Diary of S/Sgt Richard G. Curry, TG, Crew 19, 60th BS 39th BG (VH)

Crew 19 Main Page	Crew History	Missions	Bombardier's Bomb Pin Collection	Tail Gunner's Diary
Crew Photos	2	3	4	5

July 27, 1945

OMUTA – The plane along side of us was badly damaged. I saw the plane lose altitude quickly, but no one bailed out. I hope that they were able to make it to safety somewhere.

July 31, 1945

PAGAN ISLAND – After dropping our bombs on this island, our bomb bay doors failed to close. Since we could land with the bomb bay doors open all of the gunners were “volunteered” to get them closed. These doors are normally operated by hydraulic cylinders, while the emergency system used the “hand crank” method. The plane was taken down to within 100 feet of the ocean. I then proceeded to crawl into the open bomb bay to crank the doors closed. At one time I thought I would be blown out of the opening. I did not wear a parachute, as it would not have time to open. After a lot of effort and fright we were able to get the doors closed and made a safe landing.

August 1, 1945

MITO – Light flak and automatic weapons were seen on this mission. One of the planes ahead of us crashed into the ocean and just after he left the runway on take-off. There is a cliff several hundred feet high at the end of the runway. This was nice to have, as it would permit our planes to drop some and pick up air speed.

August 4, 1945

Awarded “OAK LEAF CLUSTER” to my “AIR MEDAL”.

August 5, 1945

KOBE – I counted 22 search lights directed at our plane. We had some phosphorus bombs dropped from above by enemy fighters again. We had rockets, flak and automatic weapons fired at us. We received no damage. After landing on Guam, I was in the process of clearing the chambers of my guns, a routine procedure, when I heard a loud shot from the airplane parked along side of us. This tail gunner was in the process of doing the same thing. He was on the top rungs of a 12 foot high step ladder and had his right leg over the end of the gun barrels. The gun that he had his leg over misfired. I rushed over to the plane and helped him get down from the ladder. We placed him in the back part of a Jeep and rushed him to the Dispensary. That was the last I saw of him, but I knew that they would not be able to save his leg.

August 6, 1945
HIROSHIMA – The crew from the “Enola Gay” dropped the first Atomic bomb known as “Little Boy”. Although this bomb caused enormous destruction and loss of lives, all of us in the war zone at this time thought it was the proper thing to do. The Japanese had committed atrocities against us and the Asian countries in the Pacific area. By bringing the end of war to a quick end, it would save many American lives. The American forces had a far superior advantage and we could see that we would have caused much more devastation and loss of Japanese life had we needed to invade Japan. I laud President Truman for being able to make this difficult decision.

August 9, 1945

NAGASAKI – The second Atomic bomb was dropped by the crew of a plane named “Bocks Car”. They named this bomb “Fat Man”.

August 12, 1945

TOKYO – This was a day raid that we flew over the target in Plane formation. The Japanese were responding to our dropping the A-Bombs. Flak was so thick that it seemed like you were able walk on it. We had P-51 airplane escorts to the mainland. With all the flak, we were lucky that none of it found us.

August 15, 1945

ISESAKI – This city is located 150 miles north-west of Tokyo. Several fires were burning at the target area. I believe that all of us felt that this would be our final mission. Our bombs were dropped and we headed home. We experienced severe thunder storms again. While on our final approach to the landing strip on Guam, the news that we waited for came over our radio compass.

“JAPAN ACCEPTS OUR TERMS OF UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER”

So ended the worst war in history. Let us pray that it will never happen again. I had mixed feelings that day. I was glad the war was over, but very sad tat David and many of my other friends were lost because of it.

August 30, 1945

SENDAI PRISONER OF WAR CAMP – After the fighting was over we were given the assignment of delivering supplies to this P.O.W. camp. We flew to Saipan to pick up the supplies and returned to Guam. Five hours later, at 2:30 A.M. we took off again to Japan. On the way a white painted C-54 airplane passed our tail position in the vicinity of Tokyo. We knew that it was the plane that General MacArthur was in. The Tokyo bay was filled with Allied war ships of all kinds. Hundreds of landing craft and Battle-ships were among them. I took a camera along with me and was able to get several good photos. Many photos were from the Tokyo and Yokohama areas. We flew at only a few hundred feet altitude and had out first view of the damage we caused. There was only one building standing every two or three blocks and when we took a closer look, we could see that only the shell of the building was left. Tokyo had been classed as the third largest city in the world before the war started, but I know that Butler, PA (my home town) was a larger city. From there we flew by means of “Pilotage”, using a railroad track as reference. An occasional cloud would have us concerned as to whether we were on the right “track” or not. As we flew over several cities, we could see the damage we caused to this section of Japan. One oil storage dump was completely leveled. It was the first time we were able see the Japanese people. One farmer was towing a load of hay or rice. The hills and valleys were beautiful and any place we saw a pool of water there seemed to be a diving board. The P.O.W. camp was found rather easily considering that we did not have to “back-track” any. On the ground at the camp were several P.W. markings and a “DROP HERE” sign with a target we were suppose to hit. On one side of the camp was a coal mine and the other side were factories and homes. It was the only place we seen that was dirty and filthy looking. It compared to some of the “slum” areas we have. The prisoners were free and looked like walking skeletons. We made two “dry runs” and then we dropped supplies. When we “buzzed” the camp and from the tail position, I flashed the (V for Victory) signal. We had to leave since our gas was low and we wanted to be able to get to Iwo Jima where we could refuel. I was asleep when we arrived and didn’t wake up until the engines were cut. It took an hour to refuel and then we headed back to Guam. This was the first mission that I thoroughly enjoyed since it was the first time we were not being shot at. This was the mission that had cleared with my Commanding Officer so that I could get permission to have my best friend, Norman Rettig, fly with us as a passenger. Norman got permission from the Commander of his Naval Base and it seemed like everything was in place for him to come along. At the last minute he decided not fly with us. Dutch (Norman) was always a person to enjoy new experiences and I was surprised when he decided not to go.

Continued
60th Squadron Crew Index