An interactive map depicting the known details surrounding the disappearance of B-25 #41-30040 and crew on March 29, 1944. Notations over the red stars refer to comments listed in the table below.
The morning of March 29, 1944 found the 345th Bomb Group flying toward the northwest to bomb in the Dagua area from medium altitude. The 498th Squadron was assigned the east end of the camp area south of the Dagua airdrome as their target area. They crossed over the target in two trailing flights of three airplanes. The bombs in B-25 #41-30040, named the Hitt and Miss, failed to release and the second flight then made another pass over the target area for another attempt.
A statement from a crewman in one of the other planes says that two bombs fell from #040 before the sharp, banking left turn onto the target and the mission report indicates that all six bombs were salvoed. What exactly was happening aboard #040 is not known because it never rejoined the formation after the second bomb run, was last seen flying a course toward Kairiru Island, and was not heard from again.
The photomap was georeferenced to satellite imagery and the mission map georeferenced to that in order to place the lines of flight and target area with some reliability.
The table below summarizes the comments made in the three witness statements, mission report and MACR that refer to the second bomb run. They have been arranged into a timeline of events based on my interpretation. The events were then placed along the line of flight accordingly. When comments indicate the relative position of #040, the map dot has been offset from the line of flight to to reflect that position. The last known position was derived from the GPS coordinates of a wreckage site that was described as being 3/4 of a mile southeast of the east end of Dagua drome.
| Marker ID | Name | Comment |
| S1 | Scanlon | 7800 ft altitude over target. 040 to right rear. |
| B1 | Burns | Saw two bombs fall from 040 before going into steep bank to left. |
| C1 | Clemens | Went close to target at 7800 ft. 040 on right with bomb bay doors open. |
| C2 | Clemens | Flight went into a bank and dive. |
| C3 | Clemens | 040 pulled up into a bank and dropped under him, out of sight, seemed to be under control. |
| C4 | Clemens | Flight pulled out of dive at about 3000 ft. |
| S2 | Scanlon | Just before entering cloud, in a steep turn. |
| S3 | Scanlon | Last saw 040 after it had just about straightened out for bomb run. |
| B2 | Burns | Saw 040 exit clouds below him when they had leveled out, 040 in a steep sort of spin, banked to the right, could not see right or far wing. |
| S4 | Scanlon | Went into a heavy cloud just before target, saw 040 enter cloud with bomb bay doors open. |
| C5 | Clemens | Looked for 040 on left side of ship, saw only left wingman 417 salvoing bombs. |
| C6 | Clemens | 2000 yards behind 417 saw what looked like pamphlets dropping down. |
| S5 | Scanlon | Did not see 040 after exiting cloud. |
| B3 | Burns | Did not see 040 any more. |
| M1 | Squadron | Did not reach target on 2nd run. |
| M2 | MACR | Last seen 1 mile southeast of the east end of Dagua strip. |
This MIA case has more documentation than some of the others, so there is less conjecture involved. Still, some of the statements seem to be contradictory which makes it difficult to reach any conclusion as to where this plane might be.
Lost with B-25 #41-30040 were:
- 1Lt Bernard L. Foley, pilot
- 2Lt Wade Westfall, copilot
- 2Lt Richard A. Hochadel, bombardier
- SSgt William T. Branstad, engineer
- TSgt Orville H. Diedrichs, radio operator
- SSgt Leon Monteith, aerial gunner
- SSgt James J. Beattie, aerial photographer
All seven members of the crew remain on the DPAA Not Recovered list.