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Plate 5: Site #4, Debris Field B, Empennage |
This site lies south of the runway, a bit west of its midpoint (latitude
9° 29.132′ N, longitude 138° 04.621′ E), covering an area of some 850 square
meters. It represents the remains of a Mitsubishi G4M Model 11 “Betty” bomber,
mixed with pieces of one or more badly fragmented smaller aircraft, probably
a single Zero.
The aircraft appears to have been blown apart by a bomb, which left a large
crater and scattered pieces over a considerable area (some 850 square meters.
This may be the “twin-engine bomber” that Dunn says USAF bomber pilots reported
seeing “engulfed in a bomb blast as it took off” during the first American
raid on June 22nd 1944, together with pieces of a fighter that either blew
up on the same site or was disassembled and deposited there later. Conversely,
we were told by a knowledgeable local authority that the wreckage had been
bulldozed into its present location when the post-war runway was built. TIGHAR’s
examination of the site has not resolved this uncertainty; further research
would be needed to reach a certain conclusion.
The empennage of the Betty is well preserved, and lies on the edge of the
apparent bomb crater in the midst of a debris field of fuselage and other
parts (Debris Field B). The right wing is mostly buried in the same crater.
The left wing, left engine, cockpit area, and the rest of the fuselage comprise
a thick debris field (Debris Field A) some twenty meters away. On all skins
the paint has deteriorated in the sun, leaving an orange primer. The exterior
skins on the top of the fuselage are in good condition while those closer
to the ground are more corroded.
The right side of the intact fuselage/empennage is buckled and pocked with
shrapnel holes, probably resulting from the bomb blast. The tail gun turret
is intact, though without Plexiglas in its openings. The remains of the 20
mm. cannon lie on the ground protruding from the turret, very badly deteriorated.
The right wing is mostly buried, and what is exposed is highly corroded.
The left wing and its engine are probably close to their original site, but
many smaller pieces have been added to or relocated within its debris field.
A number of smaller components are piled on top of the wing. The engine –
a fourteen cylinder, two-row radial – is about two meters from its original
mount, and retains its cowl and a three bladed propeller, badly twisted and
corroded. The pattern of blade twisting – one blade severely curled backward,
the next moderately bent, the third straight – is consistent with a sudden
encounter with the ground while turning at relatively low power, as might
happen if a taxiing plane were pitched up onto its nose by a bomb blast near
its tail.
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Figure 5: Site #4, Debris Field A. |
Figure 6: Site #4, Debris Field B. |
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