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Pamela LaVerne Jeans-Historian
to remember
Marine SSgt Willard S Lilly.
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Contact Info
Home Town Raleigh
Last Address Cool Ridge
MIA Date Sep 07, 1944
Cause MIA-Died in Captivity
Reason Unknown, Not Reported
Location Philippines
Location of Memorial Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
On September 7, the Shinyo Maru was sailing for Manila in convoy C-076 with seven other vessels, including two torpedo boats, two tankers, and four other medium and small cargo ships. They were sailing two to three miles off the Lanboyan Point of Zamboanga Peninsula on the island of Mindanao, when the USS Paddle found them. A few days previously, American intelligence had reported the Shinyo Maru to be carrying Japanese soldiers, so they assigned Paddle to search for it. The Paddle, under the command of Captain Byron Nowell, was 10 miles away when the Japanese were first spotted, so Nowell maneuvered forward to attack with torpedoes. A spread of four was then released in the direction of the Shinyo Maru, which was the leading ship in the convoy. Two of the torpedoes struck, both in the hold, and a few moments later the Paddle was lined up against one of the cargo ships. It, too, was struck by two torpedoes, so her commander grounded her on the nearby shore to prevent the ship from sinking. Just after the Shinyo Maru was hit, the guards opened fire on the prisoners with captured Thompson submachine guns, though several of the men fought their way out of the hold, with their fists and improvised weapons, and abandoned ship. Of 750 Allied prisoners of war, 668 were killed, all but five of whom were American servicemen. Eighty-three Americans made it to the shores of Sindangan Bay, and they received aid from friendly Filipino guerrillas under the command of Brigadier GeneralWendell Fertig, who radioed headquarters about the situation. One man died the following day on September 8, the remaining survivors were eventually rescued by the submarine USS Narwhal save First Sergeant Joseph P. Coe Jr who remained on Mindanao to continue fighting, for which he later received a Bronze Star. The crew of USS Paddle was not informed of the deaths of hundreds of Allied POWs until 1946.
