"Memorial day quest for information on an honored dead" Topic

Trying to find out more info on my dad's cousin who was killed in WWII.
PFC Sidney E. Deardorf
He was in army Air Corps in Pacific theater
701 Ordnance (aviation) 19th Bombardment group (heavy) V Bomber Command
He was a POW – but don't know when he was captured
He was killed/lost at sea on 9/07/44 when he his POW ship was torpedoed by an American submarine.

It sounds like he was a bomb loader for B17.
Would he have been captured early in the war when Philippines fell?
Trying to learn how long he was a POW
Thanks

Korvessa,
I'm not sure if this helps:
link

link
Shinyo Maru – POWS were machine-gunned by the Japanese as the ship sank.

The Shinyo Maru sailed on September 7th, carrying 750 POWs destined for Manila from the POW camp in Davao and for protection hugged the coast of the island for most of the day. The submarine USS Paddle lay in wait and late that same afternoon it torpedoed both the Shinyo Maru and another large freighter. It was chaos aboard the hellship as the Japanese tore off the hatch covers and threw grenades into the holds and machine-gunned the POWs as they tried to make their way to safety. They also machine-gunned POWs on deck and in the water. Many men died in the explosion from the torpedoes or drowned when the ship went down and of those who did survive many were shot in the water by the Japanese – it was a terrible massacre. Only 82 men made it to shore alive and were rescued by Philippine guerillas. Later they were evacuated by an allied submarine.

link
On September 7, 2014 – 70 years to the day after the sinking, a memorial was unveiled and dedicated in Zamboanga Philippines in memory of the men of the Shinyo Maru and the Philippine people who rescued and hid the survivors until they could be evacuated.

Here is a list of the Penal Colonies. It appears he was at Davao:
link

Good luck,
Wolfhag

And here's some information about the 19th Bombardment Group:
link

And some background about the US Far East Air Force:
link

Since he was a ground support airman and was imprisoned at Davao then he was probably part of the "secret" base described in the Little Rock AFB article.

I tried to search for him on Fold3 which is the military records site associated with Ancestry but came up empty.

Have you tried contacting the 19th Airlift Wing historian or the Little Rock AFB historian?

Jim

Thank You Wolfhag
That helped a lot

You're welcome. I'm always glad to help people out with researching their relatives. I did a lot of it for my family.

I suspect it may be kind of tough getting details because it appears POW's were moved around. Was he part of the "Bataan Deatch March" too?

Wolfhag

I don't know for sure, but it sure looks like it based upon what you provided.
Man went through Hell for sure.

May he RIP …

I really don't know that much about him. I was looking through my dad's war service scrap book (dad was 507th PIR) and came across his picture with the a notation from my dad that said he was taken prisoner and died still a POW.
I can be a sentimental old fool some times, so being as it was memorial day, I figured he deserved to be remembered so I thought I would see what I could discover.
Our common ancestor is George Aitken, who served in the Army of the Potomac from Bull Run to Appomattox. He was a regular in 2nd US Artillery.

Korvessa,
I'm honored to have helped you. I see you are in CA. I'm in Contra Costa county. If you are ever in the area look me up.

wolfhag

Wolfhag
I live in Gold Rush country (1850 pop 5000; 2020 pop 300),
up in the mountains about an hour north of Grass Valley.
I don't make it to Bay Area often, but you're welcome to visit "God's Country."
LOL

Not much at my go to Civil War source for George Aitken, but he was a bugler and served in Battery G.

About the battery:

At Washington, D. C., May, 1861. Attached to Davies' Brigade, Miles' Division,
McDowell's Army, Northeast Virginia, June to August, 1861. Kearney's Brigade,
Division of the Potomac, to October, 1861. Artillery, Franklin's Division, Army of
the Potomac, to January, 1862. Artillery, Heintzelman's Division, Army of the Potomac,
to March, 1862. Artillery, 3rd Division, 3rd Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to
August, 1862. Artillery, 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to
September, 1862. Artillery, 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to
May, 1863. Artillery Brigade, 6th Army Corps, to August, 1863. 2nd Brigade, Horse
Artillery, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1864. 1st Brigade, DeRussy's Division, 22nd
Army Corps, Defences of Washington, D. C., south of the Potomac, to August, 1865.

SERVICE.-Advance on Manassas, Va., July 16-21, 1861. Near Fairfax Court House July 17.
Battle of Bull Run July 21. Duty in the Defences of Washington till March, 1862.
Moved to Virginia Peninsula. Siege of Yorktown April 5-May 4. Near Williamsburg May 4.
Battle of Williamsburg May 5. Battle of Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, May 31-June 1. Seven
days before Richmond June 25-July 1. Oak Grove June 25. Glen- dale June 30. Malvern
Hill July 1. At Harrison's Landing till August 16. Moved to Alexandria, Va., August 16-24.
Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Battle of Antietam September 16-17. Movement to
Falmouth, Va., October 30-November 19. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12-15.
"Mud March" January 20-24, 1863. At Falmouth till April. Chancellorsville Campaign
April 27-May 6. Operations at Franklin's Crossing April 29-May 2. Battle of Maryes
Heights, Fredericksburg, May 3. Salem Heights May 3-4. Battle of Gettysburg, Pa.,
July 1-3. Advance from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan September 13-17. Culpeper
Court House September 13. Bristoe Campaign October 9-22. Advance to line of the
Rappahannock November 7-8. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. New Hope
Church November 27. Demonstration on the Rapidan February 6-7, 1864. Barnett's Ford
February 6-7. Rapidan Campaign May 4-June 2. Wilderness May 5-7. Spottsylvania
Court House May 8-21. North Anna River May 23-26. On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28.
Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor May 31- June 2. Dismounted June 2 and ordered
to Washington, D. C. Duty in the Defences of that city till August, 1865.

Frederick A. Dyer "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion" vol. 3

That's pretty cool
I actually have his discharge papers.
All those battles you mention are written on the back.
A lot of action isn't it?
I wonder how many guys served in as many?

I would say many, although there are just as many who died from disease or were discharged because of health. Did he serve during that entire period?

Yes. As I recall he enlisted before war & served until after before being discharged from Alcatraz (while it was still an Army base of course)