The Ordeal of Tondelayo

L/E of 199 Giclee Prints
S/N by the Artist
Image Size: 25" x 19"
Paper Size: 29" x 24"

Plane Type: B-25D Mitchell

The crew of the 500th Bomb Squadron B-25D-1 "TONDELAYO" fight for their lives over St. Georges Channel, near Rabaul, on 18 October, 1943 while under attack by a determined Japanese foe. Pilot, 1/Lt. Ralph G. Wallace will win an epic struggle to fend off 201st and 204th Kokutal Japanese Zeroes while keeping his aircraft aloft with only one of its two engines functioning.

Beyond TONDELAYO, a Zero that had made too low of a pass hits the water, killing its pilot. Both of Wallace's wingmen, Captain Lyle "Rip" Anacker in "SNAFU" and 1/Lt. Harlan H. Peterson, flying "SORRY SATCHUL", were shot down in this encounter-survivors of Peterson's crew were machine-gunned by the Japanese. Wallace's crew in TONDELAYO managed to fight their way clear of their tormentors and eventually landed a Kiriwina Island, in the Trobriands Group after what seemed to be an eternity.

TONDELAYO, with dozens of bullet-holes, would return to combat only after seven months of repair. In the end all seventeen crewmen of the three 500th Bomb Squadron B-25's were awarded the Silver Star for valor. Col. Clinton True, CO of the 345th Bomb Group, leader of this mission, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor. PLANE JUNKIE - The Ordeal of Tondelayo by Jack Fellows (B-25D Mitchell)