New Guinea - Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan, en route to Howland Island, 2 July 1937

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  • #261
The Lockheed Electra (in World War II) was one of a handful of aircraft types that were operated by both sides. Before the war, Lockheed sold 30 Super Electras to the Japanese Tachikawa Aircraft Company and licensed the company to build the airplanes at its factory in Japan. When the war broke out, the Allies identified the Japanese-built Lodestars as “Thelmas” and the ones that were sold to Japan as “Tobys.” All told, Japan had some 120 Electras, including Lockheed airplanes purchased before the war and airplanes built under license. The Japanese Electras were used throughout the Pacific as military transports.

LINK:
Lockheed's Electra and Lodestar - Warfare History Network
 
  • #262
  • #263
Some Earhart researchers believe that Fred and Amelia landed at, or ditched near Mili Island in the Pacific north west of Howland Island. Mili was also known as Mille, Miri, and Mulgrave Island. In 1937, Mili was one of the many Marshall Islands under Japanese administration, by League of Nations Mandate.

Some believe that Fred and Amelia (perhaps along with their plane and/or equipment) were captured by the Japanese on Mili and transported to Jaluit Island, and from there, sent to be imprisoned on Saipan where they died or were executed as spies by the Japanese.

Most of the evidence supporting this theory comes from testimony of islanders and US service men who claim to have seen or known of an American woman prisoner of the Japanese. Some said that they heard she and/or a man with her were aviators. Stories vary.

The reasons given for Amelia possibly being in the area of the Marshall Islands were that she was on a secret mission to photograph and report on Japanese military build up of the islands in violation of the League of Nations Mandate.

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Mili Island (Mille) Marshall Islands

7th AF c1944


USN 1944

Location
Lat 6° 7' 60N Long 171° 55' 0E Mili Island is located at the southwest edge of Mili Atoll (Mille) in the Marshall Islands. Also known as "Mille Island". Borders the lagoon to the east. To the southeast is Arbar Island and Madagai Island to the north...

After World War I, Pacific Islands previously claimed by Germany were administered as part of the South Pacific Mandate by Japan. These were referred to as "The Mandated Islands" or "The Mandates".

Wartime History
Mili Island was small lookout post, radio direction finding station and weather station. During late 1942, the Japanese began developing an airfield on the island, using Korean and Marshallese labor force. At its height, the garrison included 5,100 Japanese including 2,600 Navy and 2,500 Army. The base lacked any large concrete structures, such as command buildings, power stations or bunkers. The island had one radar with a range of 50 miles, giving ten minutes warning for any enemy aircraft inbound...

... By late 1943, supply lines to Mili were cut off, and the Japanese garrison was left to starve. Over eighteen months, Mili was the target of US aircraft. The garrison of 5,100 Japanese (2,600 Navy and 2,500 Army,) only 2,500 (50%) survived. Casualties occurred from air raids, diseases, accidents, and suicides, but mainly from starvation.

American missions against Mili Island
June 17, 1943 - August 30, 1944

On August 22, 1945, the Japanese garrison on Mili was the first Pacific island to surrender, eleven days before the formal surrender of Japan.

Mili Airfield
Built by the Japanese, still in use today for local air service...

Source: Pacific Wrecks - Mili Island (Mille) Marshall Islands
 
  • #264
Appendix A to Mary S. Lovell's book "The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart" deals with Communications transmissions to and from Amelia on her final flight. It also discusses navigation techniques used by Fred Noonan.

Amelia had stated on the outset of her flight that she did not intend to communicate with any radio stations, but would be providing reports of her position at regular times, at 15 and 45 minutes after the hour.

In fact, radio logs indicate that she did NOT transmit position reports on a regular basis at any stage of her trip. On her final leg, except for one position report to Lae, she did not give any other position reports.

She never acknowledged any transmissions from Itasca, never answered any of their questions, and never gave Itasca a position report. She did continue to transmit TO Itasca and did ask them to transmit a homing signal for her to get an ADF cut on. Also, she asked Itasca to try to get a bearing on her transmissions.

