Billy Mayo Black
PFC Billy M. Black was a Marine aviator who flew with VMTB-143 during the Solomon Islands campaign.
His aircraft was shot down over Kahili airfield, Bougainville, on 4 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 468775
Current Status
Remains not recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
November 5, 1923
at Laura, OK
Parents
Frank Black
Lettie (Dill) Black
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
September 18, 1942
at Los Angeles, CA
Home Of Record
Tiger, AZ
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Lettie V. Black
Military Specialty
Aviator; turret gunner
Individual Decorations
Air Medal
Purple Heart
Loss And Burial
Personal History
Billy Black was born on 5 November 1923 and spent his infancy in Laura, Oklahoma. In the late 1920s, the Black family – parents Frank and Lettie, plus Billy’s older siblings John, Frank Junior, Orville, and Rosemary – relocated to Arizona. Frank Senior worked in the Gila County copper mines while the children went to school. In the late 1930s, Frank was promoted to shift boss in a lead mine, and the family relocated to Tiger, a remote mining community in Pinal County. Some of the boys followed their father into the business, and Billy may have ventured underground himself. In July 1942, when he registered for Selective Service, he was listed as “unemployed.”
While he registered for the draft in Tiger, Billy enlisted in the Marine Corps from Los Angeles on 18 September. He trained at MCRD San Diego and was selected for aviation duty upon completing boot camp. After a few weeks of duty with a service squadron in San Diego, Private Black was deployed overseas to the Solomon Islands. In the spring of 1943, he joined VMSB-143 as an ordnance man and supported strike missions flown from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.
As the year went on, Black expanded his skill set. He was placed on flight status, qualified as a radioman, and was promoted to Private First Class all while serving in the South Pacific. On 31 May 1943, the -143 was re-designated as a torpedo bomber outfit and received TBF Avenger planes. Being of slight stature, PFC Black was able to fit himself into the Avenger’s cramped gun turret, and this became his primary specialty.
In mid-October 1943, PFC Black joined the forward echelon of VMTB-143 at Munda Airfield. He was soon flying missions over the northern Solomon Islands. His TBF Avenger crew consisted of pilot 1Lt. John W. Tunnell and Sgt. Felix Gabaccia on the radio.
Circumstances Of Loss
On 4 November 1943, VMTB-143 participated in a strike against Kahili airfield on the island of Bougainville. Tunnell, Gabaccia, and Black were aboard TBF-1 #24195, which bore squadron number 15.
Over the target, #15 was seen to smoke and catch fire. Other aviators watched as Tunnell yanked the big plane out of its dive, straining to gain a few thousand feet of altitude. Three small figures jumped from the Avenger, and three parachutes were seen to open before the plane slammed into the water and disappeared.
Tunnell, Gabaccia, and Black were reported as missing in action and carried as such until the war ended. Repeated searches failed to uncover any clues as to their ultimate fates, and they were declared dead on 11 January 1946.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, Frank & Lettie Black.
After Billy enlisted, his family moved to 301 Blake Street, Globe, AZ.
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the old Kahili airfield, Bougainville.
Billy Mayo Black is my great-uncle. Though he perished before my father was born, we have always known him and missed him. We still hold onto hope that his remains will be returned to us.
I was blessed to inherit the correspondences from him (V-mail!) as well as communications from Felix Gabbaccia’s father. (He and my family shared information with each other about what they had heard or been told).
If you would like to see copies of any of these, please feel free to email me or call/text me. 501-276-6408.
Thank you for keeping this website- this proverbial candle- lit for my uncle and for all of the men and women who selflessly sacrificed their lives so that you and I may enjoy the life we have now. Their sacrifices afford us to dwell in this land and (to borrow a quote from George Washington) “continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants where every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid”.
Again, my sincerest gratitude.
Respectfully, Jill Jones Kinoshita