Lessons of War: The Home Front Was Critical To Winning WWII. Written by Edgar L. Vincent, B-29 Aircraft Commander. "World War II veterans are happy to believe that the war was won on the battle front. I disagree"
Ralph C. Wilson was the aircraft commander of the Wilson Crew (Crew #4007) of the 40th Bomb Squadron, who flew the Superfortress “White Mistress,” The path to becoming a B-29 pilot was challenging especially when your instructor falls 4,000 feet out of the airplane. Read more about this fascinating account.
The B-29 bomber had just redefined warfare in its unique capability to strike a crippling military blow to an enemy by carrying heavier bomb loads over significantly greater distances. What transpired was a stunt. The standard B-29 was incapable of flying non-stop, 27.5 hours to Washington DC. Yet, four B-29s on November 1, 1945 did so.
The Superfortress B-29 Story. Twenty years ago this fall the first B-29s, operating from the newly captured Marianas, struck the Japanese home islands. It was the first blow in an aerial campaign that, in the next nine months, was to reduce Japan’s war industry to rubble and so lower the morale of the Japanese people that, many say, the war in the Pacific could shortly have been ended without either atomic bombs or the scheduled land invasion.
“A DAY OF INFAMY” is a phrase that resonates in America even today. On the first day, December 7, 1941 (December 8 on the other side of the International dateline) Asian targets were attacked, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a great success; much of the Pacific fleet was in ruins. On Dec 8, 1941, FDR presented the case for war in his address to Congress and the American people saying “a state of war has existed with Japan.” The United States declared war on Japan.
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