This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Eugene Claude Ipox, Jr., TM1
to remember
Childs, Frederick Herbert, Jr., TM1c.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Leicester, MA
Last Address Worcester, MA
Casualty Date Nov 07, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Court 5 (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
The USS Albacore (SS-218) began a patrol on October 24, 1944, and refueled at Midway Island on October 28th. There was no further contact with the boat after that date. Japanese records report a submarine exploding as the result of contact with a mine on November 7, 1944 and the Albacore was presumed lost on December 21st 1944. Torpedoman's Mate First Class was officially declared dead on December 13, 1945.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 6660485
Presidential Unit Citation
The President of the United States takes great pleasure in presenting the Presidential Unit Citation to the United States Ship Albacore (SS 218) for service as set forth in the following citation:
For extraordinary heroism in action against enemy Japanese shipping and combatant units during her Second War Patrol in the New Guinea Area from November 11 to December 30, 1942; her Third War Patrol in the Admiralty Islands from January 20 to March 11, 1943; her Eighth War Patrol north of the Bismark Archipelago from December 26,1943 to February 22,1944; her Ninth War Patrol west of the Marianas from May 29 to July 16, 1944. By aggressive and tenacious area coverage, the USS Albacore made contact on a speeding major enemy task force and, defying numerous destroyers and hostile aircraft which screened the valuable Fleet units on every quarter and the inevitable countermeasures, pressed home her attack. Brilliantly maneuvering between the menacing escorts to reach the center of the powerful enemy group, the Albacore, despite a last minute breakdown of vital fire control equipment, launched her torpedoes and demolished a 29,800 ton aircraft carrier. Skillfully evading severe counterattacks, this gallant fighting ship returned to inflict further crippling blows against the enemy by sinking seven ships, including a light cruiser and two destroyers, for a total of nearly 50,000 tons. The courage and steadfast devotion to duty of the Albacore's valiant officers and men reflected in this outstanding combat record and in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
For the President
James Forrestal
Secretary of the Navy
New Guinea Campaign (1943-44)/Battle of Arawe
From Month/Year
December / 1943
To Month/Year
January / 1944
Description The Battle of Arawe was fought between Allied and Japanese forces during the New Britain Campaign of World War II. The battle formed part of the Allied Operation Cartwheel, and had the objective of serving as a diversion before a larger landing at Cape Gloucester in late December 1943. The Japanese military was expecting an Allied offensive in western New Britain, and was reinforcing the region at the time of the Allied landing in the Arawe area on 15 December 1943. The Allies secured Arawe after about a month of intermittent fighting with the outnumbered Japanese force.
Initial Allied goals for the landing at Arawe included securing a base for American PT boats and diverting Japanese forces away from Cape Gloucester. The PT boat base was subsequently deemed unnecessary and was never built. Only a small Japanese force was stationed at Arawe at the time, although reinforcements were en route. The main Allied landing on 15 December was successful, despite a failed subsidiary landing and problems coordinating the landing craft. American forces quickly secured a beachhead and dug in. Japanese air units made large-scale raids against the Arawe area in the days after the landing, and in late December Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) troops unsuccessfully counterattacked the American force. In mid-January 1944 the American force, reinforced with additional infantry and tanks, launched a brief offensive that pushed the Japanese back. The Japanese units at Arawe withdrew from the area towards the end of February as part of a general retreat from western New Britain.
There is no consensus among historians on whether the Allied offensive at Arawe was necessary. While some have argued that the landing served as a useful diversion ahead of the Cape Gloucester operation, others believe that the entire campaign in western New Britain was unnecessary, and that the force employed at Arawe could have been better used elsewhere.