"Nihongun Rokakuki" #8 - Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger

These photographs of a Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger torpedo bomber appeared in the September 1944 issue of "Koku Asahi" magazine. Shot down during a raid on Surabaya in what was then the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), it has been placed on public display and, probably for the benefit of the camera, promptly surrounded by local residents.

Steve Alvin commented:

On May 17, 1944, aircraft from the Saratoga and Illustrious attacked the oil refineries at Surabaya as part of Operation Transom. During the attack, one TBM from Sara's VT-3 was lost. This is undoubtedly that plane.

Nippon Goh commented:

In Enemy Hands: a TBF Avenger captured by Japanese. I took this picture from a magazine in Indonesia.

Some said it was captured during Palembang Air raid however the markings might not seen like a British Avenger

(I think it's from a VT-12 Avenger Bomber that ditched near shore during the Surabaya raid, and the crew was seen jumping into a dinghy but was never seen again. I remember reading a book by a POW who said a group of "Palembang Raiders" aircrew was staying next to his cell in Changi Prison but was later executed. The marking is also similar to that of the VT-12 Avenger bombers.)

Najmi Faiz Rabbani sent over this scan, I suppose from a wartime Indonesian publication:

Scoobs added:

That's TBM-1C (BuNo 25429) of VT-12 was lost on 17 May 1944: crew was VT-12 CO LT William E. Rowbotham, AOC Duncan F. Hallock, and ARM1c James A. Holmes.

Also:

Of note, it is questionable if this crew were the "Palembang raiders" that met their fate at Changi - The Brewton Standard (AL) newspaper had an article in the 09 Jan 1947 edition entitled "Local Man Killed Trying to Seize Jap Aircraft: Navy Department Says Andrew Holmes Lost Life As Prisoner" that describes a remarkable incident in which Holmes and another flyer (presumably Hallock) attempted to hijack a transport flight from Java to Japan - the aircraft landed at Davao, Mindanao where the two wounded prisoners were taken to the hospital where they died several days later. The remains of both men were located by American forces after the war and both have known burial sites: Hallock at the ABMC Cemetery in Manila and Holmes in his hometown cemetery in Escambia County, Alabama. What happened to their pilot, LT William E. Rowbotham, is currently a mystery as he has no known resting place.