the shoreline. It ended up on a coral outcrop after ripping off its right wing creating a large hole in the fuselage.

One of the crew members during this crash was the Bottom Turret Gunner, Sgt. Ralph Dietz. Ralph managed to escape through the hole in the fuselage. A crash boat came out to rescue the survivors. Ralph Dietz stated that two crew members went down with the aircraft. One of the bodies was recovered by the crash boat.

Ralph Dietz revisited Horn Island in August 1997. Vanessa Seekee, author of "Horn Island - In Their Steps 1939-45" arranged for Ralph to revisit the crashed B-17 which still lies in the shallow waters off Horn Island.

A second B-17 crashed at around the same time.

B-17E Flying Fortress #41-2636 had originally been delivered to Lowry Field on 5 March 1942. It was initially assigned to the 93rd Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group in Hawaii on 1 April 1942.

Can anyone help me with the names of those
killed in this crash and the names of the rest of the crew?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Ross McNeill and Paul McMillan for their assistance with this home page.

REFERENCE BOOKS

" Forty of the Fifth"
by Michael Claringbould

"Diary of WWII - North Queensland"
Complied by Peter Nielsen

"Horn Island - In Their Steps 1939-45"
by Vanessa Seekee

"Fortress Against the Sun - The B-17 Flying Fortress in the Pacific"
by Gene Eric Salecker

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

Heaps of WW2 books available at Amazon.com

"Australia @ War"

This page first produced 28 February 1999

This page last updated 26 July 2006