It's rare, but about once a year in my email I see something thrilling, and similar to this "subject line" that I just had today: "My Great Uncle was the Top Turret Gunner on the B-25 Tondelayo"

 Michael wrote in the email:
     in reference to the B-25 Tondelayo post https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2023/07/whoa-i-just-learned-today-that-mikes.html my great uncle was Staff Sergeant John (Jack) Murphy, who was the top turret gunner on the Tondelayo. He had some hair raising stories about his time serving in the South Pacific.

"One engine on the Tondelayo had been shot out by anti-aircraft fire. Jack Murphy said he could see the piston going back and forth with no cylinder around it. So he radioed the pilot to shut it down and feather the prop. Flying on one engine made the Tondelayo slower than the other escaping B-25s, so the Japanese caught up with her. Two other B-25s saw this and throttled back until they were in the fight to help the Tondelayo. Unfortunately, these planes were shot down. One crashed with no survivors and the other crew was strafed in the water with only two surviving. Those two got separated and only one survived to be rescued by Coastwatchers. The other was never seen again.

The co-pilot was shooting out his window with a .45 pistol since he had nothing else to do. He was hit in the stomach. Fortunately, the Tondelayo made it to a small fighter strip on Kiriwina Island that was too small for bombers or transport aircraft except in an emergency. Even more fortunate for the co-pilot was a C-47 transport aircraft full of doctors and medical staff had made an emergency landing there earlier, which probably saved his life since they were able to operate immediately."

In that post last year I wrote these two paragraphs:

     Returning from the mission over Rabaul Papua New Guinea, roughly fifty Japanese fighters intercepted the B-25s of the 500th BS in a running air battle that lasted seventy-five minutes and resulted in the loss of two B 25s

     During the escape, turret gunner Murphy was credited with five victories, plus four others credited that crashed into the sea, attempting to attack the bomber skimming the surface of the ocean, and misjudging their attacks. It successfully returned to base with heavy damage.

painted by Jack Fellows

The crew of the Tondelayo fight for their lives near Papua New Guinea, on October 18, 1943 while under a determined attack by Japanese fighters. 

The pilot, 1/Lt. Ralph G. Wallace would emerge victorious from an epic struggle to fend off Japanese Zeroes while keeping his aircraft aloft with only one working engine.  https://irandpcorp.com/products/ordeal-of-tondelayo/