Crew
19 was assigned their B-29 at Clovis, NM after completing
combat training there. They were sent to Kearny, Nebraska
where they were issue overseas equipment. From there "Old
Eighty One" headed for Sacramento, CA.
They
left the states 5 May 1945, flying over the Golden Gate
Bridge. Total flight time to their destination was 36
hours with stops at Hawaii and Kwajalein. Crew 19 arrived
at North Field Guam on 9 May 1945.
After
flying familiarization missions to Rota, a by-passed island
just north of Guam, they were ready for their first combat
mission on 24 May 1945 - a night raid on Tokyo. It was
always tough target - not particularly a good one for
a crew's "Baptism of Fire" mission. For some reason first
and second missions had seemed to claim a disproportioned
number of B-29s.
During
the bomb run on this mission, 12 searchlights were focused
on P-19. They were nearly as frightened as the extremely
heavy flak. After bombs away, Capt. Wren put the plane
into a diving turn left, with flak exploding behind them.
Fighter activity was light, though a couple of Jap aircraft
attempted to drop phosphorus bombs. They would explode
above the plane - the intent being to start fires from
the trailing white-hot streamers.
On
26 May 1945, tail gunner Dick Curry, learned that his
cousin David Curry, had been killed on the Tokyo mission.
Only one of the crew survived - Harry Slater, a gunner.
Slater was taken prisoner and confined to a POW camp in
Yokohama for the duration of the war. He told about the
rest of his crew not having much of a chance to bail out
after being struck by several bursts of flak. Everything
was burning and on fire himself, he bailed out the open
bomb bay. The Japanese picked him up three days later.
Imprisoned in 7x10 foot cell with 7 other Americans, his
daily rations consisted of a handful of rice, a few "
"greens" and a limited amount of water. In four months
he lost 50 pounds. A Japanese farmer discovered the rest
of the crew buried in common grave. The bodies were later
interred in the National Cemetery in St. Louis. This particular
crew seemed doomed from the start. Before sending a crew
into combat it was normal procedure to first send the
pilot and flight engineer on a mission with an experienced
crew. During this mission, the crew they went along with
had to ditch their aircraft in the ocean. The engineer
and pilot survived along with a 8 of other crewmen. 2
others perished.
During
periods of radio silence, crews looked to hearing "Tokyo
Rose" on radio Tokyo. Contrary to the intended purpose
of demoralizing American flyers, it had quite an opposite
effect. Rather than taking her seriously, the airmen looked
forward to the program as source of entertainment during
the usually boring trip back to home base.
On
29 May 1945, the 39th struck Yokohama on a daylight raid.
Flak was heavy and accurate - rocking P-19 with several
bursts. Fighter activity was light and those that were
in the area kept out of range. Few pressed attacks. After
leaving the target, P-19 experienced an engine fire resulting
in the feathering of that engine. The A/C radioed their
emergency situation and was informed that the airfield
at Okinawa had been secured and the troubled crew could
land there. Shortly after, a second engine started leaking
oil and also had to be feathered. Barely able to maintain
altitude, "Old Eighty One" hobbled in to Okinawa. After
taxiing to the end of the newly repaired runway, a third
engine started throwing oil with and it too was feathered!
To say that this crew was lucky would be a gross understatement.
Inspection showed that they had also received flak damage
to the wing and tail areas. One hole had been blasted
through the tail section about a foot over the gunner's
head. Dick wasn't too fond of wearing the cumbersome flak
suit and helmet, as was the case with most airmen, but
thereafter he found it much more tolerable.
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