WHEN TRAGEDY STRUCK
March 3, 1945 - Ledo, Assam, India
China-Burma-India Theater of World War II
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One of the more tragic accidents occurring in the CBI Theater during World War II occurred on Saturday, March 3, 1945 at Ledo, Assam, India. C-47 Transport No. 41-18554, piloted by Capt. Nickolas J. Mandoukas of Brooklyn and co-piloted by Capt. John J. Lukasckzyk of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, crashed while attempting to land at the Ledo airfield.
All twenty-seven aboard were killed. The Missing Air Crew Report states that the pilot was "attempting to land, made low turn and crashed," and also "visibility was ¾ mile." Another more detailed description concluded, "When approaching the Ledo Airfield for an attempted landing, the C-47 was, due to fog and low visibility, too low for the last turn and crashed about one mile from the airstrip."
Making the accident more tragic was the fact that aboard were 14 Army nurses. Their loss
represented the largest single loss of female nurses during World War II. In addition, Major Louise R. Camden, in command of nurses at the 69th General Hospital where seven of the nurses were assigned, later heard of nurses who had arranged with a pilot to fly them to some city to drink some beer which they couldn't get where they were stationed. They planned to be back that evening. She discovered them missing only when notified of the plane wreck.
See more about Maj. Camden at In Her Own Words
Lt. Beatrice K. Smith, a friend of one of the victims wrote,
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"We were there a few months when tragedy struck. About midnight one night, Major Camden came over to our door to tell us the plane with nineteen of our nurses had crashed. I knew Annie was on that plane. "Oh dear God, no!" I breathed, "It can't be Annie!" After all we had been through together, it couldn't end this way, but it was true - all were dead. I was so shocked over Annie that it was a few days before I realized that all the other girls were gone."
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Read Lt. Smith's memoir at Where the Dawn Comes Up Like Thunder.
The reason for the flight is unknown. The flight contained only lower ranking officers, no enlisted personnel, so it was not a medical evacuation flight. None of the nurses was of a higher rank than 1st Lieutenant, so it was not likely a mission to establish a new hospital. It was possibly a shuttle flight between Ledo and Dinjan, possibly unauthorized, with the beer night as the destination.
Stationed in Dinjan was the 11th Combat Cargo Squadron, 3rd Combat Cargo Group. Some members of the squadron were most likely the hosts of the party.
Most of the dead were between the ages of 20-25. In the midst of a terrible war with terrible living and working conditions, it seems they were on a weekend party that did not end well. Most were initially interred in the American Military Cemetery in Kalaikunda, West Bengal, India. Remains were later returned to the United States and interred in 1948-49.
Because of the circumstances surrounding the flight, families back home were not told the complete truth. One obituary indicated, "she was killed in a plane crash on the India-Burma border." Another newspaper reported the victim died, "while flying the Ledo route into China," further stating, "The crash apparently occurred while her plane was crossing or preparing to cross the hump of the Himalaya mountains from India to China. The lieutenant recently had written her parents that she had volunteered for service in China and expected to head that way by plane from her base in India." All victims' families likely received similar fabrications.
The complete truth about the ill-fated flight may never be known. Those touched by it related what they knew of it to family and friends and bits of the truth emerged. But no family would want to receive news of their loved one's death that characterized it as uneccessary. The War Department saw to it that they didn't. And regardless of the reasons, the real truth is that all these persons died because they were fighting a war. They died seeking brief relief from that war.
The map shows the airfield of departure (Dinjan, upper left) and the intended destination of the return flight (Ledo, lower right), a distance of 33 miles (53 km). The line between does not indicate the flight path.
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Julia S. Barnes' Story
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Lt. Julia S. Barnes
Funeral services for Lt. Julia Schmid Barnes, only Sheboygan county woman to be killed in World War II, will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 3, at the Wittkopp Funeral home at Plymouth.
The Rev. E. L. Worthman, pastor of St. Peter's Evangelical and Reformed church, Kiel, will officiate. Burial will be made in Wildwood cemetery, Sheboygan.
Born Jan. 23, 1915, at Nellisville, Wis., the daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. H. G. Schmid, the deceased attended the public schools at Potter, Wis., and Plymouth, graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1932 from Plymouth High School.
Following her graduation from Mission House college in 1936, she was an instructor in mathematics, history and music in the high school at Harvard, Ill.
