Japanese Surrender Ceremony “Show of Force”
It seemed that all of the aircraft north of Henderson Field were going to fly over Tokyo Bay as a “display of power” before, during, and after the formal surrender ceremony.
Life on Tinian – Ground Crews
Marines with automatic rifles directed traffic as the trucks hauled us to our new home. Although the marines had secured the island five months earlier, fighting was still going on. There were seven hundred battle-seasoned and extremely annoyed Japanese soldiers in the high country. The island was only twelve miles long and never more than five miles wide.
WWII Christmas Letter From Grateful POW
As a member of the Vander Schans crew my most enjoyable experience as far as missions go was to drop supplies to the POW camps. We were assigned to fly over to Saipan where our aircraft was loaded with pallets for the camps. A couple of us thought we should enclose a note and a news magazine that we had.
FORECAST: DISASTER — 27 P-51s COLLIDE IN BAD WEATHER
In May 1945, our bomber crew was selected to fly from Tinian to Iwo Jima where, with 9 other B-29s, we would act as navigational escorts for a maximum P-51 fighter assault on the Japanese mainland. The mission was not a happy one, nor am I proud to have been a part of it.
DELAYED CAPTURE SAVED MY LIFE
I flew only one combat mission to the Japanese Empire. You will note I said TO the Empire - THAT mission was terminated shortly after our bombs were dropped on a flaming fire-bombed target in Kawasaki the night of April 15, 1945
We POW were first to see Hiroshima damage
News of the world’s first atomic bomb-drop by a Tinian-based B-29 known as the ENOLA GAY that devastated the city of Hiroshima was fresh in our minds on August 8, 1945 [two days after atomic bomb drop], as we made our way toward our target of the day, the steel manufacturing city of Yawata
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Nearly Lost in Transit From U.S.
Scott B. Davis Honorary member 509th Composite Group (1944-1946) © 2025 Scott B. Davis. All Rights Reserved Additional content copyright © 2025 6th Bomb Group Assoc. All Rights Reserved Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from [...]
Pacific War: B-29 Blasted Upside Down Firebombing Japan
During the low level nighttime firebombing raid over Osaka on March 13, 1945, a Japanese military arsenal violently exploded hurling a directly overhead B-29 upward 5000 feet, flipping it upside down and into a slow roll, high speed death dive to the ground.
We Flew Search and Rescue for Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
The top secret atomic bombing mission of Hiroshima was even kept from the Search and Rescue teams for that mission. B-29 Flight Engineer Lawrence Stewart tells the fascinating story of his Search and Rescue assignment for the Hiroshima bombing and what he was told.
Completed Tour of Duty – Looking Back, Going Home
B-29 Flight engineer Lawrence Stewart reflects on his war experience and the path crews took to getting home from the Marianas.
