B-29 Superfortress

Description

Contains stories of missions, details of squadrons that flew the B-29, as well as "then and now" photos of veterans of the B-29. Many photos.

Sujets

• Histoire
• POW
• Segunda Guerra Mundial
• Air War College
• Military
• World War II
• Prisoner of war
• Japan
• Superfortress
• History
• Distinguished Flying Cross
• Prisonnier de guerre
• Aviation
• Seconde Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781681622033
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

B-29
Superfortress
Copyright 1994
Turner Publishing Company
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the written consent of Turner Publishing Company.
The materials were compiled and produced using available information; Turner Publishing Company and Mark A. Thompson regrets they cannot assume liability for errors or omissions.
Co-produced by Mark A. Thompson, Independent Publishing Consultant for Turner Publishing Company
Author: Philip St. John, Ph.D.
Book Design: Elizabeth Dennis
Library of Congress Catalog
Card No. : 94-60016
ISBN: 978-1-56311-133-4
Limited Edition
Cover art courtesy of artist Fred N. Takasumi and provided by the Boeing Company Archives .
CONTENTS
The History of the B-29
The World at War
The Bombs of December
The Need For a Very Heavy Bomber
Origin and Evolution of the B-29
The XX th Bomber Command and Training
The 58 th Wing Goes to War
The Bombing Begins
The XXI st Bomber Command Target: Japan
The Bombs of August
The Superfortress Over Korea 1950-1953
References
Squadrons that Flew the B-29
Veterans of the B-29
Acknowledgements
It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you this publication on the B-29 Superfortress , in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of World War II.
We especially want to thank the many individuals who were responsible for making this book possible, particularly the men who took the time to submit photographs and historical material.
We owe our deepest gratitude to all of you for fighting the wars that could have changed our way of life permanently. With this being the 50th Anniversary of World War II, we felt that this was the perfect time to record and document the unique and interesting story of the B-29.
Turner Publishing Company leads the way in military history book publishing, and we hope that all who were involved with the Superfortress enjoy our newest title that chronicles the history of the gallant plane-the B-29.
Dave Turner , President
Mark A. Thompson , Associate Publisher
T HE H ISTORY OF THE B-29
SUPERFORTRESS

