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Flight out of Hell
On February 15, 1944, a force of B-24s, B-25s and A-20s hammered the heavily
defended Japanese base at Kavieng. Several aircraft, however, were forced to
ditch; three downed B-25 crews from 345th Bomb Group floating helplessly in
life-rafts within a thousand yards of the beach, and the Japanese troops were in
no mood to take prisoners. Their only chance of survival was the air-sea rescue
PBY Catalina. Nicolas Trudgians dramatic reconstruction depicts Lt. Commander
Nathan Gordons PBY Catalina making its final take-off, the intense enemy gunfire
from the shore making his mission seemingly impossible. But the young pilot got
all 25 men aboard safely home, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor
for what is one of the bravest actions of the war in the Pacific. |
