Cpl. Elbert E. Wade Freed From Japan
Mrs. Effie Wade, 304 Hudson street, Longview, received word Friday from the war department that her son, Corporal Elbert E. Wade, had been liberated from a Jap prison camp and returned to military duty on September 7. Cpl Wade has been interned as a prisoner since the fall of Corregidor three years and four months ago. He will arrive in the United States within the near future, the message stated.
Another son, Pvt. Ellsworth Wade I'd stationed in Germany and he also expected to be home soon. Both servicemen are nephews of Mrs. Lee Kelly of Longview.
The Longview News-Journal, Longview, Texas, Sunday, September 16, 1945 page 1.
~
Corporal Wade was a passenger aboard B-24M Liberator #44-42052, nicknamed "Liquidator."
The aircraft departed Naha, Okinawa, Japan, to Nichols Field, Manila, Philippines, on September 10, 1945. Carrying a crew of five and twenty passengers, recently released prisoners of war that were captives of the Japanese. The flight encountered bad weather from a passing typhoon and crashed into a mountainside at high elevation in a remote area of Formosa (Taiwan), northeast of Taitung. One week after the plane went missing, Japanese officials on the island organized a search and recovery team, comprised mostly of indigenous peoples, and began the long trek into the remote mountains. The plan was to meet up with another team dispatched from another location on the island, to take place on September 30th. Before the combined teams could reach the wreck site, another typhoon set upon the island and, of the total of 89 people in the rescue teams, 25 were killed by the second storm.
In October, 1945, a third team made it to the crash site and buried the victims' bodies at the location. Several years later, the bodies (of the military personnel) were removed and buried in the United States and Hong Kong. In the late 1990's, a retired Major-General of the Republic of China Air Force, interested in history, organized a small party of fellow-minded people and led an exploratory trek to the site. He was dismayed that the story of this event was long forgotten and that no memorial was ever erected to remember both the plane's occupants and the brave rescuers. There, they found remnants of engine parts and a machine gun embedded into the mountainside.
The B-24 was carrying 16 American, 5 Australian and 4 Dutch military members
B-24 crew:
1st Lt. Charles C Scruggs Jr, O-715399, Pilot
2nd Lt. Charles A Balcom, O-925827, Co-pilot
Flt. Off. William D Jones, T131846, Navigator
Sgt. John D Denham, 34799372, Flight Engineer
Sgt. George E McFarlane, 37565964, Radio Operator
American former POWs:
Pvt. Arthur Brill, 12007085
S/Sgt. Thomas L Cramer, 6557283
Cpl. Ben F Davis, 18050020
Cpl. Hubert J Grabski, 16003943
S/Sgt. Dexter J Hollon, 15047583
T/Sgt. William Thomas, 14042312
S/Sgt. Jim M Thornsbery, 19010290
Cpl. Elbert E. Wade, 18045741
Cpl. William J Watson, 19054413
S/Sgt. Robert J Wilson, 17010090
Sgt. James R Wyatt, 14056710
Australian former POWs:
Sergt. Ronald S Cooper, VX58497
Corp. Jack Gilding, SX10013
Sergt. Albert A James, NX60056
Sergt. Richard Noble, NX35741
WO II Harry Rogerson, VX35009
Dutch former POWs:
Korporaal Job van Belzen, V96498
Pvt. Daniel C Dekker, 93362
Sgt. Anthonius B Ouwens, 90334
Writer's Mate Pieter H van Wingerden, V13644
Entered the service from Texas; Gregg County; ASN 18045741
Enlisted May 8, 1941 for the Philippine Department.
Mrs. Effie Wade, 304 Hudson street, Longview, received word Friday from the war department that her son, Corporal Elbert E. Wade, had been liberated from a Jap prison camp and returned to military duty on September 7. Cpl Wade has been interned as a prisoner since the fall of Corregidor three years and four months ago. He will arrive in the United States within the near future, the message stated.
Another son, Pvt. Ellsworth Wade I'd stationed in Germany and he also expected to be home soon. Both servicemen are nephews of Mrs. Lee Kelly of Longview.
The Longview News-Journal, Longview, Texas, Sunday, September 16, 1945 page 1.
~
Corporal Wade was a passenger aboard B-24M Liberator #44-42052, nicknamed "Liquidator."
The aircraft departed Naha, Okinawa, Japan, to Nichols Field, Manila, Philippines, on September 10, 1945. Carrying a crew of five and twenty passengers, recently released prisoners of war that were captives of the Japanese. The flight encountered bad weather from a passing typhoon and crashed into a mountainside at high elevation in a remote area of Formosa (Taiwan), northeast of Taitung. One week after the plane went missing, Japanese officials on the island organized a search and recovery team, comprised mostly of indigenous peoples, and began the long trek into the remote mountains. The plan was to meet up with another team dispatched from another location on the island, to take place on September 30th. Before the combined teams could reach the wreck site, another typhoon set upon the island and, of the total of 89 people in the rescue teams, 25 were killed by the second storm.