Only at one time (at 8:00 AM Howland/Itasca time), Amelia acknowledged receipt of a homing signal (which had been sent on 7500 khz) when she transmitted to Itasca: "... We received your signals but unable to get a minimum please take bearing on us and answer 3105 (khz) with voice."

Itasca could hear Amelia's transmissions, but never established two-way voice communication with her.

Amelia's final airborne voice transmission (on 3105 KCS) was sent at 8:44 AM (Howland/Itasca time). Earhart: "We are on the line of position 157-337, will repeat this message on 6210 KCS. Wait, listening on 6210 KCS. We are running North and South."

Nothing further was heard by Itasca.

There are two theories regarding her last message. One is that this was possibly a pre-calculated sun line intercept to be flown during an "off set" method of navigation.

The other theory is that Amelia might have finally gotten (or thought she had gotten) an ADF cut off Itasca's voice transmissions, but did not know if she was north or south of the ship.
 
  • #265

In his book “Amelia Earhart: The Truth At Last” (2016), Mike Campbell makes a strong case for believing the world’s most famous aviatrix and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were captured by the Japanese during their 1937 around-the-world journey...

... “The idea was originally proposed and investigated by Fred Goerner, a CBS radio journalist, who headed several expeditions to the island of Saipan in the 1960s to track down the truth. He was sure Earhart and Noonan had been captured by the Japanese and taken to Saipan.

... A recent TV documentary titled “Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence” became controversial after a photograph the documentary producers believed showed Earhart and Noonan after they were picked up by the Japanese was debunked. (The photo, which they claimed showed Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan on a dock at Jaluit in the Marshall Islands, supposedly had appeared in a 1935 dated publication, but some stated that the publication may have gone through a number of revisions and reprints, possibly adding the photo after 1935.)

The news media was wrong to discredit the entire documentary and to ridicule the belief Earhart was captured. After all, the documentary also revealed the existence of a secret U.S. government report acknowledging Earhart was a prisoner of the Japanese. The documentary corroborated this with eyewitness accounts by natives who interacted with the captured Americans, with the accounts of U.S. Marines who were instructed to dig up Earhart’s remains that were buried on Saipan, and with a statement by Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, commandant of the Marine Corps when Saipan was liberated in 1944, who acknowledged Earhart “perished” on Saipan during the Japanese occupation of the island. Admiral Chester Nimitz was also of this belief and stated it for publication in Fred Goerner's 1966 book, "The Search for Amelia Earhart"...

A July 16 (2017) press release by the Republic of the Marshall Islands (accessible online) responded to the controversy about the photo's date:

“The Republic of the Marshall Islands is following your investigation of the Amelia Earhart mystery with great interest. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, confirms that the photograph found in the U.S. National Archives is the dock at Jabor on Jaluit Atoll.

“Jabor Dock was built in 1936. The events of this period are still recalled by our eldest citizens. The claim that Jabor dock was already built in 1935 does not match the historical record. Therefore, it would not have been possible for any photos to have been taken of the Jabor dock in 1935. The dock simply did not exist. The elders who confirmed that Amelia Earhart and her navigator were brought to Jabor are of the highest standing and reputation in our community.

“The ministry hopes this helps set the record straight.”

... This means that the Marshallese government has debunked the debunkers of the controversial photo who claimed the photo came from a book published in Japan in 1935. Since Earhart’s flight was in 1937 and the dock was built in 1936, it really is possible Earhart, Noonan and their plane are in the photo shown on the History Channel.

... Earhart researcher Richard Martini recently reported that “the book” cited to discredit the controversial photograph was not actually published in 1935. “The book” is an uncopyrighted portfolio of undated photographs tied together with a string...

LINK:
GUEST APPEARANCE: No Justice for Amelia Earhart in the New York Times
 
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  • #266

Left: Woman in controversial Jaluit photo, Right: Amelia in a similar pose.

Click on images to enlarge.
 
  • #267

Amelia's favorite photo. She is wearing the honorary Army Air Corps wings presented to her in 1929. Photo circa 1930-31. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Today, 24 July, is Amelia's birthday. She was born in 1897 - 123 years ago.
 
