torpedobomber

The inscription on this Avenger reads "In Memory of S.W. Quick - C.A.P." "S.W. Quick" was Torpedo Squadron 11 (VT-11) Naval Aviation Pilot (and veteran of the Battle of Coral Sea while assigned to Torpedo Squadron 5 [VT-5]) Sidney William Quick (USN), who perished along with 23 others when the Navy R4D-5 (DC-3/C-47) (BuNo 12406; c/n 9178) carrying them crashed shortly after take-off from Nouméa-La Tontouta on June 8, 1943. See: navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?c... Quick, the crash, and the blow to VT-11 is also mentioned in an interview of famed Midway Torpedo 8 (VT-8) survivor George Gay. See: www.history.navy.mil/research/library/oral-histories/wwii... We had one thing that happened that was a distinct blow to the whole squadron. After having worked there for a period of about, well, it was nearly three months, they told us we could have a blow and go to Sidney, Australia. We were given four SCAT [Service Command Air Transportation] planes, one to leave each day with our pilots and our crews. One of those planes crashed in Tontouta, killing our then Air Group Commander, Lt. Commander Hamilton, and his crew. He was a TBF flier, of course, and also killed other pilots, Lieutenant Lindsey, and an NAP [Naval Aviation Pilot] by the name of Quick, Ensign Paul Bable, and Ensign Weise and Ensign Burke, and their ground crews and another very marvelous man, by the name of Mike Flynn, Lieutenant, A-V(S) [US Naval Reserve aviation officer qualified for specialist duties] officer. He was our Operations Officer and left a job that we later found out we couldn't get three men to fill. He really was a good man and he didn't know about the Navy when he got into it, and didn't know much about airplanes and flying them, but he really took over his job out there and really went to town. He did a beautiful job and I like Mike very much. He had a habit in his civilian life of being able to make money without any trouble and he was a good poker player, and he came out pretty well on his poker winnings, and he also had a lot of money. He bought a $100 bond for everybody in the squadron. He put it up in his will, and I'll probably see it some day. I never did think Mike would get it. He just made up his mind that he wanted to go with us when we went to Australia, and he got on this transport and got killed. I think that was about the second or third hop he'd taken since he'd been with the squadron. But to the enemy we didn't lose very many people. One radio man was killed in the plane with Ensign Weise on a daylight raid to Bougainville and, of course, the next day Weise was killed in this Tontouta crash in a DC-3 [twin-engine Douglas "Dakota" transport], but we lost on a night mine laying hop an Ensign who had joined the squadron in the Fiji Islands by the name of Sweitzer, and on a daylight raid we lost an Ensign by the name of Snell. Of course, we lose their crews with each of the pilots. Unfortunately, I don't get to know the crews very well. On this publicity business, it's unfortunate to me that I can't tell their story and give them the credit that they deserve. They never get the credit that they really have coming to them. That's another story. That's all we had lost to the Japs. See also: www.baaa-acro.com/1943/archives/crash-of-a-douglas-r4d-5-... www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=44806418

The June 8, 1943 Tontouta crash and loss of VT-11 personnel is briefly discussed (at approximately the 29min 30sec mark) in the fantastic documentary about Carrier Air Group 11 (CAG 11) during World War II, "Eleven" (2014), by George Retelas. See here: YouTube - George Retelas: "Eleven" See also: www.eleventhemovie.com/

Douglas TBD-1 Devastators of the USN's VT-5 from the USS Yorktown (CV-5) in 3-ship formation in the late '30's. The carrier crossed into the Pacific w/ these a/c in April 1939 and later participated in the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in '42.

As per the Joe Baugher site (link), BuNo A-6423 was constructed by the Naval Air Factory as a DT-2, before being converted (along with BuNos A-6424, A-6427, and A-2428) into a DT-4, through re-engining with the Wright T-2 Tornado V-12 engine. Given the atypical cowling and spinner, this (presumably) is a photo of BuNo A-6423 post-conversion into a DT-4.