Malaya Historical Group :: MHG
Aviation and Military Archaeology may cover almost any form of research into or collecting of artifacts connected with the history of aviation and military relics.

If you have any information about any war relics and air wrecks in our country, please send an email to me malayahg@gmail
 

B-24 Liberator KH326/X from 357 Squadron flew on a routine flight on Supplies Drop mission to Malaya. Their cargo were weapons, ammunitions, medicals and personal supplies stacked together in a container which loaded into the bomb bay section to be dropped behind enemy lines to Force 136 Guerillas operated in the jungles.

KH325 crews were :-

J/12779 Flt/Lt Arie Frank TIMMERMANS: Captain of the aircraft Age 28,

R/217478 Flight Sergeant Donald Livingstone DELLIS: Second Pilot Age 21,

J/47344 Flying Officer Joseph Jean Paul PERRON: Navigator Age 21

J/47321 Flying Officer William Walker REEVE: Air Bomber Age 29

J/47871 Flying Officer William Peter MCLEOD: Wireless Op/Air Gunner Age 23

J/47869 Flying Officer George FAULKNER: Wireless Op/Air Gunner Age 22

R/279733 Flight Sergeant Harry Henry ANDREWS: Air Gunner Age 20,

R/278843 Flight Sergeant Reinhold GIESBRECHT: Air Gunner Age 24

All crews were Canadians.

KH326/x was flying on 6th June 1945 together with another Liberator and was breaking away from the formation to the destined drop zone above Bunting Island near Yan, Kedah.  It never reached the drop zone and never returned to the base in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The crews were declared missing and no one were ever heard of them or the plane. They were perished in the jungle. Their names were recorded in Air Forces Memorial in Singapore.

By the help of Joe Plant and Matt Poole and Robert Quirk together with the assistance from F/O William Mcleod nephew named Gerald Howse, we managed to lay down the information related to KH326.

During an Operation Unity to flushed out Communist activities in Malaysia/Thai border, a Royal Scout Fusiliers platoon under Lt Staheli discovered a wreckage on 16th June 1955 deep in a jungle which located near to Communist base camp. A search team from RAF Changi were sent to investigate the wreckage. The plane were broke into 3 sections and most of her valuable cargos still scattered around the wreckage. A serial number found in navigator section revealed it was KH326 thus enabling them to gave news that KH326 was no longer missing.

Most of the cargo were salvaged and Lt Blair Agnew who responsible for the recoveries feel that human remains still inside the wreckage. He believed that the crews might survived from the crashed. Until then, nothing was heard about KH326, her crews and their fates.

After receiving an email from Gerald Howse, we are trying to get some information about the wreckage. With the help from Robert Quirk, Joe Plant and Matt Poole, a report from RSF was obtained and it show the wreckage location precisely together with a map showing were the wreckage was and the LZs to bring out the cargoes.

Subsequently with the help from Army Museum in Port Dickson, we managed to get an expedition to search for the plane in September 2007. Due to terrain and time limited, we did not reach the site and had to turned back. Another expedition under Time Line Expedition was held in July 2008 and we took 10 days searching for the wreckage which failed to do so.

Recently a platoon from Royal Rangers Regiment found the wreckage on their patrolling path. A report was sent and we scramble back to the site in July 2010. A new routes were used which speed up the trekking time and we managed to reach the site on 3rd day of the trekking.

We found out that locals from Thailand were visiting this wreckage frequently and removed the parts for scrap. Some of the wreckage still in site including front section, tail section, tail turrets and 4 engines. Due to 3 hours time constrained at the site, we managed to take photos, recorded some data. The plane was flying straight at that time and we agreed with RAF report that KH326 was flew on auto pilot. The plane hit the highest terrain, flipped on her belly, spin out of control and crashed on her back. That is why the front section was intact. The terrain now were full of bamboos and a true manpower effort could cleared the site and from there on, a full excavation could be carried out to determine if human remains still on site.

We hope that we could revisited the site back for further excavation process and hope that authority from Canadian Government could give their commitment to visit the site.