Ngeregong/Scullin/Smith/TBM-1C
During the P-MAN expedition in June 1999, we were taken to a crash site in a mangrove swamp within the interior of Peleliu Island. Based on new evidence in June 2001, I have been able to conclude that this crash site we investigated on Peleliu is most consistent with a TBM-1C Avenger, Navy Bu. No. 45966 of VMTB-134, reported lost 30 June 1945 due to an operational problem without fatalities. This conclusion separated this crash site from another TBM-1C Avenger, Navy Bu. No. 45946 of VMTB-134, reported lost in combat north of Peleliu on 10 November 1944 in the vicinity of Ngeregong Island. Although that crew was listed as killed in action (KIA), two crewmembers remain missing from that aircraft: Major Harry V. Scullin and Sgt. Bertrand L. Smith. Also, although their Avenger must have been found since one crew member's remains (those of Cpl. Matt L. Muller) were recovered from that site on 12 November 1944, the precise location of that crash site has not been documented.
On 12 November 2001, the P-MANIII team, with the help of Palauans living on Ngeregong, located the remnants of a TBM-1C Avenger in a location consistent with the VMF-134 after action report which describes the crash location of Avenger 45946. The brief summary below describes this debris field.
The after action report from that mission (and verified from my interviews with a surviving wingman) states that Major Scullin's aircraft impacted along the southern end of the island Ngeregong (AKA Ngerechong and approximately pronounced "Neer -ong"). This island is approximately 6 miles NNE of Peleliu, with a barrier coral reef extending from Ngerogong to the south for several miles. Based on this report, I traveled with Jennifer Krasny-Power (director/photographer) and Joe Maldangesang (master guide) to the southwest end of Ngeregong on 12 November 2001 and anchored within walking distance to the shore.
Joe and I found a fisherman on shore and Joe queried him about his knowledge of any airplane crash sites in vicinity to this island. The Palauan fisherman, speaking in Palauan, immediately pointed in a southeastern direction out on the coral reef and gave Joe directions. Because of low tide, the three of us were able to spread out in a row over about a 200-yard total breadth and started walking in the shallows from Ngerogong in a southerly direction.
In less than 30 minutes, Joe signaled that he had found something along the eastern edge of the reef, near the breakwater. Upon arrival at the site, I found what appears to be the retracted left main landing gear assembly still attached within the remnants of an inner left wing assembly; the outer, folding portion of the wing is missing. We spread our small search team out in different directions using this assembly as the center of a circle. We found two other distinct debris fields (one piece tentatively identified as part of the right wing, appearing symmetric with the left wing assembly, only without the landing gear, and a second unidentified piece.
Joe found another separate area that had many small pieces spread over a larger area. This last area was located approximately midway between the left and right wing assemblies.
I photographed all observed debris fields and, after taking GPS measurements of each field, moved the smaller unidentified piece to the left landing gear assembly area, to minimize future confusion and/or loss. In the fourth area, I also photographed many small pieces (eg, electrical cable, conduit, and small interlocking gear assembly). In an effort to maximize the results, after we cataloged this area, we spread out from the east edge of the reef westward and walked south for approximately another 1000 yards along the reef without finding additional debris (including the engine).
When we returned to Ngerogong, Mr. Clint Parry, a young Palauan who had just returned to Palau after serving several years in the U. S. Army, invited us to stay for lunch. In an idyllic setting, we enjoyed with his family a delicious fish stew, freshly caught, with rice and coconut juice, served right from the coconut.
In recognition of the loss of the lives (without recovery) of Major Scullin and Sgt. Smith, we held a brief ceremony with an American flag (coincidentally, exactly 57 years to the day after the remains of the one crew member were found and removed from this crash site).
On 14 November, we returned with our cameraman, Clem Major, who video-documented the debris fields. We held another ceremony which we videoed for surviving family members. The American flag with photo-documentation will be sent to a surviving family member.
One final comment: Ngerogong is truly one of the most beautiful Pacific islands I have ever seen. However, as we traveled back north along the coral reef to Ngeregong, we saw scattered military debris along the southern shoreline of that island. As this area was under Japanese military control throughout WWII, such debris is not surprising. However, as a caution for any future exploration of this area, we did find at least three unexploded mortar rounds along the southern shore of Ngeregong; the locals also acknowledged them.
NSST Summary and Conclusion: On 10 November
1944, TBM-1C crashed on a combat mission south of Ngerogong Island with
loss of the lives of all three crewmen. On 12 November 2001, exactly 57
years after American forces located Avenger, Bu. No. 45946, and removed
the remains of Cpl. Matt Muller, we documented the location of a series
of debris fields consistent a) with parts that would belong to a TBM-1C
Avenger and b) with the area identified as the crash site in the after
action report involving this Avenger. As there are no other Avengers known
to have crashed in this immediate area, I conclude that this debris field
represents what is left of TBM-1C Avenger, Bu. No.45946, and that this
area also is the final resting place for Major Harry V. Scullin, CO of
VMTB-134 and his radio operator, Sgt. Bertrand L. Smith. The GPS coordinates
for this Avenger will be made available only to the Palau Historical Preservation
Office, the Navy Historical Center (NHC) and CILHI.