  • #268
Final Flight And Disappearance

In 1937 Earhart set out to fly around the world, with Fred Noonan as her navigator, in a twin-engine Lockheed Electra. On June 1 the duo began their 29,000-mile (47,000-km) journey, departing from Miami and heading east. Over the following weeks they made various refueling stops before reaching Lae, New Guniea, on June 29. At that point, Earhart and Noonan had traveled some 22,000 miles (35,000 km).


Amelia Earhart (centre) talking to reporters, 1937.

They departed on July 2, headed for Howland Island, approximately 2,600 miles (4,200 km) away. The flight was expected to be arduous, especially since the tiny coral atoll was difficult to locate. To help with navigation, two brightly lit U.S. ships were stationed to mark the route. Earhart was also in intermittent radio contact with the Itasca, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter near Howland...

(Actually there never was any two-way communication between Earhart and Itasca. Amelia could not receive - and never acknowledged the many Itasca transmissions and she transmitted her messages very briefly "in the blind".)

... Late in the journey, Earhart radioed that the plane was running out of fuel. About an hour later she announced, “We are running north and south.” That was the last transmission received by the Itasca. The plane was believed to have gone down some 100 miles (160 km) from the island, and an extensive search was undertaken to find Earhart and Noonan.

However, on July 19, 1937, the operation was called off, and the pair was declared lost at sea. Throughout the trip, Earhart had sent her husband various materials, including letter and diary entries, and these were published in Last Flight (1937).

Earhart’s mysterious disappearance captured the public’s imagination and generated numerous theories and claims. Notably, some believed that she and Noonan had crashed on a different island after failing to locate Howland, and others posited that they were captured by the Japanese. However, no definitive evidence was found for such claims. Most experts believe that Earhart’s plane crashed in the Pacific near Howland after running out of fuel. A fixture in popular culture, she was the subject of numerous books and movies...

LINK:
Amelia Earhart | Biography, Disappearance, & Facts
 
  • #269
Amelia Earhart’s Lighthouse on Howland Island
by Kaushik Patowary
2014
howland-island-2%25255B2%25255D.jpg


Amelia Earhart Lighthouse as it appears today.


Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 3,100 km southwest of Honolulu. This flat sliver of land 2 km long and half-km wide is best known as the island the famous aviator Amelia Earhart was supposed to land on for refueling before continuing on her round-the-world flight. The plan was to arrive at Howland Island from New Guinea with her navigator Fred Noonan, replace him with another navigator Captain Harry Manning, and continue to Australia from where she would proceed on her own for the remainder of the project. Earhart’s plane never arrived, although her transmission was received on Howland Island. After her disappearance on July 2, 1937, the United States government, under whose possession the island was since 1856, built a lighthouse on the island as a memorial to the woman flier. Unfortunately, the short lighthouse called Earhart Light, today stand disused and in disrepair.

Earhart Light is not an actually lighthouse, because it has no illumination. It is a day beacon or navigational landmark shaped somewhat like a short lighthouse, painted with wide stripes and meant to be seen from several miles out to sea during daylight hours. It is located near the boat landing at the middle of the island’s west coast.

Originally the lighthouse was intended to be manned, and perhaps even illuminated. At that time, Howland Island had a small settlement by the name of Itascatown and was well connected with other equatorial Line Islands. The island had a half-dozen small wooden huts and the fledging colonists fed on canned food and water, and had other supplies including a gasoline powered refrigerator, radio equipment, and medical kits. The settlers were instructed to gradually develop a rudimentary infrastructure on the island, including the clearing of a landing strip for airplanes. It was hoped that with passing years a fair-sized population would spring up on the islands as they become important air bases for trans-Pacific flights.

When World War 2 broke out, the Japanese started bombing the island and destroyed what little the island had including Amelia Earhart’s lighthouse. The two remaining survivors were evacuated and a battalion of the United States Marine Corps took possession of the island until 1944. After the war, all attempts at habitation on the island were abandoned. Earhart Light remained broken for nearly two decades until it was repaired in early 1960s by the U.S. Coast Guard. No further restoration had happened since that time. Today, the Earhart beacon is said to be crumbling and hadn't been painted in decades.

