An Answer to Questions

 An Incredible Find today for family.

Liberty Belle Crew

 

Back row: Frank Craven, Robert Case or Ryle Carl, Joe Patzsch, Jim Ahern

Front Row: unknown ground crewman, John Clark, Lee Treasure, Gary Sinton, Robert Bernard, Frank Biondo, unknown ground crewman

Capt Frank Craven – pilot B-24

https://www.recordcourier.com/news/2002/apr/26/obituary-franklin-bishop-craven/

Friday, April 26, 2002

Franklin Bishop Craven, 83, a Carson city resident for the past year, died April 19, 2002, at his home. He was born Nov. 8, 1918, in Alhambra, Calif., to Edgar Allan and Winnie Kelly Craven.

He graduated from the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif. with a bachelors degree and received a masters in education from Leland Stanford University.

He married Patricia Bussert Dec. 25, 1941.

Before moving to Carson City, he was a longtime resident of Manhattan Beach, Calif. and then Camarillo, Calif.

Mr. Craven served 30 years in the El Segundo School District in various teaching and administrative positions.

He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II as an instructor and a B-24 pilot in the Pacific.

Among his survivors are his wife Patricia; children Nancy Grange of Carson City, Mick Craven of Bend, Ore., Margie Tamori of Carson City and Barbara Cochenour of Hawthorne.

A memorial service will be at a later date in Southern California.

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Ryle Carl – co pilot?

Passed away in 1992

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Lt Robert Case – copilot?

No information found

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Joe Patzsch – Navigator

Author of the story of July 28, 1945, Kure Bay and the sinking of the battleship Haruna.

He passed away in 2006 in Memphis, TN

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Lt Jim Ahern - bombadier

Passed away July 12, 2001 , New Mexico

https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/james-f-ahern-birth-1918-death-2001/47312814

James F Ahern(1918 - 2001)

LAST KNOWN RESIDENCE

Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico 87108

BORN

September 3, 1918

DEATH

July 12, 2001

SUMMARY

James F Ahern of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico was born on September 3, 1918, and died at age 82 years old on July 12, 2001.

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TSgt John Clark – flight engineer

Passed away 1997

SSgt Lee Treasure – radio man

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/postregister/name/lee-treasure-obituary?id=20167705

         Lee J Treasure, 86, of Ammon, died Friday, Sept. 2, 2011, at his home.

He was raised and attended schools in the Grant area and graduated from Midway High School. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II in the South Pacific. On Dec. 27, 1946, he married Oriole Hanson in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple; to this union they added seven children.

Lee was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He worked as a mechanic and farmed in the Grant area for many years. He also worked for the Teton School District for 15 years until his retirement, then worked as a campground host in the Island Park area. Lee was a master of all trades and a cowboy at heart. He enjoyed ranching and riding horses, and loved spending time with his family and grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Oriole Hanson Treasure of Ammon; daughters, Ronalee (Randy) Baker of Salt Lake City, Gaylin (Kim) Hodges of Provo, Utah, Terri (Mark) Jacob of Orem, Utah, and Dawn (Roger) Redford of Ammon; son, Wade (Trudy) Treasure of Alta, Wyo.; sister, Helen (AL) Hieb of Twin Falls, Idaho; brother, Ray (Mary) Treasure of Vancouver, Wash.; 27 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lue and Kate Treasure; sons, Dell Treasure and Kelly Treasure; sisters, Audrey Conners and Mary Robinson; and granddaughters, Elisa Hodges and Aubri Redford.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, at Eckersell Memorial Chapel, 101 W. Main St. in Rigby. The family will receive friends for from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. prior to services and from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, both at the funeral home. Burial will be in Annis-Little Butte Cemetery under the care of Eckersell Memorial Chapel in Rigby. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.eckersellfuneralhome.com.

Published by Post Register on Sep. 3, 2011.

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SSgt Gary Sinton – nose gunner

Separate bio

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SSgt Robert Bernard – tail gunner

No information found

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SSgt Frank Biondo – ball gunner  

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/freep/name/frank-biondo-obituary?id=8861981

Frank P. Biondo

- - Passed away on November 22, 2019 at the age of 95 peacefully surrounded by his loving family. Beloved husband of the late Doris for 71 years. Dear father of Frank A. (Sally), Michael J., Nicki Gargaro, Stephen F. And the late Lisa A. Lessa (late Roger). Cherished grandfather of 10 and great grandfather of 7. Brother of Virginia McCarty (late James). Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Family will receive friends Monday 3-8pm with Scripture service at 7pm at A.J. Desmond and Sons (Vasu, Rodgers & Connell Chapel), 32515 Woodward (btwn 13-14 Mile), Royal Oak. Funeral Mass Tuesday 11:00am at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 4580 N. Adams Rd. Troy. Visitation at church begins at 10:30am. Memorial tributes to The Wounded Warrior Project or The Capuchin Soup Kitchen.

