46th Troop Carrier Squadron, 317th Transport Group, 5th Air Force, USAAF, in Australia during WW2

46TH TROOP CARRIER SQUADRON
317TH TRANSPORT GROUP
5TH AIR FORCE, USAAF
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2

The unit was constituted as the 46th Transport Squadron on 30 May 1942 and was activated on 15 June 1942 at Duncan Field in Texas and assigned to the 317th Transport Group. The squadron relocated to Bowman Field, Kentucky on19 June 1942. It was redesignated as the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron assigned to the newly designated 317th Troop Carrier Group on 4 July 1942.

The squadron relocated to Lawson Field, Georgia on 10 October 1942. They were located at Maxton Field, North Carolina from 3 to 12 December 1942. They flew across the Pacific and arrived at Garbutt Airfield in Townsville on 23 January 1943.

In April 1943 the 46thh Troop Carrier Squadron was operating five (5) C-49's, two (2) LB-30's, and two (2) B-17's for the Directorate of Air Transport. The squadron relocated to Port Moresby, New Guinea on 1 October 1943. After that the squadron’s stations during WWII were as follows:-

Finschaffen, New Guinea 19 April 1944
Hollandia, New Guinea 5 July 1944
Leyte 19 November 1944
Clark Field, Luzon March 1945
Okinawa, Japan 19 August 1945

Del Sparrowe, one of the assistant Crew Chiefs with the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron told me in December 1942 that the 317th Troop Carrier Group received orders to ship overseas and were issued all new C-47s. Upon arrival at Townsville the 317th traded aircraft with the 374th Troop Carrier Group as it was being stationed in the Port Moresby area.

Del Sparrowe advised that the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron. was left with, you might say, a "hodgepodge" of aircraft. Old DC-3 converted airliners, a Dutch Lockheed Lodestar, an LB-30 and a B-17C. The B-17C came with a pilot, Captain Slingsby, and a crew chief, S/Sgt Frank Welchel. At one time the plane may have been named "Pamela", but Del believed Capt. Slingsby renamed it "Miss E.M.F." (Every Morning Fix'n"). This B-17 was later to tragically crash at Baker’s Creek near Mackay with the loss of 40 lives and one survivor on 14 June 1943.