Combat
Crews |
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On
November 28, 1944, this crew became the 60th Squadron's first
accident. |
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Things
went fairly normal until their 6th mission - Yokohama. Flak
was intense and it was then that this crew's problems began
to happen. A large hole was blown open just ahead of the
tail position causing them to lose control and fall out
of their formation. |
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This
crew flew approximately 8 missions as "Crew 1" ...
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B-29
# 42-65367 "City of Miami" "Battlin Bitch II" -
With two motors gone, too damaged to reach base, we headed
for Iwo Jima. DFC Order added |
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B-29
# 44-69799 "Wedding Belle" Gifu Mission - Just before we reached
the IP that blue light made two passes at us and on the third
pass he found us. He locked in on us and the others did the
same. This really got our attention and was scary. You could
not see a thing if you looked out of the window. It was like
someone was standing right in front of you shining a flashlight
in your eyes. The gunners could not see a thing. |
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B-29
# 42-65368; On
10 April, the 60th Squadron had its first serious overseas
accident; they went on to at least 12 missions and was stateside
at Lead Crew School at the end of the war. |
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B-29
# 44-69914 "City of Eagle Rock" " Lord's Prayer";
The Tokyo mission on 25 May, our fifth, was one of the Crew
5's toughest missions. Added to the peril of heavy flak and
the profusion of enemy fighters, we were beset with malfunctioning
engine and bomb bay doors that wouldn't close. In addition,
the thermal currents from the fiery holocaust tossed us around
violently. |
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The
original Crew 6 was ready 19 May 1945 to make a daylight formation
attack on Tachikawa. The 39th Group was alerted but it was
an unfortunate one for this crew. Updated:
Added Accident
Report file to Crash Landing Page |
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The
1st Replacement Crew 6 (Brinck Crew) flew 3 missions. Updated |
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The
2nd Replacement Crew (Tapp Crew)
is listed on SO-136 dated 1 July 1945 as being assigned to
the 60th Sqd. There crew's names also appear on GO-25 Battle
Participation Award 16 August 1945.; Includes crew history
and a synopsis of their missions. |
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Members
were assigned to the crew in mid 1944 while at Smoky Hill
Army Air Field in Salina, Kansas. They trained there and at
Batista Field in Havana, Cuba until March of 1945. |
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For
the Otake mission, 10 May 1945, the 39th Bomb Group was chosen
to lead the entire 314th Bomb Wing with P-8 acting as lead
aircraft. Bombing results were spectacular. |
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Original
crew 9: B-29 # 44-69907 was lost on
their 2nd mission; photos of some of the crew. |
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Replacement
crew 9: B-29 # 44-61524 "City Of Youngstown" aka "The Confederate
Soldier" flew 22 missions. |
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On
26 June, Crew 10 of the 60th Squadron established a record
for the longest combat mission flown. Commanded by Lt Thomas
A. Bell, the reconnaissance flight had taken them to the northernmost
Japanese Island of Hokkaido. |
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The
Original Crew 11 went down reportedly off the coast of Guam
during their initial arrival to the island. |
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Replacement
Crew 11: flew 27 combat missions and 3 POW Supply Missions. |
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"
The Bald Eagle"; Flew 20 missions 17 combat and 3 search missions. |
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Original
Crew: "City Of Galveston" B-29 # 44-69785; On 26 June 1945,
Miranda was leading his element on a daylight strategic attack
on an arsenal complex at Nagoya. This was the Group's 32nd
mission. Accompanying Capt. Miranda that day as Colonel George
W. Mundy, 39th Bomb Group CO, flying as command pilot. Formation
was made at the assembly point just off the coast of Japan.
P-13 fired the signal flare and Miranda turned the "City of
Galveston" into Nagoya Bay toward the I.P. A group of five
enemy "Tonys" suddenly appeared and with guns blazing attacked
our element. |
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Replacement Crew 13: "USS Pintado" |
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B-29
# 44-69769 "City of Scotland Neck" aka "Southern
Drawl" - Ours was lead plane in the group and we assembled
our squadron at 17,500 feet. From there our group flew to
the target, the Oita Naval Air Base on the northeastern coast
of the island of Kyushu. The bombing run was made at 17,000
feet. The bomb load was twenty general-purpose bombs. Time
of "bombs away" was 1006 Friday morning Guam time. WE MADE
A GOOD HIT ON TARGET. |
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B-29
# 44-69763; It took a crew of eleven men to man the B-29,
the plane built especially to fly the long bombing missions
from Guam to the Japanese targets some 1500 miles away then
back to Guam. |
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Original
Crew 16: "City Of Cooperstown" - "On May 4 over Oita, we had
some damage to the right wing, close to the fuselage; it was
probably from a phosphorous shell. Fire started coming through
the radio operator's compartment; MACR 14367 added |
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Replacement Crew 16 crew photo and roster; Crew Honor Roll
- not other information available. Are
you able to help? |
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B-29
#44-69910 "City
Of Spokane" "Betty Marian "; Kushira mission on 27 April added
more spice to their lives. Flak was meager but they were met
with 25 fighter planes that use every possible method to knock
them down. They were met with air-to-air phosphorous bombs
as well as cannon and guns. Another engine lost from a 20
mm shell hitting the wing flap of Number 4. They four confirmed
kills and several damaged on this one. Updated: Added DFC order; Mission Diary |
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B-29
# 44-69986 "Many Happy Returns"; Crew 18 was formed and trained
at the Rattlesnake Bomber Base in beautiful Pyote, Texas.
We were with the 6th Bomb Group (VH) out of Grand Island,
Nebraska and were scheduled for Tinian Island. We were reassigned
to the 39th Bomb Group (VH) as a replacement crew |
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"Old
Eighty One"; 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 |
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We
entered a column of intense heat and smoke. We shot upward
from 18,000 feet to 21,000 feet in a seemingly split second.
The momentum picked Rio up and threw him to the floor, knocking
him unconscious! |
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The
men of this crew were part of the 8th Air Force attached to
the 39th BG as a replacement crew in order to absorb experience
which they could later pass on to their fellow crews. Updated: Added Crew IDed |
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