Published by Detroit Free Press & The Detroit News from Nov. 23 to Nov. 24, 2019.

 

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A Story written by Joseph Patzsch, B24 Navigator and shared by Julia Poole

Our Changing History

The (2^nd) Sinking of the Battleship Haruna

 

(Written early 50’s by Joseph Wilbur Patzsch)

 

            It was on July 28, 1945 that all this took place.  I was a navigator on a bomber crew, flying B-24 Liberators out of Okinawa to such target areas as Nagasaki, Shanghai, Iwakuni and various other target areas on the Japanese Mainland.  We were one of many crews assigned to the 7^th Air Force, 11^th Bomber Group, 42^nd Bomb Squadron. 

            When it started out, the only thing unusual about the day in question was the fact that it was my birthday.  We were called out at 0600 hours for a pre-strike briefing.  When we arrived at the briefing hut, I suspected a target of unusual importance since it appeared nearly all assigned crews were present.  Apparently every available plane was to be put in the air.

            After routine weather reports and changes on crew assignments, the briefing officer with carefully chosen words announced that the primary and ‘only’ target for the day was the battleship ‘Haruna’.  A spontaneous murmur ran thru the group – for two reasons:

            One, it had been understood by all that Colin Kelly had dived his bomb laden aircraft down the smoke stack of the Haruna in the early stages of the war, losing his life and sinking the greatest of battleships belonging to the Japanese Fleet.

            Secondly, all thru our combat training in a B-24, we had been warned and instructed “Never fly a B-24 over an enemy battle wagon”, mainly because battleships and aircraft carrier were floating arsenals and the slow moving B-24’s were ‘sitting ducks’.

            The briefing officer quickly explained, that a P-38 photo plane had discovered the battleship Haruna in dry dock undergoing repairs at Japan’s Kure Naval base between Kyushu and Honshu.  It was further explained, that contrary to original reports, the Haruna had been damaged but not sunk and that Colin Kelly’s body and wrecked aircraft had been found on an island in the pacific near the area where he had inflicted severe damage to the Haruna. 

            From all indications, the Haruna was about to be put to sea again.  With this in mind, an all out effort was being made to put her out of commission for good.  Thus nearly 100 B-24’s from Okinawa and a similar number of B-29’s from Manila were scheduled to ‘hit’ the Haruna on this day.

Heavy casualties were expected; not only would the fire power of the Haruna and several other naval vessels be directed skyward, but to this would be added the vast firepower of the shore installations ringing the naval base.

We departed YonTan Air Strip at 0800, scheduled to be over target at 12 noon.  The B-24’s were to go in first with MacArthur’s B-29’s to follow.  We were scheduled to be the 75^th plane over target area.

We were on course and I felt fine until just before we arrived at Kure.  I was standing between the pilot, Frank Craven and the copilot Ryle Carl watching the naval base come closer from up over the horizon.  Up to this point it had been a routing mission, but about two minutes before the lead B-24 went in, I saw a lone P-47 Thunderbolt, dive from about our altitude (8000 ft) directly toward the center of a number of ships in the harbor area.  At this point the sky literally exploded and turned black from the flack and shell bursts.  I knew then if they would throw that much stuff at a lone P-47, just wait till the B-24’s came in.  Then I was scared, I just didn’t see how any airplane could fly thru that much stuff and come out the other side in one piece.  Incidentally, the little P-47 did come out and from all appearances, he was untouched. 

As soon as I spotted the Haruna, I called the bombardier, Jim Akern, to make certain he had her pinpointed and was lined up for the ‘bombing run’.  This, of course, was the ticklish part of any bombing raid.  Up til this, Frank had been flying evasive action but now came the time when we had to fly straight and level for the 30 second run, to permit Jim to line up his scopes for ‘bombs away’.  

I don’t really know how much flack came up at us during the run, because Jim and I had a working arrangement that started months before in training.  Originally, the navigators and the bombardier were located in the nose of the B-24.  Jim noticed one night during a flight that I had trouble taking celestial shots thru the astral dome due to my short stature.  Standing on the floor, I couldn’t quite reach the necessary height to get clear and steady shots.  As an alternate, I would stand on a machine gun housing which placed me too high and in a cramped position.  As soon as Jim noticed my predicament, he laughed, layed down on the floor and told me to stand in the middle of his back, which I did and found this to put me at the ideal height for celestial navigational shots.

