One of the many stories my uncle, William R. Boyer liked to recount in his later years.

The 392nd Bomb Squadron along with the rest of the Group were kept busy flying a lot of missions to the island of Iwo Jima in order to soften up defenses. That volcanic rock, part of the Volcano Island chain had been receiving a lot of attention from various groups in the 7th Air Force in the long run up to the impending invasion.

He nearly caught a ride on this ill fated B-24, another ship from his 392nd squadron. Bill needed to make up his mission count in order to keep up with the rest of Lt. Hall's crew on their way to 40 missions. Once they reached that number they could all head back to the States. He had been on sick leave for a few weeks in the fall of 1944 after he had contracted Dengue Fever. In telling the story he liked to refer to it as "the Dingy fever". The mosquito borne illness was pretty widespread on Saipan at the time. At the last minute he was not cleared for flight duty in time for this particular trip, which turned out to be very lucky for him.

A sad fate awaited Lt. Barnsley's 10 man crew. They were a veteran B-24 crew of the 392nd Bomb Squadron who were lost on October 21, 1944 during a strike mission against Iwo Jima. The Barnsley crew had survived several close calls in previous missions on two other ships that were heavily damaged. On this particular trip they were flying in their recent replacement which they had named "Miss Fit" A single engine Japanese fighter was seen to make a diving attack on the formation from above. Several of the top turret gunners in nearby aircraft hit the Zero causing it to loose control and shear off the entire tail section of the B-24 including the fuselage behind the camera hatch. The fighter disintegrated and plunged down through the group without exploding. Miss Fit's tail section along with the Zero's broken off wing flew up and off into the slipstream.

Witnesses said Lt. Barnsley's severely damaged Liberator fell out of the formation and then spiraled down and out of sight. They did not see any chutes. When the aircraft hit the water it exploded. The location of the crash was given as three miles west of airfield #1 on Iwo Jima.

Pilot - 2nd Lt. Robert L. Barnsley

Co-Pilot - 2nd Lt. Richard F. Irigoyen

Navigator - 2nd Lt. Daniel V. Teeters

Bombardier - 2nd Lt. Harry Sniezek

Engineer -T/Sgt. Harold R. Line

Assistant Engineer -S/Sgt. Anthony Palumbo

Radio Operator -T/Sgt. Thomas V. Hudson

Gunner -S/Sgt. William Pluth

Gunner -S/Sgt. Harold A. Moss

Gunner -S/Sgt. Horace T. Rzehak

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Squadron History written by Lt. Frank White,

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The following is an excerpt from our War Diary:

Mission Summary:

Twelve B-24s were assigned to this mission; eleven on strike over the target, and one as a navigation plane to lead the formation of P-47 fighter escorts to and from the target. One plane was forced to turn back due to malfunction of the turbo-supercharger sixty miles south east of the target. The remaining ten planes were over the the target at 1131, dropping 60x500 lb. bombs from 18,000 to 19,000 feet with 90% hits in target. One plane was forced to salvo bombs but hit on land near the target area. No damage to enemy installations was observed. The formation was intercepted by six to eight ZEKES directly over the target, twenty phosphorous bombs were dropped, none exploding close enough to cause any damage. These fighters immediately began shooting passes concentrating on the 392nd formation. About ten passes were made all very aggressively pressed some as close as 100 yards. One fighter made a head on attack from 2 o’clock high, all forward firing guns concentrated on this plane which was obviously hit badly when within 200 yards of the formation. This plane instead of breaking off the pass continued and careened to the right and down, out of control, and rammed the B-24 #557, “Miss Fit”, piloted by Lt. Barnsley. The entire tail was sheared off just aft of the camera hatch and fell free of the rest of the plane. The fighter disintegrated in the collision. Our B-24 fell out of control and went into a flat spin. It took two and a half minutes to hit the water according to the recorded narrative of an aerial observer, Lt. Witmer, who was giving a word description of the attack on the new wire recorder, an instrument developed by the Air Force for a voice record of a mission and being carried for the first time on this mission. The B-24 exploded when it hit the water. A Jap destroyer or DE? in the vicinity made a dash for the wreckage, and if anyone survived, they were probably taken prisoner, although this does not seem probable. The balance of the formation continued under attack for another ten or fifteen minutes longer. Another fighter was shot down by Sgt. McIntyre, nose gunner on A/P #838 - Flown by Lt. Smisson. The P-47 escort was sighted at about 0245Z, about fifteen minutes after leaving the target. Most of the enemy interceptors were gone or leaving; however a flight of P-47s shot down one T/B NICK in sight of our formation. Of the twenty P-47s, only eight were able to get into position to attack. The Attempt at best was only partially successful, but may tend to keep the ZEKES a little more worried about our bomber formations in the future.