Howland Island is now managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the island, along with the surrounding 129.80 square km of submerged land is considered a National Wildlife Refuge.



howland-island-1%25255B2%25255D.jpg


Howland Island lighthouse, circa 1939. Photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard



howland-island-8%25255B3%25255D.jpg


Howland Island lighthouse damaged during WW2, circa 1942 (left). Lighthouse restored in 1964 (right). Photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard

LINK:

Amelia Earhart’s Lighthouse on Howland Island | Amusing Planet
 
  • #270
Here is a short video about the controversial Jaluit Photo which some claim to show Amelia, Fred, and the Lockheed 10.

LINK:
 
  • #271
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  • #272
Did Amelia ditch her plane near Mili atoll in the Pacific?

LINK:

 
  • #273
Much of the history of the Marshall and Marianas Islanders is word of mouth stories passed from person to person. Dates and details vary in the retellings. But one common theme concerns stories about a white woman pilot and a male airman who crashed or landed on/near a Pacific Atoll and were picked up by the Japanese. Most of these stories state that it was in the Marshall Islands near Mili Atoll around 1937.

Witnesses living on Saipan during that time also claim to have seen a white woman with short hair who dressed in trousers and clothing "like a man". Few knew her name or full story, but claimed that she (and a man) were held in Japanese custody and that Japanese told some of them that she was a pilot and a spy.

Some testimony ends with they "heard" both prisoners died in captivity. Some stories state that they were executed or died of illness months or even years after their capture.

On 17 July 1944, following hard fighting and the US victory on Saipan, the US disinterred several graves in a Saipan civilian cemetery - allegedly to find the bodies of downed US military aviators. Is it possible they were looking for the graves of Fred Noonan and Amelia Earhart?
 
  • #274

Click on image to enlarge
 
  • #275
Richard said:
...
On 17 July 1944, following hard fighting and the US victory on Saipan, the US disinterred several graves in a Saipan civilian cemetery - allegedly to find the bodies of downed US military aviators. Is it possible they were looking for the graves of Fred Noonan and Amelia Earhart?
Click to expand...

Please excuse me for "quoting" myself, but I thought I should provide some additional information regarding my last comment.

I do not know how or why the disinterments of the three graves on 17 July 1944 came about. Were the grave of Amelia and Fred being sought - or was this simply an effort to find missing Naval Aviators who were lost between 22 February 1944 and 10 June 1944 (the invasion of Saipan)?

Directly related to one of those disinterments is this story of the identification of a World War II MIA and the return of his body to his home town:

--------------------------------------------
On July 17, 1944 during the American occupation of Saipan, Col Elliott G. Colby and Lt. Col Richard C. Wadsworth (both US Army Medical Corps) visited the Catholic Cemetery at Garapan to recover the remains of three aviators that had been reported buried there on February 23 or 24 1944. The remains were exhumed and taken to the 369th Station Hospital for an autopsy.

During that examination the following findings were made; One body was clothed in a one-piece, greenish-khaki coverall type of uniform; the buttons on the uniform contained the words " U.S. Navy"; a plain silver ring was found on the left hand; and on the underwear, marked in two places appeared the name. W. L. McVay. It was determined that the injuries were caused as a result of an aircraft accident, not a war crime.

Unfortunately, the US Army doctors had no records with which to compare their findings in an effort to identify this victim. The body was removed to the 27th Division Cemetery and buried as Unknown (Saipan X-35) in plot 3, row 11, grave 1132. In March 1948, these remains were moved to a mausoleum on Saipan. During October 1948, the remains were buried as an unknown at the Manila American Cemetery for "final burial" as unknown X-35 in section F, row 12, grave 2.

(Lt. McVay was officially declared dead on January 15, 1946. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), Air Medal and Purple Heart, posthumously.)