In October, 1945, a third team made it to the crash site and buried the victims' bodies at the location. Several years later, the bodies (of the military personnel) were removed and buried in the United States and Hong Kong. In the late 1990's, a retired Major-General of the Republic of China Air Force, interested in history, organized a small party of fellow-minded people and led an exploratory trek to the site. He was dismayed that the story of this event was long forgotten and that no memorial was ever erected to remember both the plane's occupants and the brave rescuers. There, they found remnants of engine parts and a machine gun embedded into the mountainside.
The B-24 was carrying 16 American, 5 Australian and 4 Dutch military members
B-24 crew:
1st Lt. Charles C Scruggs Jr, O-715399, Pilot
2nd Lt. Charles A Balcom, O-925827, Co-pilot
Flt. Off. William D Jones, T131846, Navigator
Sgt. John D Denham, 34799372, Flight Engineer
Sgt. George E McFarlane, 37565964, Radio Operator
American former POWs:
Pvt. Arthur Brill, 12007085
S/Sgt. Thomas L Cramer, 6557283
Cpl. Ben F Davis, 18050020
Cpl. Hubert J Grabski, 16003943
S/Sgt. Dexter J Hollon, 15047583
T/Sgt. William Thomas, 14042312
S/Sgt. Jim M Thornsbery, 19010290
Cpl. Elbert E. Wade, 18045741
Cpl. William J Watson, 19054413
S/Sgt. Robert J Wilson, 17010090
Sgt. James R Wyatt, 14056710
Australian former POWs:
Sergt. Ronald S Cooper, VX58497
Corp. Jack Gilding, SX10013
Sergt. Albert A James, NX60056
Sergt. Richard Noble, NX35741
WO II Harry Rogerson, VX35009
Dutch former POWs:
Korporaal Job van Belzen, V96498
Pvt. Daniel C Dekker, 93362
Sgt. Anthonius B Ouwens, 90334
Writer's Mate Pieter H van Wingerden, V13644
Entered the service from Texas; Gregg County; ASN 18045741
Enlisted May 8, 1941 for the Philippine Department.
Cpl. Elbert E. Wade Freed From Japan
Mrs. Effie Wade, 304 Hudson street, Longview, received word Friday from the war department that her son, Corporal Elbert E. Wade, had been liberated from a Jap prison camp and returned to military duty on September 7. Cpl Wade has been interned as a prisoner since the fall of Corregidor three years and four months ago. He will arrive in the United States within the near future, the message stated.
Another son, Pvt. Ellsworth Wade I'd stationed in Germany and he also expected to be home soon. Both servicemen are nephews of Mrs. Lee Kelly of Longview.
The Longview News-Journal, Longview, Texas, Sunday, September 16, 1945 page 1.
~
Corporal Wade was a passenger aboard B-24M Liberator #44-42052, nicknamed "Liquidator."
The aircraft departed Naha, Okinawa, Japan, to Nichols Field, Manila, Philippines, on September 10, 1945. Carrying a crew of five and twenty passengers, recently released prisoners of war that were captives of the Japanese. The flight encountered bad weather from a passing typhoon and crashed into a mountainside at high elevation in a remote area of Formosa (Taiwan), northeast of Taitung. One week after the plane went missing, Japanese officials on the island organized a search and recovery team, comprised mostly of indigenous peoples, and began the long trek into the remote mountains. The plan was to meet up with another team dispatched from another location on the island, to take place on September 30th. Before the combined teams could reach the wreck site, another typhoon set upon the island and, of the total of 89 people in the rescue teams, 25 were killed by the second storm.
In October, 1945, a third team made it to the crash site and buried the victims' bodies at the location. Several years later, the bodies (of the military personnel) were removed and buried in the United States and Hong Kong. In the late 1990's, a retired Major-General of the Republic of China Air Force, interested in history, organized a small party of fellow-minded people and led an exploratory trek to the site. He was dismayed that the story of this event was long forgotten and that no memorial was ever erected to remember both the plane's occupants and the brave rescuers. There, they found remnants of engine parts and a machine gun embedded into the mountainside.
