Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-17-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–10 Aviation Safety Network. USN PBY-5A Catalina crash 65 KM W off Natal, Brazil, 5-10-1944.

–10 VP-45/VP-205/VP-MS-5 Association Newsletter, September Issue [18Sep2001].

–10 VPNavy.org. U.S. Navy Patrol Squadrons. “VP-45 Mishap.”

Narrative information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944: [No sources cited.]

“Date: Wednesday 10 May 1944

“Type: Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina

“Owner/operator: United States Navy

“Registration: 46520

…

“Fatalities: 10

….

“Location: 65 km W off Natal, Brazil – Atlantic Ocean [This is incorrect.]

“Phase: En route

“Nature: Military

….

“Narrative: Crashed.”

VP-45/VP-205/VP-MS-5 Association Newsletter, September Issue [18Sep2001]:

“Only two weeks after arriving for duty at Belem, Brazil in 1944, VP-45 lost its Commanding Officer and his entire crew plus two Navy Supply Corps officers on an administrative flight from Val de Cais Field to Recife, Brazil. The purpose of the flight was for LCDR Calder Atkinson to personally report to Commander Fleet Air Wing Sixteen, and to obtain needed material for the squadron.

“The flight took off at 0710P (local time) on 10 May 1944 and was last heard from at 1252P, about ten miles west of Fortaleza. The crash site was located about forty miles west of Natal, Brazil; the plane was demolished and all aboard perished at the site. Weather conditions were reported to be: Showers; lower clouds 6/10ths cumulus tops to 9,000; top clouds 6/10ths stratus tops to 10,000; wind from 150,10 knots.

“Fast Forward almost 56 years … On 28 February 2000, Romulo Piexoto Figueiredo, a Brazilian Air Force officer and researcher on WWII in Brazil, sent an e-mail message to our Association Secretary/Newsletter Editor explaining his function and position, and saying he had a copy of a letter from the U .S. Pamamirim Field Commander at Natal, dated 8 June 1944, thanking the people helping at the accident. He wanted to know if we could supply more details. It seems the letter was sent to, or retained by, his wife’s great-grandfather and grand uncle who had traveled all night to reach the crash, searched for survivors, and helped bury the crew at a nearby cemetery. The grand uncle was still alive and had in his possession one of LCDR Atkinson ‘s ID tags.

“….Romulo also sent word that all U.S. servicemen who were buried in Brazil during the war were re-interred at one location in Natal. AU.S. Army ship (Operation Glory) then brought all bodies requested by families back to the United States in April 1947 for burial at a site chosen by relatives. Some, like the ones from the VP-45 crash, were buried at a National Cemetery in a common grave….”

VPNavy.org. U.S. Navy Patrol Squadrons: “ ‘…I’m the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Recife, Brazil. I’m writing to provide a partial update to the story of the May 10, 1944 crash of a VP-45 U.S. Navy Patrol aircraft, which resulted in the death of 10 Navy servicemen…” Contributed by Daniel Stewart… 04May2019

“On May 10, 2019, the town of Riacheulo will hold a ceremony and unveil a plaque commemorating the 75th anniversary of it’s role in this piece of shared U.S./Brazil WWII history. This effort is the result of a local historian, Rostand Madeiros, who wrote a book titled “Overflight: Episodes from WWII in Rio Grande do Norte”. In the chapter “The War Comes to the Interior – The Crash of a Catalina in Riachelo”, Maderios recounts the history and role of VP-45, its coming to Brazil, the unfortunate events of the crash, and the continuation of the story with the return of the servicemen’s remains to the U.S. and LCDR Atkinson’s dogtags to his family, recounted in your post. He also interviews members of the Riacheulo community who first hand, or through conversations with older family members, remember the incident and how members of the community responded at the time, recovering wreckage, accounting for the remains, and burying the fallen in their local cemetery. One such person is a Mr. Jose Lourenço Filho, who at 90 years old, was a 15 year old boy at the time of the crash. On a recent visit to Rio Grande do Norte I was able to meet Mr. Filho, who recounted his memory of the crash, how his father forbid him from going to the crash site, and how others returned to the village with the remains and wreckage. I met other members of the community who still retain items from the crash, which in a poor rural town in 1944 would have been worth a great deal. And I spoke to others who speak of how their parents told them of the crash when they were children. Mr. Maderio’s efforts to capture this history inspired the mayor of Riacheulo and other local actors to preserve this history and their small town’s connection to it….”

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. USN PBY-5A Catalina crash 65 KM W off Natal, Brazil, 5-10-1944. Accessed 4-17-2024 at:

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/340049

VP-45/VP-205/VP-MS-5 Association Newsletter, September Issue [18Sep2001]. Accessed 4-17-2024 at: https://www.vpnavy.com/vp45_mishap.html

VPNavy.org. U.S. Navy Patrol Squadrons. “VP-45 Mishap.” Accessed 4-17-2024 at: https://www.vpnavy.com/vp45_mishap.html

1944 — May 10, USN PBY-5A Catalina crash, Riachuelo, Brazil, 40M W Natal, BR–all 10