The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Iliff Richardson. Richardson was commissioned in the Navy in 1940 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 as the executive officer of PT-34. After the loss of his boat in April 1942, he joined a band of Filipino guerrillas. Richardson tells of setting up radio transmitters and of the unusual features of the operations and equipment used. At the request of General Douglas MacArthur he plotted the Japanese mine fields in Leyte Gulf and he gives the details on how this was accomplished. Upon returning to the Philippines, General MacArthur met with Richardson on the USS Nashville (CL-43) and he describes the discussion. After returning to the United States, he had a seven hour meeting with Admiral Ernest J. King concerning pending court martial charges against him and tells of the outcome of the meeting. Richardson joined the Industrial Incentive Division of the Navy and he comments on his travels and speeches given to industry workers. [A copy of the manuscript written by Richardson during the war describing PT boat operations in the Philippines is in the archives of The National Museum of the Pacific War and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Iliff Richardson. Richardson was commissioned in the Navy in 1940 and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 as the executive officer of PT-34. After the loss of his boat in April 1942, he joined a band of Filipino guerrillas. Richardson tells of setting up radio transmitters and of the unusual features of the operations and equipment used. At the request of General Douglas MacArthur he plotted the Japanese mine fields in Leyte Gulf and he gives the details on how this was accomplished. Upon returning to the Philippines, General MacArthur met with Richardson on the USS Nashville (CL-43) and he describes the discussion. After returning to the United States, he had a seven hour meeting with Admiral Ernest J. King concerning pending court martial charges against him and tells of the outcome of the meeting. Richardson joined the Industrial Incentive Division of the Navy and he comments on his travels and speeches given to industry workers. [A copy of the manuscript written by Richardson during the war describing PT boat operations in the Philippines is in the archives of The National Museum of the Pacific War and …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Donley. Donley was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, 7 October 1923. After graduating from high school, he joined the Navy in 1942. He went to Fleet Torpedo School in San Diego following basic training. In September, he volunteered for PT boats and was sent to the Motor Torpedo Boat Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island. After training, he volunteered for assignment to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 15. He was assigned as a torpedoman to PT-202, which was loaded on a tanker and transported to Gibraltar. The boats were sent to Bone, Tunisia to augment the British Coastal Forces in North Africa. Their primary objective was to prevent movement of German forces by sea from North Africa to Sicily. Following the German surrender in North Africa, Donley’s squadron was engaged in screening Allied landing craft during the Sicily invasion. Later, while intercepting a convoy of eight German supply barges, Donley was wounded by shell fragments. He also describes the numerous shortcomings of the Mark VIII torpedo and his boat’s involvement in the invasion of Italy at Salerno. Donley also describes later operations out of Corsica, Elba and Naples …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Richard Donley. Donley was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, 7 October 1923. After graduating from high school, he joined the Navy in 1942. He went to Fleet Torpedo School in San Diego following basic training. In September, he volunteered for PT boats and was sent to the Motor Torpedo Boat Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island. After training, he volunteered for assignment to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 15. He was assigned as a torpedoman to PT-202, which was loaded on a tanker and transported to Gibraltar. The boats were sent to Bone, Tunisia to augment the British Coastal Forces in North Africa. Their primary objective was to prevent movement of German forces by sea from North Africa to Sicily. Following the German surrender in North Africa, Donley’s squadron was engaged in screening Allied landing craft during the Sicily invasion. Later, while intercepting a convoy of eight German supply barges, Donley was wounded by shell fragments. He also describes the numerous shortcomings of the Mark VIII torpedo and his boat’s involvement in the invasion of Italy at Salerno. Donley also describes later operations out of Corsica, Elba and Naples …