Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from then 1st Lt. Lawrence Stewart’s first-person memoirs: Combat in the Pacific Theater – A B-29 Flight Engineer’s Experiences During World War II. Pictures, titles and highlights have been added to compliment the author’s writing. Author was assigned to the 504th Bomb Group at time of this mission.
We Flew Search and Rescue for Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
Lawrence Stewart
B-29 Flight Engineer
6BG, Tinian 1945
First publication July 2024
© 2024 6th Bomb Group Association. All Rights Reserved.
WE WOULD FLY A SUPER DUMBO B-29 ON THIS MISSION. THE BRIEFERS DIDN’T GIVE US ANY ADDITIONAL DETAILS
On 5 August [1945], our crew was summoned to a specialized briefing. We were informed that we would be part of the search and rescue team and that we would fly a Super Dumbo B-29 on this mission. Our assignment was to fly near the coast of Japan and rendezvous with a submarine. Information on the takeoff time, cruising and orbiting altitudes, estimated time of arrival at the rendezvous area and coordinates for linking up with the submarine was provided. The departure time for our return flight to Tinian was omitted as we were told to circle on station for a minimum of two hours. The briefers didn’t give us any additional details.
Dawson’s B-29 crew after assignment to the 504th
At the end of the briefing, the 504th Bomb Group chaplain presented each crew member a Round Trip Ticket. On my card was printed the following “This ticket is issued to 1st. Lt. Lawrence W. Stewart, 504th Bomb Group, as a guarantee for the safe completion of his 35th mission over the Japanese mainland and entitles him to a safe journey.” I thanked him for the card and fervently hoped that it was an omen of a successful final mission.
I CHECKED THAT THE SURVIVAL GEAR WAS UP LOADED INTO THE BOMB BAYS OF THE B- 29
Late that night we headed for the flight line and I checked that the survival gear was up loaded into the bomb bays of the B- 29. I noted that we had slightly over 7,400 gallons of gasoline on board. At two thirty-five in the morning on 6 August, we took off and proceeded to the coast of Japan. We arrived there at nine o’clock and David Evans [radio operator] contacted the submarine. Rocky set up a flight pattern at an altitude of 5,000 feet as briefed. We continued to orbit in the designated area until eleven o’clock when our fuel supply was getting low. We hadn’t received any information about the raiding B- 29s. Rocky told David to inform submarine personnel that we were departing for Tinian. Later that afternoon, we landed at North Field having logged fourteen hours and twenty-five minutes, our shortest mission to the Japanese Islands. Mission thirty-five had been successfully completed!
WE WERE INFORMED THAT A LONE B-29 FROM THE 509TH COMPOSITE GROUP HAD DESTROYED A JAPANESE CITY WITH A SINGLE BOMB
At debriefing, we were informed that a lone B-29 from the 509th Composite Group had destroyed a Japanese city with a single bomb. We thought that the debriefers were trying to be funny, since it seemed to be an impossible feat.
WE HAD PARTICIPATED IN THIS HISTORIC MISSION BY FLYING AS PART OF THE SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM
However, the next day the destruction of Hiroshima by an atomic bomb was officially confirmed. The B-29, known as the Enola Gay, had delivered the first atomic bomb against Japan. And we had participated in this historic mission by flying as part of the search and rescue team.
Enola Gay returns from Hiroshima atomic bombing
Lawrence Stewart 1922 - 2013
Bio: Born in Minnesota, Stewart joined the Army Air Corps at the outbreak of WWII and became a B-29 flight engineer with the 6th Bomb Group. He was stationed on Tinian Island, Pacific Theater, in 1945 where he completed 35 combat missions over Japan. He retired from the USAF Reserves in 1963.
