FLIGHTPATH|Itwasdecidedtoagaintake
to the air with the drone to
inspect the wreck.
wentto8SquadronatTadjiinstead.Re-
ceivedbythesquadronon19June1944,the
aircraftcrashedontake-offforabombing
sortie only eight days later and was subse-
quentlyissuedto12RSUwhorecommended
itbeconvertedtocomponents.Thesewere
themosteasilyaccessibleofallthewrecks
remainingatTadjiwevisitedand,giventhe
conditionoftheremainingcomponents,
werealsoperhapstwoofthemostinterest-
ingtospendabitoftimeat.
The final location we inspected was lo-
catedtothenorthofthefighterstripandis
allthatremainsoftheAmericanboneyard
thathadbeenextensivelysalvagedinthe
1970s. The only significant aircraft re-
mains in this area are two components of
B-17FFlyingFortress‘HarrytheHorse’,
with the forward fuselage of the aircraft,
an impressive sight in the swamp, being
thelargestsinglecomponentofanaircraft
left on the site. This aircraft was wrecked
atTadjifollowingaforcedlanding,duetoa
shortage of fuel in May 1944, when the col-
lapseofthestarboardundercarriage
caused it to run off the runway. Damaged
beyondrepair,aswithalmostalloftheair-
craftthatremainatTadji,‘HarrytheHorse’
was partially disassembled on site and
stored along with the other aircraft left in
the American boneyard where it has sat
ever since.
Thepresentlyswampyconditionofthe
landscape around the bomber remainsmade inspection of the site somewhat prob-
lematic,soitwasdecidedtoagaintaketo
the air with the drone to inspect the wreck.
Thisprovidedsomefantasticaerialimages
of the remains of the large bomber, but, un-
fortunately, it also showed some recent
damage to the starboard side that appears
to have been caused by fire – an all too
common problem for wrecks in this part of
the world.Final Thoughts
Following the completion of our aerial in-
spection of the B-17, our time at Tadji came
to an end and we started off back down the
tracktoWewak.Thevisithaddemonstrat-
ed the substantial evidence of wartime use
that was readily accessible at the site, but
thefactthatsomuchoftheformerairfield
hadbeenhiddenbyvegetationregrowth
after the war had us wondering what else
maystillbeoutthere,hiddenbythetrees
and waiting to be discovered? Hopefully,
further formal investigations of the site can
be conducted in the future to determine if
other remains of the air war in New Guinea
lie hidden in the jungle, and further light
canbeshoneon this significant military
heritage site.Crews returning from an op walk past a line of 100 Squadron aircraft in September 1944. The Australian War Memorial needs your help to identify the airmen. They are
believed to be (per Colin King’sSongoftheBeauforts),righttoleft,R.B.‘Dick’Webb,NormanDanes,SidWright,KenHovenden,ColHaslam,J.T.Hughes,G.L.Park,C.A.V.Horne,
Eric‘Poppa’Crisp,WalEllen,RoyCorbettandHowardTreloar.OfthishappybunchonlyDanes,Wright,CorbettandTreloarsurvivedthewar.The irst machine is A9-
‘Scotty’s Homin Pidgin’, a Mascot-built aircraft that lew the second highest number of sorties (137) by a RAAF Beaufort.[AWM image OG1590]