Saddened by the loss of Lt. Barnsley and his crew, and confused by many orders and change of orders made necessary by the tense situation in the Philippines , and the ensuing naval engagement in the waters surrounding Leyte and the Samar Islands, the last ten days of the month seemed almost an anti-climax to those long minutes over Iwo Jima on the 21st.

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Witness statements :

1.- Eyewitness Statement by Lt. Robert L. Nelson, pilot A/C #42-72988 (Bombs Lullaby), 392nd Bomb Sq.(H).

“A single engine Japanese fighter painted black came down making an overhead pass. He was diving almost straight down and while coming down was fired upon by several top turrets, including my own. Upon going by A/P #44-40557 piloted by Lt. Barnsley, the fighter’s left wing sheared off the bomber’s entire tail section and part of the fuselage to a point approximately two feet from the camera hatch leaving a gaping hole. The parts of the tail flew past my left wing together with a fairly large portion of the fighter’s wing. The fighter kept going down and disappeared from my view. Lt. Barnsley’s plane fell out of formation in a gentle spiral to the right and disappeared under my plane and out of sight. However, a few minutes later Lt. Bartow, Bombardier on my airplane, observed him tumbling end over end.”

Signed: Robert L. Nelson, 1st Lt. AC Pilot #988

2.- Eyewitness Statement by Lt. Ralph B. Kennedy, pilot A/C #42-73030 (Little General), 392nd Bomb Sq.(H).

“I was flying position #2 in “B” Flight. A/P #44-40557 was almost directly in my line of sight through my left side window. I first saw the fighter about 150-200 feet above our flight coming in at about a 50º dive from about 1 o’clock.

My first thought was he intended to fly through our formation. It is my belief that either his engine or the root of the right wing of the fighter struck the right vertical stabilizer just about where the vertical stabilizer joins. The fighter seemed to break up quickly but did not explode. The tail of the B-24 seemed to break off rather cleanly somewhere around, or just aft, of the camera hatch. The B-24 flew straight for a brief second and then nosed straight down. I did not observe any bodies or persons bail out. I did not see the wreckage hit the water.”

Signed: Ralph B. Kennedy, 2nd Lt. AC Pilot #030

3.-Affidavit by S/Sgt. Melvin Miller, Tail gunner A/P #42-72998 (Bugs Bomby), 392nd Bomb Sq.(H).

“About 3 miles west of airfield No.1, Iwo Jima, A/P #44-40557, piloted by Lt. Barnsley, was struck by a Jap Zero. The fighter’s wing caught the fuselage of the B-24, about three feet behind the waist windows cutting the B-24 into 2 pieces. The slipstream immediately caught the tail lifting it up and back. That was the last I saw of the tail section as I was keeping an eye on the rest of the airplane. The B-24 hung poised in the air for a moment and then nosed straight down. About every 500 feet it made a complete roll, coming upright at the end of each roll. Equipment fell out of the fuselage with each roll. At about 2000 feet above the water, I observed 3 forms fall out but no chutes opened. The airplane crashed offshore west of Iwo Jima, exploding on contact.”

Signed: Melvin Miller, S/Sgt., Tail gunner A/P #998

MACR # 9750 (Missing Air Crew Report)

All 10 Crew members of B-24 #44-40557 were declared MIA/KIA, lost at sea.

These men are listed on the Honolulu Memorial - Tablets of the Missing

Lt. Barnsley crew of the 392nd B.S. christening their new B-24

"Thar She Blows II" Another 392nd ship that the Barnsley crew flew . Heavily damaged on one of their missions. This A/C completed 50 Missions before it was demolished during take off with Lt. Prosser's crew. It was then written off.