World Wide Diver
Contributor
On December 8 1941 two Catalina PBY-4s were attacked and sunk in Malalag Bay, Davao del Sur.
The attack came less than 8 hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. A U.S. pilot - Ens. Robert George Tills - was killed in the attack. He was the first U.S. serviceman to be killed in defence of the Philippines in WWII.
Please see this link: DefenseLink News Release: Sailor Missing from WWII is Identified
Around 1978, one of the Cats were dragged out of the bay and scrapped.
The second Catalina was salvaged in August 2007. Human remains were found and the Coastguard immediately contacted the US Embassy. The remains were taken to Manila by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group-Philippines.
These have now been positively identified, by JPAC in Hawaii, as being Ens Tills remains. His family have been notified and a funeral with full military honours will take place in Arlington National Cemetary on 23 March (ref the article).
His sister and fiancee will be amongst those present.
We knew about the PBY-4s and dived in Malalag to see if we could locate any wreckage in June 2008. The visibility is very poor in this area of Malalag - less than 5ft. The bottom is composed of very fine, deep talc-like yellow silt. We dived with a couple of fellow divers from Davao and Padada.
We eventually found some framents of wreckage which we photographed and sent to a Catalina expert in the UK. He confirmed that the wreckage was indeed from a catlina.
The locals told us that the wreckage had been sold to a junk yard in Digos. We managed to track down the owner and made a visit. Some personal effects of the pilot had been found when the cockpit area was cleaned of the silt. Amongst these were some 1937 Rayban aviators (good condition with the glass intact), a jungle bolo and a boat hook.
To cut a long story short, we did a lot of leg work to obtain these items.
Since we learned that Ens Tills has been formerly identified, we have contacted the US Embassy and are now in the process of returning the aviators to his family.
The rear section of the fuselage, including the wings, is still lying on the bottom of Malalag Bay in 65feet of water.
For information, we understand that there are as many as three ship wrecks there - one partially salvaged. However, the local Municipality has pledged to prevent any further salvage work/recovery of historic wrecks.
Diving is allowed with permission.
Attached is a photo of the aviators which we understand are gold plated and uncommon.
Hope you find this interesting.
WWD
The attack came less than 8 hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. A U.S. pilot - Ens. Robert George Tills - was killed in the attack. He was the first U.S. serviceman to be killed in defence of the Philippines in WWII.
Please see this link: DefenseLink News Release: Sailor Missing from WWII is Identified
Around 1978, one of the Cats were dragged out of the bay and scrapped.
The second Catalina was salvaged in August 2007. Human remains were found and the Coastguard immediately contacted the US Embassy. The remains were taken to Manila by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group-Philippines.
These have now been positively identified, by JPAC in Hawaii, as being Ens Tills remains. His family have been notified and a funeral with full military honours will take place in Arlington National Cemetary on 23 March (ref the article).
His sister and fiancee will be amongst those present.
We knew about the PBY-4s and dived in Malalag to see if we could locate any wreckage in June 2008. The visibility is very poor in this area of Malalag - less than 5ft. The bottom is composed of very fine, deep talc-like yellow silt. We dived with a couple of fellow divers from Davao and Padada.
We eventually found some framents of wreckage which we photographed and sent to a Catalina expert in the UK. He confirmed that the wreckage was indeed from a catlina.
The locals told us that the wreckage had been sold to a junk yard in Digos. We managed to track down the owner and made a visit. Some personal effects of the pilot had been found when the cockpit area was cleaned of the silt. Amongst these were some 1937 Rayban aviators (good condition with the glass intact), a jungle bolo and a boat hook.
To cut a long story short, we did a lot of leg work to obtain these items.
Since we learned that Ens Tills has been formerly identified, we have contacted the US Embassy and are now in the process of returning the aviators to his family.
The rear section of the fuselage, including the wings, is still lying on the bottom of Malalag Bay in 65feet of water.
For information, we understand that there are as many as three ship wrecks there - one partially salvaged. However, the local Municipality has pledged to prevent any further salvage work/recovery of historic wrecks.
Diving is allowed with permission.
Attached is a photo of the aviators which we understand are gold plated and uncommon.
Hope you find this interesting.
WWD
