Sergeant Bruce Wayne Osborne was the first man from Alleghany County to be killed in World War II. September 24, 1942, he was serving in Guadalcanal. He was on a Boeing B-17E, Bessie, the Jap Basher, part of the 42nd Bombardment Squadron, on a bombing mission over the Shortland Islands.

On this flight, it was attacked by a number of Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen fighters and badly damaged. It lost power in one engine and was attempting to limp home to its base at Henderson Airfield in Guadalcanal. Unfortunately, the plane was in severe trouble and when it gained the coast of Guadalcanal the pilot, Lt. Charles E. Norton, radioed Henderson that he was going to attempt to ditch the plane off the shores of then Japanese-occupied northern Guadalcanal.

He put the plane down 12 miles short of Henderson Airfield. Two boys from the village heard the plane overhead and then heard the plane crash into the water. They immediately went to the ocean’s edge but they did not see anything other than some waves from the crashed plane. Unknown to the boys, at least two of the eight crew escaped from the plane. Lt. Norton and Sgt. Bruce W. Osborne made it to shore.

The two boys went looking for the plane the next morning, swimming out from the shore and diving to look for the remains, but they were not successful. Lt. Norton struggled to shore but was unable to get assistance because the area was occupied by the Japanese Army. 6 days later, on September 30, Lt. Norton was found by a Japanese soldier, while he was hiding under long grass. Lt. Norton was taken to the Japanese Battalion Headquarters, where he died as he arrived.

Sgt. Osborne also got ashore, but it is not known what happened to him. His remains were found in the jungle in late January 1944 by American Seabees. The other 6 crew members did not survive, but when the plane was found on January 29, 1944, they were not found in the plane. There were bullet holes in the fuselage, but no indication of a fire. There were four parachutes found in the plane. The missing men were officially declared dead on January 7, 1946.

Learn more at www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info