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Post by chadhill on Oct 15, 2013 8:30:22 GMT 8
I've not seen that pic before, Duane. Is it known to be a Japanese photo? If so, that may be 1LT (later CAPT) Charles Sneed (20th PS) in the cockpit about to fly the captured ship for the Japanese on or about May 19th (see Doomed at the Start, p.422-426).
Looks like white paint has been applied to block out the early-war red meatball in the middle of the star.
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Post by okla on Oct 15, 2013 19:40:47 GMT 8
Hey Chad....Isn't that "crew chief" an American NCO??? From the vantage point of the photographer, the guy just "looks American", i.e. arm insignia, baseball type mechanic hat, etc. I suppose the Japanese were also using captured ground crew to service the P-40s. Whatcha think???
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Post by chadhill on Oct 17, 2013 4:36:23 GMT 8
I think that's a good SWAG, ol' Eagle Eye. He certainly does not resemble the sons of Nippon in the other photo.
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Post by varsity07840 on Oct 17, 2013 23:02:00 GMT 8
I've not seen that pic before, Duane. Is it known to be a Japanese photo? If so, that may be 1LT (later CAPT) Charles Sneed (20th PS) in the cockpit about to fly the captured ship for the Japanese on or about May 19th (see Doomed at the Start, p.422-426). Looks like white paint has been applied to block out the early-war red meatball in the middle of the star. I believe it is a Japanese photo, perhaps taken at Maramag. It is known that maintenance men accompanied Sneed and two other pilots from Malaybalay to Maramag prior to flying two P-40Es and a Stearman to Davao. Duane
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Post by varsity07840 on Oct 17, 2013 23:11:19 GMT 8
Here's one more presumably at Nichols Duane
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Post by varsity07840 on Oct 17, 2013 23:12:35 GMT 8
Here's one more presumably at Nichols Duane [/UL] Double post. Sorry
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Post by fortman on Oct 17, 2013 23:31:34 GMT 8
This is a very interesting thread. I will try and dig up an old American Aviation Historical Society Journal that has an article on this incident. I wonder what became of Sneed? Did he survive captivity, and if so, would he have been charged with collaboration?
fortman
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Post by chadhill on Oct 18, 2013 0:02:29 GMT 8
Great photo, Duane. I've not seen that one before, either. Please keep posting 'em Fortman, Sneed had performed with great courage earlier in the campaign but came to suffer from combat fatigue and was eventually assigned as an assistant intel officer to the 5th interceptor command under Captain Allison Ind. This is covered in some detail by Bartsch in Doomed at the Start. Evidently his performance was positive as he was promoted to Major (not Captain, as I earlier stated). Sneed survived the Oryoku Maru and Subic Bay tennis court ordeal in December 1944, but perished on the Enoura Maru 9 JAN 45.
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Post by chadhill on Oct 18, 2013 6:09:23 GMT 8
Postscript... After some digging around, I've read that Duane's first photo above (the one with okla's "American NCO crew chief") was said to have been published in a 1943 issue of the Japanese magazine Asahi Graph.I also came across this photo, apparently of the same bird. How about another SWAG, okla? Here we have the pilot and your US NCO crew chief standing on top of the wing, while the Japanese stay at a distance. I think I can make out a ball cap and an arm sleeve insignia on the chief like you saw in Duane's pic. The chief could be holding the pilot's skull cap, since the pilot seems to be wearing his duck-billed combo cover (at least that's what we called them in the USN). In Duane's photo he has the skull cap on-
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Post by okla on Oct 18, 2013 8:05:58 GMT 8
Hey Chad....Methinks that you are right on, once again, with your SWAG. In both the photos the Emperor's representatives seem to be giving the USAAF pilot and crew chief plenty of leeway with their P-40. If we didn't know otherwise, one might think that the Japanese onlookers were the POWs, standing around, awaiting orders to begin POW type labor of some kind. Cheers. Postscript...I noticed that the photo, presumed to have been taken at Nichols, shows the captured P-40 sporting the Japanese "meatball" on both fuselage and wing. I love this stuff.
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