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| USAAF 5th AF 475th FG 432nd FS  USAAF 1942 |
Pilots 1st Lt. Leo M. Mayo, O-789020 (MIA / KIA) LA MIA November 2, 1943 at 1:50pm MACR 1263 Aircraft History Built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (LAC) in Burbank. Constructors Number 1258. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as P-38H-5-LO Lightning serial number 42-66747. Disassembled and shipped overseas and reassembled. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 475th Fighter Group (475th FG) "Satan's Angles", 432nd Fighter Squadron (432nd FS) "Clover". No known nickname or nose art. When lost, engine V-1710-89 serial numbers 42-93926 and V-1710-91 serial number 42-29995. The 20mm cannon was manufactured by Hispano serial number 58492. The .50 caliber machine gun serial numbers 222762, 222816, 113596, 223045. Wartime History On November 2, 1943 took off from North Borio Airfield (Dobodura No. 15) piloted by 1st Lt. Leo M. Mayo on a mission to escort B-25 Mitchells over Rabaul. Weather was 6/10 scattered cumulus clouds from 10,000 to 18,000'. Over the target, fifty to sixty Japanese fighters intercepted and were engaged by the escorting fighters. While departing for Kiriwina Airfield, Lt. Mayo attacked a Japanese fighter from the rear opening fire and causing it to explode. A piece of wreckage from the exploded fighter impacted the right wing of this P-38. Mayo was observed to bail out and landed in the sea roughly 50' off Cape Mope on New Britain. When this fighter failed to return, it was officially listed as Missing in Action (MIA). This P-38 was seen to crash by 1st Lt. Howard A. Hedrick who reported in MACR 1263, page 4: "I was flying no. 4 in Lieut. Mayo's flight when the accident occurred. We had started for Kiriwina when Lieut. May saw a Tony and attacked it. He came up behind the Tony very fast and started firing from about two hundred (200) yards. The Tony started burning immediately but Lieut. Mayo kept closing. It exploded with Lieut. Mayo was very close and a large piece shaved his right wing off. He bailed out and landed in the water about fifty (50) feet off shore near Cape Mope, New Britain." Memorials Mayo was officially declared dead on December 15, 1945. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Clusters, posthumously. Mayo is memorialized on the tablets of missing at Manila America Cemetery. He also has a memorial marker at Hasley Cemetery in West Monroe, LA. References NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - Leo M. Mayo USAF Serial Number Search Results - P-38H-5-LO Lightning 42-66747 Missing Air Crew Report 1263 (MACR 1263) created November 5, 1943 Monroe Morning World "Given Wings - Second Lieutenant Leo M. Mayo" May 24, 1942 page 10 (photo) Monroe Morning World "Lt. Leo M. Mayo" February 6, 1944 page 77 (photo) American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) - Leo M. Mayo FindAGrave - 1Lt Leo M Mayo (photos, tablets of the missing photo) FindAGrave - Leo Mark Mayo (photos, memorial marker photo) Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated April 24, 2026 |
 P-38  MIA 1 Missing |
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