Later, when navigators were moved to the flight deck, I learned that Jim had trouble spotting his ocean bomb bursts in the target area, so we devised a system.  As soon as Jim started his bomb run, he would notify me via intercom and I would lie down on the flight deck floor and stick my head out in the bomb bay.  From this vantage point, I could follow Jim’s bombs from aircraft to target, as soon as they hit and exploded, I would locate the bursts on a sketch of the designated target, pre drawn on my navigators log sheet.

So on this day, July 28, 1945 I watched 4 500 lb. bombs leave their shackles in the bomb bay and head earthward.  Down they went, headed directly for the target. I watched, tense and excited, as the 4 500 pounders formed their gigantic arc and zeroed in on the battleship.  They hit simultaneously, one at the water line of the great ship, two on the forward deck and ‘one miss’.  The one at the water line must have done it, because the huge ship started to roll on it’s side moments after the explosion.  It continued to roll, slowly but surely capsizing.

Jim had done it, I always said he was the best bombardier I had ever seen and now I know it.  Under the heaviest fire we had ever experienced, he calmly directed his bombs to a vital spot and once again the Battleship Haruna would be out of action, for good this time.

You can’t imagine the thrill and pride as I notified the crew what had happened.  But then I got scared again.  Up til now I had been too busy to notice, but explosions from the anti aircraft fire were actually rocking the plane.  In every direction I could see B-24’s burning and crippled.  I could hear the aluminum skin of the plane creaking from the air noise of near misses.  Black smoke seemed to puff and disintegrate on the windshield and wing surface.  But with all the flack and metal in the air, the engineer, John Clark, could find no holes in the plane after 2 complete inspections.  Every crew member answered the intercom voice check.  It was hard to believe that with all the plane casualties that day, we had flown thru literally a wall of metal and came out the other side, untouched.

 

(I’ve always felt this was in some way sort of a special birthday gift to me from the master sky Pilot of them all).

 

From all reports, Jim’s bombs were the only direct hits of the day, although, Gen MacArthur claimed the credit for the B-29’s out of Manila. However he later retracted this and gave credit to the 11^th Bomb group, after supporting evidence was submitted thru our intelligence section.

Several months later, I learned that a former commanding officer of mine, Col. Wesley Gordon, was occupation officer at Kure Naval base in Japan.  I had corresponded with Col. Gordon all thru the war and I had written him to let him know that I was stateside and out of the service.  His answer to my letter was from Kure Naval base.  I wrote him back, giving the story of the Battleship Haruna.  He later advised that he received my letter concerning the details of the sinking, on the day he was to send a salvage crew to clear the harbor of the Haruna, still on it’s side where it had remained since Jim’s bombs had scored their killing blows.

This is not intended to ‘take away’ anything from Colin Kelly, since he severely damaged the Haruna, thereby saving many American lives and gave up his life in the process.  He deserves all the credit given him thus far and more. 

This is more to set the record straight and to pay tribute to a great bombardier, Jim Akern.  

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And lastly, excerpts from a letter written by Frank Biondo on Nov 5, 2005 to our Bill Sinton after Poppop's death referencing the same events.

Frank talked about a phone call between Gary and Frank where they reminisced and talked about the above story.  

"" Toward the end of out conversation he reminded me of a particular bombing mission over Japan on July 28, 1945.  The target was Kure Bay, the Japanese navy's largest base in southern Japan,  It was well protected by anti-aircraft batteries whose accuracy was well known.  As Gary put it "that was the day you looked out and it seemed that you could get out and walk on the flack they were throwing at us".  Well, given the view he had from the nose turret as the flack exploded around us, it was, to say the least, pretty scary.  I told him that Lee Treasure had taken snap shots of the action that day and had recently sent me a copy of one that he might like to see." ..... If your dad ever spoke of his war time expeiences this is one he might have mentioned.  (Note: the picture was taken from the top turret at the precis moment the plane to the right was hit. I don't remember if they made it back to Okinowa.  The intensity of the flack that you see in the snap shot only increased as we grew closer to the target area).""

Flak photo

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Haruna bombing July 28, 1945

 

Haruna sunk (probably the first time spoken of)

B-24 Liberty Belle, notice nose turret

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