And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Friday, September 5, 2025
Flames consume a Kawanishi H6K as it is struck down mid-flight.
A very capable and long ranged aircraft but vulnerable to fighter attack although limited defensive fire and unprotected fuel tanks were features of many flying boats at the time. Its successor, the Emily, was far tougher and was arguably the best flying boat of WW2.
My mother had a cousin who disappeared with his Corsair over the Solomon Islands in 1943. That has caused me to reflect on just how many others, such as this Mavis crew, vanished without a trace in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure there are a lot of men who survived the ditching of their aircraft or the sinking of their ship, only to succumb, eventually, to the sea.
@ Sherm -- I urge you to read Air Apaches: The True Story of the 345th Bomb Group and Its Low, Fast, and Deadly Missions in World War II by Jay A. Stout (Author) . Many of the brave men were lost, as you said, after ditching, vanishing without a trace in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. It is a sobering book. Dan Kurt
Doomed.
ReplyDeleteThe Mavis was said to be among the best amphibs of the 2nd WW. 20 mm armament iirc.
A very capable and long ranged aircraft but vulnerable to fighter attack although limited defensive fire and unprotected fuel tanks were features of many flying boats at the time. Its successor, the Emily, was far tougher and was arguably the best flying boat of WW2.
DeleteMy mother had a cousin who disappeared with his Corsair over the Solomon Islands in 1943. That has caused me to reflect on just how many others, such as this Mavis crew, vanished without a trace in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure there are a lot of men who survived the ditching of their aircraft or the sinking of their ship, only to succumb, eventually, to the sea.
ReplyDelete@ Sherm -- I urge you to read Air Apaches: The True Story of the 345th Bomb Group and Its Low, Fast, and Deadly Missions in World War II
Deleteby Jay A. Stout (Author) .
Many of the brave men were lost, as you said, after ditching, vanishing without a trace in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. It is a sobering book. Dan Kurt