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Casualty Info
Home Town Mocton, Canada
Last Address 301 11th St SE Washington, DC
Casualty Date Jul 30, 1945
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location China
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery and Memorial - Manila, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
AMM2 Babineau was assigned to Crew number 7 of Patrol Bombing Squadron 106 (VPB 106) flying in a Consolidated PB4Y-2 piloted by Lt. Joseph William Swiencicki tempraily based in Mindoro. On July 30, 1945, they were flying a mission over French Indochina. The plane never returned to base. The crew was listed as missing in action and later declared dead.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 6038286
Distinguished Flying Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
Rank: Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class Leo J. E. Babineau (NSN: 6038286), United States Navy, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight over China during the period 18 February 1945 to 24 May 1945. Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class Babineau completed twenty flights in a combat area where enemy anti-aircraft fire was expected to be effective or where enemy aircraft patrols usually occurred. His conduct throughout has distinguished him among those performing duties of the same character.
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-43)
From Month/Year
August / 1942
To Month/Year
February / 1943
Description The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
On 7 August 1942, Allied forces, predominantly American, landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands with the objective of denying their use by the Japanese to threaten the supply and communication routes between the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The Allies also intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases to support a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. The Allies overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese defenders, who had occupied the islands since May 1942, and captured Tulagi and Florida, as well as an airfield (later named Henderson Field) that was under construction on Guadalcanal. Powerful US naval forces supported the landings.
Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November 1942 to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, seven large naval battles (five nighttime surface actions and two carrier battles), and continual, almost daily aerial battles culminated in the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942, in which the last Japanese attempt to bombard Henderson Field from the sea and land with enough troops to retake it was defeated. In December 1942, the Japanese abandoned further efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated their remaining forces by 7 February 1943 in the face of an offensive by the US Army's XIV Corps, conceding the island to the Allies.
The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms victory by Allied forces over the Japanese in the Pacific theatre. The Japanese had reached the high-water mark of their conquests in the Pacific, and Guadalcanal marked the transition by the Allies from defensive operations to the strategic offensive in that theatre and the beginning of offensive operations, including the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that resulted in Japan's eventual surrender and the end of World War II.
