KL654 - The Search for the Seremban Liberator

[Kyt]

Investigation of the crash site of a B24 of 356 Squadron:

http://www.filecore.net/kl654/

History of KL654

KL654/R and 356 Squadron (SEAC)

The aircraft we uncovered was eventually confirmed as a B24-J model (this is an American designation; within the RAF, this was referred to as a Mark VI model). It was part of Bomber Command 356 Squadron. South East Asia Command (SEAC) 356 Squadron was formed on 15 January 1944, and originally based at Salbani in India. The squadron's badge was a demi-tiger erased, bearing the motto "We bring freedom and assistance". The squadron lasted for almost two years, until it was disbanded on 15 November 1945. The aircraft it used were all Liberator Mark VIs. For the first six months of its life, the squadron was based at Salbani, where it received its first Liberators after a week. After a period of crew training, meteorlogical flights began in June and on 27 July the squadron flew its first bombing mission. Attacks on Japanese bases in Burma, Sumatra and Malaya were carried out until July 1945, mining sorties being also flown over enemy harbour approaches.

In July 1945, 356 squadron moved to the Cocos Islands in preparation for the invasion of Malaya, but the end of the war came before this could be carried out and after two months of supply dropping and transport duties, the squadron was disbanded on 15 November 1945. It was from here that KL654/R took off on her final mission, on 23rd August 1945, ironically less than one month after her construction, and less than a fortnight after the official end of the war.

Crew
According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the crew of KL654 at the time of her crash were officers of the 356 Squadron Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve:

Flight Lieutenant John Selwyn Watts, 158017, (24 years old)
Flying Officer Edward Donald Mason, 166082
Flying Officer William Kenneth Dovey, 166352
Flight Sergeant Jack Blakey, 1582692, (31 years old)
Flight Sergeant William Ross, 2213814
Flight Sergeant Raymond Arthur Towell, 1624252, (21 years old)

There are one or two mysteries surrounding the crew list; first of all, the RAF Accident Report Card states that the crew of KL654 on the day of her crash consisted of eight men. Unfortunately these men are not listed by name (except for captain Watts and copilot Mason), so there is no way to cross-reference the list. Secondly, the MHG report gave the names of six crew members, omitting Watts and replacing him with Flight Officer West. For the purposes of this report I am assuming that this is an error, as there is no record of a F/O West connected with either 356 Squadron or KL654; I am also assuming that the two unaccounted-for members of the crew were members of Force 136. There is also the matter of several reports which claim a member of crew survived the crash, but details are hazy.

Mission, Flight Route and Crash Site

KL654's mission that night was a night-time supply drop mission; her supplies included two agents of Force 136, one of whom was Tuan Pena, who later became the country's first Inspector-General of Police. KL654's crash site is only thirty miles from the course that she should have flown on her way back from the target area. She left the Cocos Islands, flew to Toborjoeng then on to Kuala Selangor, dropped her 'supplies' on the target area of Post Langkap in the jungle of Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilian, and from that point made no further contact.

KL654/R's flight route took her via or past:
Kuala Selangor at 03'20"N, 101'15"E
"Supply Drop" target at Post Langkap, at 02'50"N, 102'08"E
The jungles and ridges of Kuala Pilah, the approximate area of her crash, at 02'45"N, 102'14"E

I believe the exact location of KL654's crash site to be 02'45"N, 102'14"E , just off a ridge of the mountain Gunung Telapak Burok. The approximate location of the wreckage is to the southeast of the summit of Gunung Telapak Burok (at the end of the red line on the map below, trace about 2.5cm southeast), at around the 1038m height on the ridge. This would of course mean that the wreckage was located some 15 to 20 meters down the slope of the ridge (below the broken line marking the ridge, as you are looking at the map), in a source of the Muar river. Ignore the grey mark on the map.

As a note of interest, my group searched from a base at the town of Seremban at 02'43"N, 101'53"E

A Rescue Attempt?

According to Ron van Donkelaar, there was a record in his late father's flying log book of Liberator KH194 searching for "British Liberator R" for 10 hours minus 8-9 hours travelling time in the vicinity of Siberut island on the day after its crash, the 24th of August 1945. Siberut island is located on the other side of Sumatra, some 400 miles to the southwest of KL654's crash site. As Ron states, "it is not certain at all that this is concerning the same aircraft but the date seems to be matching. And searching at the wrong spot happened more often when an aircraft had deviated from course, or perhaps in this case flew more out then expected. We must realize that navigation in this part of the world in such wide and still hostile areas was quite a challenging task back then. Some areas were even not, or barely mapped back then."

[spidge]

Great post Kyt!