16 - 28 FEB 1945
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1945 1st ˝:
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1945 2nd ˝:
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The basic chronology and general information on these pages is a composite of entries excerpted from “Air War Pacific Chronology: America’s Air War Against Japan in East Asia and the Pacific 1941-1945” by Eric Hammel (Pacifica, CA: Pacifica Press, 1988 ISBN 0-933353-26-6)
and, “USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces” by Jack McKillop (Piscataway, NJ).
Also on line at Rutgers University.
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Note:
Shaded boxes show updates and comments from members of our B-29 mailing list, many of whom were there.
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16 FEBRUARY 1945
No actions reported.
17 FEBRUARY 1945
CAROLINE ISLANDS
(Mission 35) Eight of 9 B-29's dispatched from the 73rd BW attack the submarine pens on Dublon Island, Truk Atoll.
18 FEBRUARY 1945
CAROLINE ISLANDS
(Mission 36) Thirty-six B-29's from the 313th BW attack 2 airfields on Moen Island, Truk Atoll.
MARIANAS
The 39th and 330th BG's (HQ), and the 457th, 458th and 459th BS arrive at Guam/North Field from the United States for service with the XXI BC. (first mission will be 12 April)
19 FEBRUARY 1945
CBI
(Mission 37) Forty-nine of 59 B-29's dispatched bomb the Central Railroad Repair Shops at Kuala Lumpur, Malaya with 176 tons of bombs. Some of the aircraft bombed from only 1,000 feet; four other B-29's hit alternate targets, the Alor Star Airfield, and the marshalling yard at Martaban, Burma; they claim 1-0-7 Japanese aircraft. No B-29's are lost.
JAPAN
(Mission 37)Undertaking a diversionary strike in support of the invasion of Iwo Jima, 150 XXI BC B-29's are dispatched against the Musashino aircraft plant near Tokyo. Due to thick cloud cover over the target, 119 B-29's release their bombs over port and urban targets in Tokyo and 12 B-29's attack targets of opportunity and last resort; they claim 39-16-37 Japanese aircraft. Six B-29's are lost.
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Aircraft damaged or lost were:
42-65222 499 BG, MACR 12522, Nicholson crew lost, 11 KIA
crashed in Kamakura-cho and Takasago-cho, Katsushika-Ku, Tokyo.
42-24692 Z12, 500 BG, MACR 12500, Samuelson crew, 9 KIA.
Rammed by Japanese fighter "Toryu" and crashed in Nishihara Village, Kitatsuru County, Yamanashi Prefecture. 2 POW: One died from disease at Tokyo Army Hospital, second POW liberated.
42-24857 497 BG, MACR 12486 Austin crew five survivors
42-63494 Z31, 500 BG, MACR 12250, 9 KIA, 2 POW liberated.
Crashed in Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. (Rouse crew previously shown as all lost.)
42-63463 A9, "Skyscrapper II" surveyed after mission
??-????? 497 BG, Miller crew, of which 3 survived
42-63489 Z11, "Holy Joe" crashed on Saipan; Pearson crew survived
??-????? Z9, destroyed in the crash of Z11
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20 FEBRUARY 1945
No actions reported.
21 FEBRUARY 1945
No actions reported.
22 FEBRUARY 1945
No actions reported.
23 FEBRUARY 1945
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One possible loss, very little info:
??-????? 500BG Field crew, 5 survived
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No actions reported.
24 FEBRUARY 1945
INDIA
HQ for the 468th BG and the 58BW depart Hijli and Kharagpur India for bases in the Marianas.
MALAYA
(Mission 38) One hundred five of 116 58th BW B-29's dispatched attack the Empire dock area at Singapore with 220 tons of incendiary bombs which resulted in burning out about 40% of the warehouse area. One B-29 is lost.
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Aircraft lost were:
42-24479 462nd BG 768th BS ditched Dechet crew.
the site of the ditching was the Haria Bhanga River near Calcutta, it came to rest on a sand bar. (This is the last 100-aircraft strike by the XX BC)
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25 FEBRUARY 1945
INDIA
The 40th BG of the 58BW begins a movement from Chakulia India for bases in the Marianas.
JAPAN
(Mission 38) In the XXI BC's largest mission to date (and first 3-wing strike), 172 B-29's from the 73rd, 313th and 314th BW's attack urban areas of Tokyo with 454 ton of incendiary bombs; and 30 B-29's attack alternates and targets of opportunity. Approximately one square mile of the Tokyo urban area was burned out. Three B-29's are lost.
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Aircraft lost were:
42-63431 497th BG MACR 12722 Jack S. Barnes crew.
42-24808 497th BG MACR 12721 Austin R. Keith crew.
42-63427 497th BG MACR 12763 Buckheit crew 9 survivors
Jack S. Barnes 1/Lt, U. S. Army Air Forces
Entered the Service from: Missouri
0-737704 871st Bomber Squadron, 497th BG
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial Honolulu, Hawaii
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
Austin R. Keith 1/Lt, U.S. Army Air Forces 0-733909
Entered the Service from: Maine
871st Bomber Squadron, 497th BG
Died: February 25, 1945
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial Honolulu, Hawaii
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
(The XXI BC's test of incendiary bombing of urban areas in Japan is deemed so successful that it is decided on short notice to dedicate the 20th AF to incendiary missions against civilian targets rather than the planned program of precision daylight missions against industrial targets.)
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Ray Brashear's
Navigator's Notes:
(This is the only mission we flew in March (Feb?) 1945. In a way it was a pleasant interlude. Ray)
Mission 8:
Lead crew school in February
2/25/45
Tokyo (dock area) Day incendiary
25,000 0730-2200 1430 13635
Flack--meagre
Fighters --nil
Big ass'y off the coast 200 B-29s over the target One sq. mi. burned out No losses due to big snow storm in Toke.
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26 FEBRUARY 1945
INDIA
The 462nd BG of the 58BW begins a movement from Piardoba India for bases in the Marianas.
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42-24804 40th BG MACR 14248 - Capt. Jim Lyons crew.
Shot down by a Japanese fighter, fire, bail out 1 KIA, Photo Mission. Bailed out over Bay of Bengal, some of the crew were in the water for 27 hours before rescue and some for 30 hours. William Kintis was wounded and burned badly, he was seen to pull his own rip cord but drifted away and never seen again.
William Kintis First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces 0-743605
Entered the Service from: Wisconsin
44th Bomber Squadron, 40th Bomber Group, Very Heavy
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines
Awards: Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Air Force Magazine article "Men Against the Sea" describes their ordeal.
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27 FEBRUARY 1945
MALAYA
(Mission 40) During the night of 27-28 February, 10 of 12 B-29's dispatched from the 58th BW sow mines in the Johore Strait; and one B-29 sows mines in Penang harbor.
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Two B-29's are reported lost:
42-24777 T-7 ditched; Brodie crew, 9 survived; MACR 12777
42-24694 Z-6 "Draggin' Lady" ditched near Saipan; Engle crew, 9 survived.
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Personnel of the 58th BW begin shipping out of Calcutta India for Tinian and Guam, implementing the redeployment orders contained in the 6 Feb War Department Directive; the final shipment arrives in the Marianas on 6 June, completing the transfer of the Wing from India without the loss of a single life or aircraft.
28 FEBRUARY 1945
No actions reported.
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1944:
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1945 1st ˝:
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1945 2nd ˝:
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