Through the research of historian Ted Darcy, it was found that the height and dental records of unknown X-35 matched with MIA/KIA McVay. The results were forwarded to JPAC in Hawaii. In February 2009, the grave in Manila was opened and the remains shipped to the Army's Central Identification Lab where they arrived on 25 February 2009. The identification was confirmed in May 2009, and Elizabeth Huff was notified that X-35 was positively identified as her grandfather, Lt. Woodie McVay.

McVay's remains were transported to Mobile, Alabama for internment. On July 13 2009, McVay was laid to rest at his existing memorial marker, next to his parents in the Pine Crest Cemetery at Mobile, Alabama.

Source: Pacific Wrecks
-------------------------------------------

The other two sets of remains disinterred on the same day were never identified and their disposition is unknown. Were they reburied on Saipan? Were they transferred to a US Military cemetery? Perhaps somewhere in historical records are clues that will lead to their location and identification as well.
 
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  • #276
Photos of the Lockheed 10 short range transport aircraft similar to Amelia Earhart's Lockheed 10E.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

 
  • #277
part07_map_area_highlight.jpg

Area of Interest between Lae, New Guinea and Howland Island - USG Map 1943

Click on map to enlarge.

Note that Lae, New Guinea is to the far left (west) on the map. Amelia and Fred's destination is Howland Island on the far right (east). Some believe that she ended up on Gardner Island in the Phoenix group (to the south of Howland). Others believe that she landed or ditched her plane near Mili atoll in the Marshalls (to the northwest of Howland).

Jaluit Atoll is just to the west of Mili and is the capitol of the current Marshall Islands. It is where the photo of the people on the dock was taken.

She would have flown over the islands of the Gilbert group on the way to Howland and some believe that she would have turned back to the Gilberts hoping to find a suitable place to land, if she had not found Howland.

LINK:

Part 7 – The Last Flight – Return to the Gilberts…
 
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  • #278
Richard said:
Researchers hope DNA testing may finally prove whether bones found on a remote island were Amelia Earhart's
By Elizabeth Wolfe and Brian Ries, CNN October 15, 2019

DNA testing may determine whether newly discovered bones from an island in the Pacific are those of Amelia Earhart -- and perhaps shed light on what happened to the pioneering aviator after she disappeared.

The bones were found on Nikumaroro, a remote island in the western Pacific Ocean, in 1940. But it wasn't until a 2018 study that people began to suspect they could belong to Earhart. That's when researcher Richard Jantz re-examined their measurements and found they closely matched those of the missing pilot.

Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist at the University of South Florida, plans to use DNA testing to confirm the theory. Kimmerle sent samples off for DNA testing and is awaiting the results.

191015135015-amelia-earhart-skull-medium-plus-169.jpg


Kimmerle has reconstructed the skull and sent samples off for DNA testing...

LINK:
Amelia Earhart: DNA testing may prove whether bones from Pacific island belong to famed aviator - CNN
Click to expand...

The Bones mentioned in the above post and link have been tested for DNA and matched against a relative of Amelia Earhart. The results of that test were a NEGATIVE match, which was quietly mentioned in passing on the Science Channel on Jan 28th.

LINK:

“Nikumaroro bones”: No DNA match for Earhart
 
  • #279
Richard said:
The Bones mentioned in the above post and link have been tested for DNA and matched against a relative of Amelia Earhart. The results of that test were a NEGATIVE match, which was quietly mentioned in passing on the Science Channel on Jan 28th.

LINK:

“Nikumaroro bones”: No DNA match for Earhart
Click to expand...
The more I hear the more I think that they miscalculated there location and ended up going down over water. I think, between Bob Ballards search and the DNA results, that nearly eliminates Nikumaroro as a possible crash site. In my opinion that is.
 
  • #280
rob525 said:
The more I hear the more I think that they miscalculated there location and ended up going down over water. I think, between Bob Ballards search and the DNA results, that nearly eliminates Nikumaroro as a possible crash site. In my opinion that is.
Click to expand...
I agree. While I have been interested in the Nikumaroro theory, and all theories for that matter, I have always thought that by far the most likely scenario is that they just ran out of a fuel and went down in the ocean.
 
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