Liberty Ship, Russell Sage 4

Liberty Ship, Russell Sage 4

Military uniforms

Naval ships

Silhouettes

"Liberty Ship as seen from aboard another Liberty Ship" From "Darkroom Soldier": "Liberty Ship on Humboldt Bay. On May 25, 1944, as part of the overall Allied movement up the New Guinea coast, an advance echelon of Hill's 17th Squadron moved to Wakde Island. There, they were to give air support to landings on Biak, a strategically located island off the north coast of Dutch New Guinea. Intending to build an air base on Biak in order to carry the war north to the Philippines, Army forces landed there on May 27, but encountered significant Japaneses resistance. When the Japanese sent a convoy to reinforce Biak, Hill's commanding officer, Major William Tennille, his crew, and two other B-25 pilots and crews died on June 8, while sinking four Japanese destroyers. On June 30, 1944, Hill's rear echelon contingent boarded the Liberty Ship SS Russell Sage for Biak. En route to Wakde Island, the news came that infantry were still fighting Japanese in Biak's caves and pockets, and the Mokmer airfield on Biak had not been secured. So, the Russell Sage was ordered to anchor in Humboldt Bay, a secure area off Hollandia." ("Darkroom Soldier" caption authored by George Venn)

Hill, Fred

1944-06

(c)Eastern Oregon University. This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Acknowledgement of Eastern Oregon University as a source is required. For print quality images, prints, or high resolution tiff files, or commercial uses please contact the Library Director at Eastern Oregon University.

2010.1.472