P-40E Kittyhawk and a Japanese Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boat both crashed between Darwin and Timor after an air battle on 15 February 1942

P-40E KITTYHAWK AND
A JAPANESE KAWANISHI H6K "MAVIS" FLYING BOAT
BOTH CRASHED BETWEEN DARWIN AND TIMOR
AFTER AN AIR BATTLE
ON 15 FEBRUARY 1942

Lt. Robert G. Oestreicher and Lt. Robert J. Buel had been left behind in Darwin in the Northern Territory with their 2 unserviceable aircraft when the rest of the 3rd Pursuit Squadron left for Java on 10 February 1942.

On 15 February 1942, the USS Houston broke radio silence to advise that its convoy was being followed by a Japanese Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boat of the 21st Air Flotilla based at Ceram. The flying boat followed the convoy for about 3 hours before it eventually dropped a number of 60 kg bombs from 3,000 metres. Lt. Buel and Lt. Oestreicher were both on patrol at the time, but only Lt. Buel could be contacted by radio. He was ordered to intercept the Japanese flying boat. Buel attacked the Flying Boat from the rear but was shot down by the rear gunner in the flying boat. Buel's smoking aircraft crashed into the sea.

Buel however was also successful in hitting the Japanese flying Boat. It crashed into the sea with a fire at the front of the fuselage. The radio operator was killed in the crash. The rest of the crew of the flying boat escaped the wrecked "Mavis" flying boat and clambered into a life raft. The rest of the crew were as follows:-

Sichishima died from his injuries in the raft two days later. The rest of the crew were captured and after being interrogated they were sent to the Cowra POW Camp in New south Wales.

"Darwin's Air War - 1942-1945. An Illustrated History"
By the Aviation Historical Society of the Northern Territory (Bob Alford)

Heaps of WW2
books available at
Amazon.com

© Peter Dunn 2002
All rights reserved. No part of this home page may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Peter Dunn in writing.

Why not join my Discussion List
on Military Aircraft Crashes in
Australia during World War Two

To subscribe send an e-mail to

OzCrashes-subscribe@topica.com

Australia @ War
Home pages about events in
Australia during World War 2

Do you need a holiday!
Sun, surf, beautiful beaches and lots more!

DISCLAIMER
Although every care has been taken in presenting this information some of it may be incorrect or incomplete, hence the creator of this website and/or any researcher or writer mentioned in it disclaim any liability in relation to the information, errors or omissions contained herein. Any person intending to use or rely on this information should first confirm it for themselves from other sources. Nevertheless any corrections or additional information will be most welcome.