On June 6, 1944, Lieutenant Junior Grade John Golden took off from Camp Kearney, California in the PB4Y-1 Liberator named Pistol Packin’ Mama.  Pistol Packin’ Mama was a former Army Air Forces B-24D Liberator with the tail number 42-40711 assigned to VB-117.  Weather was overcast, with flights restricted to Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) only.  LT Golden did not carry out special IFR procedures.  It is precisely uncertain how the pilot maneuvered in the moments following, although the Liberator broke through the cloud cover between Camp Miramar and Camp Kearney.  He reentered the overcast and came out of the cloud cover again in a steep dive at 100 feet above ground level over Camp Linda Vista.  Attempting to recover from this dive, the pilot reentered the overcast in a climb on a northwesterly heading.  Reappearing below the cloud cover, the plane was rocking from side to side in a power stall.  The left wing hit the ground, with the plane bounding through trees and buildings.  Coming to a final rest, a fuel explosion occurred, launching the tail section over the remainder of the fuselage.  The only three survivors in the crew of 12 were in the tail section and suffered severe injuries.  Along the path of destruction was the supply hut of VB-102.  Nine members of VB-102 were killed with eleven more seriously injured. [1] Among those killed in VB-102’s supply hut was Aviation Chief Ordnanceman Edward Ralph Lamberton.

US Navy Ordnancemen have been a rate since 1926, specializing in the maintenance, storage and handling of weapons and ammunition carried on naval aircraft.  Chief Lamberton started his career in the early days of the rating, enlisting in the Navy on March 10, 1934. [2]  He was awarded the Navy Good Conduct Medal in 1938 at the end of his first enlistment.  Chief Lamberton was married Ms. Irene Holz of Iowa and records state he reenlisted on May 22, 1940. [3]

Chief Lamberton joined VB-102 on 24 February 1944 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii according to the unit rosters from that era. [4] VB-102 had just completed its first combat deployment from Guadalcanal.  The aircraft had returned to Naval Air Station Kaneohe for refit and reassignment.  Chief Lamberton joined the squadron at NAS Kaneohe as the Supply Chief.  VB-102 was reforming at Kearney Field, California from a cadre of the combat veterans from Guadalcanal when the crash of the VB-117 PB4Y-1 Liberator occurred on June 6.  The death of Chief Lamberton and the other sailors combined with the destruction of supplies intended to support the second combat deployment of VB-102 delayed the squadron’s deployment by over a month. [5]

(Photo Courtesy of https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6308786/edward-ralph-lamberton)

Sources:

1. Campbell, Douglas E. VPNavy!  USN, USMC, USCG and NATS Patrol Aircraft Lost or Damaged During World War II.  Syneca Research Group, Inc.  25 Feb 2018.  Pp. 39 – 40.
2. Ancestry.com. Iowa, World War II Bonus Case Files for Beneficiaries, 1947-1959 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: WWII Bonus Case Files. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.

3. Ibid.
4. Fold3.com. Muster rolls of ships based at Pearl Harbor, 1939-47.  Published on Fold3:  February 28, 2008.

Original Data:  Pearl Harbor Muster Rolls.  The National Archives.

5.  Roberts, Michael D.  Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons.  Volume 2:  The History of VP, VPB, VP(HL) and VP(AM) Squadrons.  Naval Historical Center.  Department of the Navy.  Washington, DC.  2000.  Pg. 135