B-29 planes fly information on way from Guam to Japan. (Courtesy of Robert Le Mon)
The World at War
World War II lasted six years and a day, from 1 September 1939 when German tanks and bombers attacked across Poland s western border to begin the war in Europe, to 2 September 1945 when representatives of the Japanese government signed an Allied surrender document on board the battleship U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay to end the war in the Pacific. It was a war based on a hunger for territory and power and riches by Italy in Africa, Germany in Europe and Japan in Asia. A human disaster of incomparable proportions resulted. Some have placed the total military and civilian deaths in all war theaters over the war years at 50 million.
World War II was a global conflict by any definition, and for the first time in warfare the airplane became a significant - often decisive - weapon in the hands of the strategic planners. While the heavy bombers of the American 8 th and 15 th Air Forces and Britain s R.A.F. were systematically decimating Germany s industrial capabilities in Europe, another air war half way around the world in the Pacific and Far East was being waged; in this theater of war Japan replaced Germany as the Allies antagonist. And this was a different war in many respects. The long, drudging missions, the flak, and the deadly enemy fighters were the air crews lot in both wars; but the geography, sheer distances, and profusion of targets in the Pacific challenged the imagination. The 3.8 million square miles of Europe was comprehensible to Allied Air Force planners, for virtually the entire area was within range of heavy bombers (the B-17. B-24, and Lancaster) from bases in England and Italy. In contrast, the Pacific Ocean and its islands, more than 64 million square miles in area, in addition to the vast Far East mainland of Burma. Thailand. Malaya, and China, required a whole new approach to waging a successful war on the ground, at sea and in the air. Since the subject of this story, the B-29 Superfortress, flew in combat only in the Far East, most of our attention will directed to the war in that theater.
In September of 1931. Japanese soldiers in southern Manchuria were involved in a clash with Chinese troops. Japan used this minor incident as an excuse to occupy all of Manchuria, subduing the region by early the following year and establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo. The League of Nations condemned Japan for its aggression but took no action and did not even impose sanctions.
From 7 July 1937 when Japan invaded China (again using a minor clash with Chinese troops near Peking) to the middle of 1941, the Japanese Empire expanded unchecked to subjugate the peoples along the entire coast of China south to include most of French Indochina. Japan had millions of men under arms, massive naval and air power, and hundreds of bases to launch and nourish these mighty forces. By contrast, the Allies - the U.S., Britain and China in this area and at this time - were out-manned and out-gunned in every category. For three years following the China invasion, isolationist America took no action to curb Japanese expansion.
The Japanese prime minister hoped that the United States would accept Japan s expansionist actions in the Far East, but finally, in September of 1940 after the Japanese had occupied Hanoi, the United States imposed an embargo on its exports of scrap iron and steel to Japan, materials which the Empire sorely needed. Japan joined the Axis powers in Europe on this month. By this time Germany had overrun all of western Europe, and England entered its darkest days, fighting for its life against the German Luftwaffe. In July of 1941 President Roosevelt froze all Japanese as-sets in the United States and with this action virtually all U.S.-Japanese trade ended, including the stopping of vital oil imports to Japan. The Japanese government lost no time in preparing its preemptive response.
The Bombs of December
On 7 December 1941 aircraft from a Japanese carrier task force attacked the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor. Hawaii; the U.S. had most of its Pacific fleet moored in the port at this time. The Japanese attack fleet was 28 surface ships strong and included six carriers, two battleships, three cruisers and nine destroyers plus eight oilers and at least three escorting submarines. The 350 Japanese carrier planes that mauled Pearl Harbor in two waves sank or damaged 21 ships, three of them (all battleships) destroyed, and the Army Air Force and Navy lost 169 planes and another 130 severely damaged - almost all on the ground. The three battleships (one, the Utah , had been converted to a target ship) were beyond salvage and five more were badly damaged; three light cruisers, three destroyers and several smaller vessels were sunk or sustained severe damage. The eighteen damaged ships, even those sunk, were eventually repaired and returned to duty, some within a few weeks, but the American Pacific forces had been dealt a nearly fatal blow on this Sunday morning.
Although surprise was total, the attack was not perfect. Concentrating on large surface ships and airfields, the Japanese strike force ignored the base s oil storage tanks, repair shops and the submarine base, oversights which they would later regret. And perhaps fortunately for the U.S. there were no American aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack. The Japanese carrier pilots pleaded for a third attack wave but they were overruled by the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Nagumo, and the carrier force turned back toward Japan. The final count of American casualties was 2,403 dead and 1,178 wounded. The Japanese lost 29 planes (six of them to two P-40 fighter pilots) and 64 air crewmen. (By war s end, the U. S. Navy would sink all the carriers, battleships and cruisers of this attack fleet).
By this attack the Imperial government of Japan had hoped - some even assumed - that America would sue for peace and leave them a free hand in the Far East. The assumption was curious at best and would eventually become a fatal one for them. There were, in fact, dissenting voices among military leaders in Tokyo, and from Japan s Prime Minister and the Emperor himself, but they were unheard. The Pearl Harbor strike was only one of many Japanese attacks throughout the Far East. Almost immediately following the strike on Hawaii, Japanese naval, air and ground forces attacked Wake Island, Guam, British Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Burma, Thailand, and the Philippines. Undefended Guam fell on 10 December, but the tiny garrison on Wake Island held off Japanese amphibious assaults until the 23 rd . The United States formally declared war on Japan on 8 December, and on Germany and Italy on 11 December 1941. By the spring of 1942 the Japanese brought under their control vast areas in east central China. Burma. Thailand (Siam). the Malay Peninsula, all of the Netherlands East Indies. Sumatra. Java. Celebes. Borneo, the Philippines, some western and eastern areas of New Guinea (plus northern coastal pockets), and the Gilbert and Solomon Islands. Before the war with the U. S. began, they were already occupying the Marshall and Caroline Islands, the Marianas (except Guam), and the Palau Islands.
Early in February of 1942 the U.S. Navy had recovered sufficiently from the Pearl Harbor disaster to conduct hit and run carrier plane raids on Japanese-held islands in the Marshalls and Gilberts. On 18 April Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle led a small strike force of 16 B-25 Mitchells from the carrier Hornet to bomb Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya. They completed the mission but 15 of the planes ran out of fuel and crashed in China. The remaining plane with its 5-man crew landed safely in Siberia. Sixty-seven of the 75 men that crashed in China (including Doolittle) were led to safety by the Chinese