Clarence Brown Latham

Chief Pharmacist’s Mate Clarence Latham was a medical corpsman attached to Marine aviation units. He served with VMJ-253 in the continental United States, and joined Headquarters Squadron, Marine Air Group 25 in May of 1943. Chief Latham was in charge of the group dispensary at Tontouta, New Caledonia, and was also cleared for duty on medical evacuation and transport flights. He occasionally flew with aircraft assigned to South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command (SCAT) on inter-island hops.

On 23 November 1943, Latham boarded a SCAT flight – Douglas C-47 Skytrain 41-18675, call-sign “675-Baker-253” – bound from Tontuota to Espiritu Santo. There were a total of 25 men aboard: five crew from the 604th Troop Carrier Squadron, a trio of RNZAF airmen, and sixteen Marine fliers from VMTB-232 on their way back from several days of liberty in Australia.

The Skytrain departed without incident at 0744, but failed to respond to a scheduled call at 0910, When it did not arrive at its destination a massive search was launched. Two days later, wreckage and some personal effects were found floating in Nakety Bay off the coast of New Caledonia. The pieces were identified as belonging to the Skytrain, but none of the bodies were ever recovered. All on board were reported as “died, non-combat.”

The exact cause of the crash is not known for certain, but Aviation Safety Network notes that heavy cloud cover and rain blanketed New Caledonia that morning. Although several other aircraft flew through on instruments, it is likely that “675-Baker-253” was lost due to weather conditions.