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.
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.
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.
100 Flak and Bullet Holes from One Mission
The B-29 crew survived a massive Japanese fighter and flak attack that destroyed one engine and punctured their aircraft with some 100 flak and bullet holes.
B-29’s Helped Neutralize Japanese Kamikaze Forces
From October 1944 to the end of the Okinawa campaign, the Japanese flew 2,550 Kamikaze missions, of which 475, or 18.6 percent were effective in securing hits or damaging near misses. Warships of all types were damaged; approximately 45 vessels were sunk, causing great concern to the U.S. military. 2000 B-29 sorties were diverted from direct attacks on Japanese cities and industries to successfully striking Kamikaze air fields in Kyushu to help neutralize the Kamikaze threat.
Effects of the Atomic Bombs
Effects of the Atomic Bombs is a sub-chapter excerpt from the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report. The Survey “secured Japanese records, interrogated top Japanese Army and Navy officers, Government officials, industrialists, political leaders” and civilians throughout Japan.
Surviving a Crippling Flak Hit – by Lt. Charles Schlosser
Measured against all other bombing missions flown in WW II, prior to Aug. 6, the most devastating were the two largest low level “firestorm” missions over Tokyo on the nights of May 24 and 26 in which 15 square miles of the city were completely destroyed. On May 30, 1945 Lt. Charles Scholsser wrote a letter to his wife about this mission
Anyone but the 6th
Read about why the Japanese feared the 6th Bomb Group. Read an original account from Sergeant Virgil Morgan, B-29 Engineer assigned to the 6th Bomb Group based on Tinian Island in the Marianas during the Pacific War. He flew 19 long range combat missions over Japan.
Lessons of War: Bombing Survey – Was the Atomic Bomb Necessary?
The 6th Bomb group has just added an important article to it’s LESSONS OF WAR category. It is the entire text of a Report entitled, “United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report, an Official U.S. Government Pacific War Document.” This is a concise and extremely accurate overview of what happened and why.
