Some say there was only one survivor from the ill-fated Torpedo 8 Squadron at the Battle of Midway. For the 15 Devastator crews that launched from the carrier Hornet that is true. Torpedo 8 was in the process of getting re-equipped with the newer, better Grumman Avenger when the battle took place. Six crews got their Avengers too late to make the Hornet’s sailing. They flew from Hawaii to Midway to join the attack on the Japanese fleet. Five of these planes were lost, but one badly shot-up Avenger made it back to Midway. The pilot , Ensign Earnest, and Radioman, Harry Ferrier joined Ensign Gay as the only survivors of Torpedo 8.
Radioman Ferrier after crash landing at Midway.
The tarp covers the remains of the third crewman who did not survive.
Video of Harry Ferrier, one of three survivors of Torpedo Squadron 8 in the Battle of Midway
Harry Ferrier stayed in the Navy, eventually becoming an officer. Though I didn’t know it at the time our paths once crossed aboard the USS Princeton off Vietnam in the Mid-Sixties. Ferrier was the Aircraft Maintenance Officer on the ship while I was attached to the Marine Battalion Landing Team on board. He retired as a Commander in 1970 and died in 2016.
LDT June 11, ’23
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