In 1941 she completed a course of instruction at the Washington University School of Nursing, Barnes hospital, St. Louis, Mo., and the following year became a member of the mobile blood donor unit in St. Louis.
Commissioned in the army nurse corps in April, 1942, Lt. Barnes received her training at Williams Field, Chandler, Ariz., the Pecos, Tex., army air field, and Camp Swift, Tex. and left for overseas in April, 1944.
She was assigned to the 69th General hospital at Ledo, Assam, India, at the time she was killed in a plane crash on the India-Burma border on March 4, 1945.
The body of Lt. Barnes which had been temporarily interred in the Kalaikunda Military Cemetery near Calcutta, India, was returned to the United States early this month aboard the army transport Cardinal O'Connell. It will arrive in Plymouth next Tuesday.
Mrs. Barnes was married to Lt. A. K. Barnes of Denver, Colo., on Sept. 15, 1943, at Fort Myers chapel in Arlington Heights, Va.
Survivors are her husband; the parents; one sister, Mrs. Melvin (Helena) Froehlich, Sheboygan, and one brother, Lt. Calvin H. Schmid, now stationed at the Yakota army air field near Tokyo, Japan.
Friends may call at the funeral home at Plymouth from 7 p.m. Wednesday until the time of the services Thursday. Military rites will be conducted at the graveside.
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Evelyn Gerdrum's Story
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Lt. Evelyn Gerdrum
Central Montana's first woman war fatality, Second Lt. Evelyn Gerdrum, 23, of the army nurse corps, is a 1942 graduate of the Columbus hospital school of nursing.
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Magnus Gerdrum of Lewistown, Lieutenant Gerdrum was killed March 4 in a plane crash while flying the Ledo route into China. The crash apparently occurred while her plane was crossing or preparing to cross the hump of the Himalaya mountains from India to China.
The lieutenant recently had written her parents that she had volunteered for service in China and expected to head that way by plane from her base in India. She had been stationed near Leado, India, for 10 months.
Born in Grass Range Aug. 31, 1921, Lieutenant Gerdrum attended school there and was graduated from high school in 1939. She attended the Columbus school of Nursing and entered the service two years ago, receiving basic training in Texas.
Other survivors are a brother, Milo of Grass Range, and a sister, Doris, an insrructor at Montana State University.
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Missing Air Crew Report
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Crew:
Capt. Nickolas J. Mandoukas, Brooklyn, NY, age 23, Pilot
Capt. John J. Lukasckzyk, Uniontown, PA, age 25, Co-pilot
Passengers:
Lt. Col. Jack P. Scott, Galveston, TX, age 35, Flight Surgeon
Capt. Charles W. Loucks, Orlando, FL, age 21
Capt. Edgar R. Moore, Kent, OH, age 26
1st Lt. Walter S. Amsler, McGregor, TX, age 23
1st Lt. Henry D. Hammack, Jr., Sturgis, KY, age 23
1st Lt. Grady A. Masters, West Palm Beach, FL, age 23
1st Lt. Joseph R. Launier, Winchendon Springs, MA, age 23
1st Lt. Robert W. Tibbetts, Girardville, PA, age 25, Signal Corps
2nd Lt. Francis W. Blalock, Charlotte, NC, age 20
2nd Lt. Thomas E. Dellinger, Holland, OH, age 26
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Nurses:
2nd Lt. Julie S. Barnes, Plymouth, WI, age 30, 69th Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Evelyn M. Gerdrum, Lewiston, MT, age 23, 69th Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Eathel L. Harris, St. Louis, MO, age 23, 69th Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Helen J. Henley, New Castle, DE, age 25
2nd Lt. Ann L. Merrill, Indianapolis, IN, 69th Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Genevieve O. Monahan, Balboa, CA, 69th Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Mayo C. Onken, Porterville, CA, age 25, 69th Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Jane M. Blevins, Somerset, KY, age 23, 20th Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Lyndell A. Glisson, Laurel, MS, age 23
2nd Lt. Kathryn L. McCarthy, Syracuse, NY, age 23
2nd Lt. Rita Erard, Syracuse, NY, age 28, 172nd Gen Hospital
2nd Lt. Evelyn Bruton, NY, age 23, 69th Gen Hospital
1st Lt. Catherine M. Larkin, Salem, MA, age 29
1st Lt. Kathryn L. Lloyd, Harrisburg, MA, age 24
Leona A. Thomey, (unkown hometown), age 43, civilian AGO/ARC
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List of Casualties from Missing Air Crew Report
Notification List
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