HARRY MANGAN
EX MEMBER OF 90TH SQUADRON
OF 3RD BOMB GROUP
(previous member of 17th Squadron of 27th Bomb Group)
Harry Mangan and his wife Marge
(Photo supplied by Noel Tunny)
17TH SQUADRON OF 27TH BOMB GROUP
Pilots of the 27th Bomb Group and the 24th Pursuit
Group (see table below) landed on the Hamilton Reach of the Brisbane River near the ships
of the Pensacola Convoy. They had departed Darwin on 23
December 1941 in RAAF short Empire flying boats which travelled to Brisbane via Groote
Eylant, Townsville, Rockhampton, arriving at the Hamilton Reach of the Brisbane River on
24 December 1941.
| Maj. Davies HQ Cpt. Backus HQ Hubbard HQ Birnn HQ Schwartz HQ Ruegg 16th Schmidt 16th Rose 16th Doan 16th |
Lowerey 17th Mangan 17th Talley 17th West 17th Townsend 17th Tubb 17th Walker 17th Galusha 91st Smith 91st |
Summers 91st Hambaugh 91st Wienert 91st Wesley E/M Mahoney 24th PG Strauss 24th PG Kennan 24th PG McCallum 24th PG |
They arrived expecting to ferry the A24's and P-40's off the ship USAT Meigs to the Phillipines. Colonel James Hubert Davies and the pilots of the 27th Bomb Group were quartered at Lennons Hotel in the city. During their stay in Brisbane they ran a dive bombing school for the incoming pilots. They also recruited some mechanics from the 7th Bomb Group as gunners and line crews for the 27th Bomb Group.
On 16 January 1942, seventeen P-40's that arrived on the USAT Meigs left Brisbane as the 17th Provisional Squadron on their way to Java via Rockhampton, Townsville, Cloncurry, Darwin and Koepang. These pilots, led by Pappy Gunn, had all served previously in the Phillipines.
90 SQUADRON OF 3RD BOMB GROUP
Fifteen B-25 Mitchells of the Dutch N.E.I.A.F. were taken over by the 3rd Bomb Group after they were delivered to Archerfield.
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On 11 April 1942, eleven of these B-25 Mitchells and three B-17 Flying Fortresses left Charters Towers via Darwin to Del Monte, in the Philippines to attack Japanese shipping and fortifications. They were fitted with long distance tanks for the long trip to Del Monte, where the tanks were removed and replaced by bombs. They returned to Charters Towers loaded with evacuees after their raid.
| #112441 | Lowerey | Walker | |
| #112443 | Smith | Talley | "Mortimer" |
| #112442 | Heiss | Townsend | |
| #112511 | Maull | West | |
| #112472 | Peterson | Mangan | "Lounge Lizard" |
| #112496 | Schmidt | Birnn | |
| #112498 | Gunn | Bender | |
| #112480 | Strickland | Hipps | |
| #112466 | Feltham | Linn | |
| #112455 ** | Wilson | Keeter |
REFERENCE BOOKS
"Gateway to Victory"
By Noel Tunny, of Brisbane
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© Peter Dunn OAM 2020 |
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This page first produced 9 April 1999
This page last updated 21 February 2020