The B-24 was carrying 16 American, 5 Australian and 4 Dutch military members
B-24 crew:
1st Lt. Charles C Scruggs Jr, O-715399, Pilot
2nd Lt. Charles A Balcom, O-925827, Co-pilot
Flt. Off. William D Jones, T131846, Navigator
Sgt. John D Denham, 34799372, Flight Engineer
Sgt. George E McFarlane, 37565964, Radio Operator
American former POWs:
Pvt. Arthur Brill, 12007085
S/Sgt. Thomas L Cramer, 6557283
Cpl. Ben F Davis, 18050020
Cpl. Hubert J Grabski, 16003943
S/Sgt. Dexter J Hollon, 15047583
T/Sgt. William Thomas, 14042312
S/Sgt. Jim M Thornsbery, 19010290
Cpl. Elbert E. Wade, 18045741
Cpl. William J Watson, 19054413
S/Sgt. Robert J Wilson, 17010090
Sgt. James R Wyatt, 14056710
Australian former POWs:
Sergt. Ronald S Cooper, VX58497
Corp. Jack Gilding, SX10013
Sergt. Albert A James, NX60056
Sergt. Richard Noble, NX35741
WO II Harry Rogerson, VX35009
Dutch former POWs:
Korporaal Job van Belzen, V96498
Pvt. Daniel C Dekker, 93362
Sgt. Anthonius B Ouwens, 90334
Writer's Mate Pieter H van Wingerden, V13644
Entered the service from Texas; Gregg County; ASN 18045741
Enlisted May 8, 1941 for the Philippine Department.
Mrs. Effie Wade, 304 Hudson street, Longview, received word Friday from the war department that her son, Corporal Elbert E. Wade, had been liberated from a Jap prison camp and returned to military duty on September 7. Cpl Wade has been interned as a prisoner since the fall of Corregidor three years and four months ago. He will arrive in the United States within the near future, the message stated.
Another son, Pvt. Ellsworth Wade I'd stationed in Germany and he also expected to be home soon. Both servicemen are nephews of Mrs. Lee Kelly of Longview.
The Longview News-Journal, Longview, Texas, Sunday, September 16, 1945 page 1.
~
Corporal Wade was a passenger aboard B-24M Liberator #44-42052, nicknamed "Liquidator."
The aircraft departed Naha, Okinawa, Japan, to Nichols Field, Manila, Philippines, on September 10, 1945. Carrying a crew of five and twenty passengers, recently released prisoners of war that were captives of the Japanese. The flight encountered bad weather from a passing typhoon and crashed into a mountainside at high elevation in a remote area of Formosa (Taiwan), northeast of Taitung. One week after the plane went missing, Japanese officials on the island organized a search and recovery team, comprised mostly of indigenous peoples, and began the long trek into the remote mountains. The plan was to meet up with another team dispatched from another location on the island, to take place on September 30th. Before the combined teams could reach the wreck site, another typhoon set upon the island and, of the total of 89 people in the rescue teams, 25 were killed by the second storm.
In October, 1945, a third team made it to the crash site and buried the victims' bodies at the location. Several years later, the bodies (of the military personnel) were removed and buried in the United States and Hong Kong. In the late 1990's, a retired Major-General of the Republic of China Air Force, interested in history, organized a small party of fellow-minded people and led an exploratory trek to the site. He was dismayed that the story of this event was long forgotten and that no memorial was ever erected to remember both the plane's occupants and the brave rescuers. There, they found remnants of engine parts and a machine gun embedded into the mountainside.
The B-24 was carrying 16 American, 5 Australian and 4 Dutch military members
B-24 crew:
1st Lt. Charles C Scruggs Jr, O-715399, Pilot
2nd Lt. Charles A Balcom, O-925827, Co-pilot
Flt. Off. William D Jones, T131846, Navigator
Sgt. John D Denham, 34799372, Flight Engineer
Sgt. George E McFarlane, 37565964, Radio Operator
American former POWs:
Pvt. Arthur Brill, 12007085
S/Sgt. Thomas L Cramer, 6557283
Cpl. Ben F Davis, 18050020
Cpl. Hubert J Grabski, 16003943
S/Sgt. Dexter J Hollon, 15047583
T/Sgt. William Thomas, 14042312
S/Sgt. Jim M Thornsbery, 19010290
Cpl. Elbert E. Wade, 18045741
Cpl. William J Watson, 19054413
S/Sgt. Robert J Wilson, 17010090
Sgt. James R Wyatt, 14056710
Australian former POWs:
Sergt. Ronald S Cooper, VX58497
Corp. Jack Gilding, SX10013
Sergt. Albert A James, NX60056
Sergt. Richard Noble, NX35741
WO II Harry Rogerson, VX35009
Dutch former POWs:
Korporaal Job van Belzen, V96498
Pvt. Daniel C Dekker, 93362
Sgt. Anthonius B Ouwens, 90334
Writer's Mate Pieter H van Wingerden, V13644
Entered the service from Texas; Gregg County; ASN 18045741
Enlisted May 8, 1941 for the Philippine Department.
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CPL, US ARMY WORLD WAR II
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