T/Sgt Jack Holloway was the Engineer/Gunner in the Truscott flight crew. The Truscott crew was one of the original twelve crews in the 392nd Bombardment Squadron. Their first missions were flown in Nov 1943 from Canton in the Phoenix Islands. Their targets were Jaluit, Mille, Wotje and Maloelap. T/Sgt Holloway was wounded on 30 Nov 1943 over Maloelap. After a brief hospital stay on Canton he was sent back to the US.

The Truscott crew was not T/Sgt Holloway's first B-24 flight crew. He had previously been in the 21st Bombardment Squadron which was sent to the Alaskan Aleutian Islands to repel the Japanese invasion of those islands. He had been a Gunner in the flight crew of Lt. Ernest G Ford.

From the History of the 392nd Bombardment Squadron:

"... on November 5, 1943, the ground echelon embarked once more, this time for Canton Island in the Phoenix Group, arriving there on November 10, 1943. The air echelon arrived on November 12, 1943, and almost immediately operations against the enemy were inaugurated.

The first operations by our squadron at this, then advanced base, were sea searches ranging far into the Jap held Gilbert Islands, and the strongly fortified Marshalls. On the 22nd of November 1943, our boys got their first taste of combat. Four of our B-24's, in a combined raid with eight planes of the 26th Bombardment Squadron (H), raided Mille Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Mille was bombed successfully and fires were started.

November 30, 1943, saw our squadron off on a strike, on its own. This time, the target was Taroa Island in the Maloelap Atoll. As later events proved, Maloelap turned out to be one the toughest nuts in the Marshall Islands to crack. Well, anyway the boys did not fully realize just how tough it was as ten planes took off that day led by Major Brown, our Commanding Officer. Over the target, they were immediately jumped by thirty-five to forty Zekes, and the fight was on. However, by keeping close formation, and bringing a concentrated fire to bear upon enemy fighters, the flight was able to carry on drop their bombs upon the enemy installations, causing large fires and billowing, black smoke that rose to five thousand feet, and could be seen fifty miles after leaving the target."

Award.Gen.Landon.Sgt.Holloway.Purple.Heart.30.Nov.1943.over.Maloelap.jpg

The plane usually flown by the Truscott crew was called DIRTY NELL (#42-72995).

Lt Harry J Kay was the Bombardier in the Truscott flight crew. The Truscott crew was one of the original twelve crews in the 392nd Bombardment Squadron. Their first missions were flown in Nov 1943 from Canton in the Phoenix Islands. Their targets were Jaluit, Mille, Wotje and Maloelap. In Jan 1944 the squadron moved their base to Apamama, and then in Mar 1944 they moved again to Kwajalein. The Truscott crew completed their required 30 missions in mid-1944.

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The plane usually flown by the Truscott crew was called DIRTY NELL (#42-72995). After that plane crashed they flew DIRTY NELL II (#42-73290).

The members of the Truscott crew were:

James Truscott (Pilot)

Lawrence L Mellas (Co-Pilot)

Paul E Wollerman (Navigator)

Harry J Kay (Bombardier)

Jack Holloway (Engineer)

Robert D Brennan (Radio Operator)

Frank V Pecorari (Tail Gunner)

William H Pentek Jr (Gunner)

Harold A Paul (Gunner)

Missions flown from Canton Island:

Date/Target: 22 Nov 1943 - Mille Atoll

Date/Target: 30 Nov 1943 - Taroa Island, Maleolap Atoll

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From the History of the 392nd Bombardment Squadron:

"On April 26, 1944, ten (10) of our planes and eight of VD-3 took off from Eniwetok to photograph and bomb Guam....Over the target, Captain Truscott, in A/P #290, lost oil from #1 engine causing it to freeze up so that the prop could not be feathered. He was able to reach and land at Los Negros Island only by jettisoning every movable article in the plane. The other six (6) planes, however, reached Los Negros without incident, and the next day re-armed with ten one-hundred pound bombs and dropped them on Langor Island, Ponape on the way home. Moderate and accurate A/A fire from heavy guns was experienced over Langor Island, but our planes suffered no damage...."

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More information about the 30th Bombardment Group:

30th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

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