On July 5, 1945, we flew on our first regular mission bombing a target. The target was not bombed by the planes being in a formation. Each plane flew in individually. Bombs were dropped and the plane returned to base. Almost all the missions to come were flown individually.
Each crew was up close to 24 hours on a day mission was to be flown. A pre-¬mission briefing, pre-flight inspection of the aircraft, a 14 or more-hour flight to the target and back and then interrogation of the flight results accounted for the long day. One of the main items the entire crew did before getting aboard the plane was to turn the props on each engine of the plane around four times to make sure they were free to start smoothly. Each of us checked our individual equipment.
We had a day of rest after flying each mission. This gave each one a chance to go hiking, swimming, play softball, or do many other things on the island.
The second mission we were to fly on was considered to be a night mission. The target was a military one at the city of Kofu. This city was about 75 miles West of Tokyo. They are both on the island of Honshu. A mission is to be considered a night mission due to the aircraft being scheduled to reach the target area after dark to drop its bombs. On a night mission fire causing bombs were usually dropped. We could really see the damage this type of bomb did. Sometimes we carried other types of bombs along with the fire bombs. They would all be released on the same target. Night missions were not flown in formations; but individually due to visual difficulties of flying fairly close in formations at night. We flew on a few other missions before we had one that was considered exceptional. Some of these missions were also near Tokyo.
Northfield Airfield had a very good feature at the end of its 8000-foot runway that helped our heavy bombers take off. The runway ended at the edge of a cliff that fell about 500 feet to the ocean. As our planes left the runway they acted as though they were going off an naval aircraft carrier. We sank down and then arose like the planes do when taking off from a carrier. This conserved a little fuel as the engines did not need to be revved up so high for takeoff.
Each aircraft are heavily loaded with bombs for a mission. The planes wait in line for their turn to get on the airstrip for takeoff. Each plane would move forward as a plane as a plane would move down the runway for takeoff It was quite a sight to wait your turn in line and watch the bombers ahead takeoff. Planes were to take off a minute apart.
On one mission we moved normally down the runway for take off.
Upon takeoff the number three engines prop feathered. This causes an engine to lose its thrust power. The plane immediately nosed downward toward the water. It was fortunate that the bombardier was in his seat and was able to pull the lever that released the bombs. The releasing of this weight gave the pilot the ability to pull the plane out of the dive soon enough that luck seemed to be with us. The pilot’s ability kept the plane and crew from a bad crash on the rocks and water at the foot of the cliff. The plane pulled out so low that I was able to see the ocean waves splashing on the bomb bay doors. We were also lucky that the safety locks were still on the bombs and they did not explode. It was necessary to fly the plane for four hours to reduce the weight of the amount of fuel load. The aircraft could not be landed with such a large fuel load. I do not remember ever being told why the engine prop feathered. Maybe it was never found out why?
Waiting in for takeoff was sometimes not so good. It did not happen often; but we were able to see black smoke rising from the end of the runway a couple times. It was evident a plane and crew were not as fortunate as we were. This meant that a plane loaded with bombs for a mission was not successful on takeoff. This does not cause any delays in further take offs.
Two other night missions were to the cities of Gifu and Ogaki. The cities were a few miles apart about 25 miles Northwest of the port city of Nagoya. There were radar attachments on some of the antiaircraft guns. It was common for the guns to have power search lights attached to help locate the bombers overhead. The lights on the guns with radar were blue. I remember a radar light catching us directly in the bomb bays when the doors were opened to release the bombs on target. The light from it came in through the window of the crew’s door leading into the bomb bay was bright enough to read a newspaper by. We were fortunate that our pilot made evasive actions that caused the shells fired at us to miss.
On another night mission we had a fortunate happening. On all missions as we reached land, I was instructed to close down the radio while over the Japanese land area. This was to prevent any radio signal from pinpointing a plane’s location. After closing the radio down, I would in the planes tunnel over the bomb bays so that I might look out the Navigators astral dome. It was from this point that I took most of my mission photos with the little Brownie 620 camera. The noted happening took place as we flew towards our target. Our plane was one of the later ones scheduled to reach the target. As fires from earlier bombs were well started on the ground causing a Thermal uprising of smoke and air. This causes the smoke and air to come swiftly and powerful in some places. As I was sitting looking out the astral dome, I saw a large Thermal directly in front of us. As I noticed this, I also saw a B-29 coming towards us on about the same level at a right angle. It seemed that we would crash together. I notified the pilot via intercom, but it was too late to do anything. As our aircraft enter the thermal it was swept up about 1,000 feet almost immediately. This caused the two planes to miss each other. It was an experience to feel the force of the Thermal lift us. It no doubt saved our crew from being a loss. We went on to the target and dropped our load of bombs.
While flying at these low levels we could see the people in the fire light leaving their cities by foot and various vehicles.
Once while on one of our night missions over Honshu I saw a large ball of fire on our level. It was on our right some distance away. It seemed to pace us for a short time. It was not possible to determine what it was. I have thought of this happening several times during the past many years. It is still unexplained. Maybe it was a UFO???
One of the jobs the Bombardier and I were given to do on each bombing mission was to take the safety pins out of the bombs noses so that they would be ready to release on target. This was done after we had at least an hour’s flying time towards our target. We went into each bomb bay and removed each bombs safety pin one at a time.
On August 10, 1945 our crew flew as part of a large mission in Tokyo. As we were to arrive at the target during the daylight hours, the planes were to be in formation at an altitude of 20,000 feet. During pre-flight briefing we were given the target and told it was protected by an estimated 500 guns. When we arrived there seemed to be many more guns in the area. Prior to getting into formation each plane flew by itself to a volcanic island that was located about 100 miles off the coast of Honshu. There was a group of five plane in each group’s formation. The groups then flew of together in a large formation for Tokyo escorted by the P - 51 fighter planes. The fighter planes turned back when the flack area was reached. I was able to get some good photos of the P-51s close up escorting our plane.
Upon reaching the main Japanese Island I as usual shut down the radio set, I operated and assumed my seat in the astral dome. When I sat there instead of wearing the flak suit in the normal manner, I sat on it. Shells from the ground were soon bursting and causing a large number of flak particles to hit the planes. Just after I took a picture of planes in the group formation ahead of ours the lead plane took a direct hit, exploded and went down. The plane that I was in on the target run took several fragment hits that put as many as ten holes in various places. The crew and plane was able to go on in and drop the 500 pound bombs it carried on the target or in the target area. I took several photos during the run.
Upon completion of the bombing run the pilot made a 180 degree turn to head back to our base on Guam. Due to the holes in our aircraft due to the flak Capt. Rainwater, our pilot, had to run the engines at almost full RPM on the return trip to keep the plane in the air. The high RPM of the four engines would use the fuel much faster and possibly run out before home base was reached. This became a real fact!! The crew was notified that a ditching in the ocean was a possibility so be prepared. Schooling had been given in case such an event occurred. It was a normal thing for a radio message to be sent to home base of this possibility. This I did!! As Iwo Jima was much closer, Capt. Rainwater decided to set a course for that island.
Our crew was lucky!!! Our navigator plotted a direct route to the island of Iwo Jima
The fuel held out until we reached this island. It ran out as the plane landed. This was our second emergency landing upon Iwo Jima upon returning from a mission. It was sure good to have this island in USA hands and prepared for the landing of the B-29. The engines of our plane were pretty well burnt our due to the high RPM rate. The damage done by the flak was also detrimental. Taking all into consideration the men in charge decided to pull the plane to the salvage yard. It never flew again. We were not scheduled to leave Iwo Jima until the next day as hitch hikers to Guam. Even though the plane was well damaged on the mission not a crew member had the least damage done.
While on Iwo Jima this time the crew had the opportunity to travel around the island and see the results of the US invasion. I took several photos of many interesting items on the island. We were able to go to the top of Mt. Surabachi and look down its sides and into the crater. The pictures that I was able to take gives an idea of some of the things that took place during the invasion.
The bombing mission to the target in Tokyo was Our last bombing mission. More had been scheduled but due the special missions with a special bomb the runs ended.
On September 02, 1945 a peace treaty was to be signed aboard the naval battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Our squadron (the 62nd) was to fly a show of force flight over the Tokyo Bay and the USS Missouri as the peace treaty was being signed. We circled the operation several times. I took a few pictures above the Missouri as the affair was going on.
After quite a time flying this circular pattern we were instructed to fly over Tokyo and the on to Hiroshima. I took a few pictures as we flew over Tokyo and wanted to do the same over Hiroshima but the clouds were too heavy for this occur. We could not see the Atom Bomb damaged city. From the island of Honshu we were to fly on to Korea to once again make a show of force flight. We flew almost the entire length of the peninsula. As we flew over the mountains and valleys of Korea I was able to take few dim high altitude photos with my little camera. We then headed back to our base on Guam. Our total time in the air was over 18 hours. We were able to stay in the air due to the four extra fuel tanks placed in the bomb bays. This sure made our total time including pre-flight briefing, flying time and debriefing a long day. This flight was not made in a formation but individually.
|
