B-29 CREWS TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRONS 468TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP ANDERSON CREW

Transcription

1 B-29 CREWS TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRONS 468TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP ANDERSON CREW Capt. Boyce C. Anderson + Pilot 2nd Lt. Frederick N. Corvinus + Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. Robert G. Feldmann * + Flight Engineer-Pilot 2nd Lt. Charles E. Moresi *+ Navigator-Bombardier 2nd Lt. Richard H. Stillions + Bombardier-Navigator Sgt. Eugene S. Sommerville Radio Operator Sgt. Alexander D. Coan * Central Fire Control Sgt. William C. Hubbard + Right Gunner Sgt. Paul R. Hunt * Left Gunner Sgt. John N. Pletcher Tail Gunner 1st Lt. Owen T. Barry II * Radar Operator Master Sgt. Jack Hague + Crew Chief + Deceased Date of last change: May 7 th 2007 * Supplied Information # Squadron Command Duties This crew was the last to leave Salina, KS. They arrived after the first mission occurred in India. They changed 2 engines, and the plane was a total loss due to retraction of the landing gear while taxing. This plane ( ) was named "My Gal Sal" for Corvinus' daughter who was born after they left the States, however the name was never painted. Capt. Anderson's second plane was Andy's Dandy ( ) was received by the squadron on Sept. 25, 1944, and was returned to U S on Feb. 23, This plane had a record of 14 combat missions from India, and China, and 1 Hump trip. It was the first B-29 to come off the assembly line with short cowl flaps, and modified engines. Maj. Anderson later was made Squadron Operation Officer about Dec. 15, 1944.

2 (Source: National Archives) On their fourth mission (Aug. 10, 1944, Thursday) flown from A-7 to Nagasaki, Japan a valve was swallowed on the number four engine on takeoff, causing a fire. The first fire extinguisher was used to slow the fire, and the second fire extinguisher stopped the fire. As they were unable to lower the landing gear, the order was given to bail out all personnel in the rear after the auxiliary engine was started. At this altitude, the number four engine was feathered, and the other three engines were at full military power for about 30 minutes to expend as much fuel as possible, and keep it flying. As they were only about 800 feet at this time, Bill Hubbard, Right Gunner s chute did not open in time, and was killed on impact. After circling for about two hours, the crew landed with all bombs, and the remaining fuel. For this, Capt. Anderson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Paul Hunt bailed out, and went through the roof of a Chinese house. Paul reported he had 2 crash landings and one successful bail out. Information for this crew was supplied by: Robert G. Feldmann, N. Buffalo Drive, Fountain Hills, AZ Mrs. Lois Moresi, RR 2, Box 171-C, El Dorado Springs, MO Paul R. Hunt, Suncrest Drive, Walton, KY Owen T. Barry II, 2473 Viejo Drive, Lake Havasu City, AZ

3 Left to right: (Source: Yates Smith collection) Boyce C. Anderson Frederick N. Corvinus Charles E. Moresi Richard H. Stillions Robert G. Feldman Eugene Summerville Alexander Coan William Hubbard Paul Hunt John Pletcher Pilot Co-Pilot Navigator-Bombardier Bombardier-Navigator Flight Engineer Radio Operator Central Fire Control Right Gunner Left Gunner Tail Gunner Letter from Bob Feldman January Dear Yates, When we left Salina, we flew to Wright Field in Dayton, OH, because of an indicator light problem in landing. We had them run a retraction test at Wright and they gave us a hard time and claimed everything was OK. We left for Presque Isle the next

4 morning and on final approach Bill Hubbard (right gunner) called over the intercom and informed us that they left gear was not down. I told Andy he said the light said it was down and locked, so he pulled up and we went around. We tried the emergency procedure sequence (right gear, left gear, nose gear) and the system bypassed the left gear indicating it was down. I knew then we had a malfunction in the limit switch and after discussing it over the radio with Wright Field and someone in Washington they told us to take it back to Rome Air Depot (NY) and crash land it. After about an hour they called again and rescinded the order and advised they had never had a B-29 at Rome Air Depot and told us to go back to Presque Isle and bring it in on the right gear and nose gear, as they wanted to see how it would behave as they had never landed a B-29 with one wheel up. We requested that we be allowed to drop the auxiliary tanks from the front bomb bay as they still had residual gas in them. We were advised to make an approach parallel to the runway and drop them. Stillions set up the intervalometer to drop them in sequence and pressed the switch and nothing happened. Andy hollered get rid of them and he hit the salvo bar and everything went out of the rear bomb bay (right through the doors extra R3350 engine, all our clothes, all our extra supplies like generators, carburetor parts and the squadron supply of condoms) all over the edge of the runway. The tanks stayed in the front bomb bay and we couldn t get them out. After retrieving the bomb doors, Andy did a masterful job of holding her up on the landing so we didn t go off the runway, although we ground the satellite tail skid shoe down to nothing with a shower of sparks ½ mile long behind us. The left two engine props, the radome and left wing tip along with the left flap and aileron had to be replaced. When we got out of the aircraft we found that a lot of personal equipment such as cameras, etc., had been stolen. We also found they did not have another B-29 to give us in the US so we were required to rebuild at the sub depot at Presque Isle. They sent us new engine propellers, radome and a new wing assembly and we rebuilt the aircraft in the next 3 months. We were then ordered to pioneer what was to be called the south route. We left Presque Isle and flew to West Palm Beach, FL, where we attempted to stop the gas leaks in the wing tanks (left wing) without success. From there we flew to Georgetown and from there to Natal, Brazil (where we again hoisted the aircraft and attempted (unsuccessfully) to stop the gas tank leaks.) From Natal we flew to the Gold Coast in West Africa and from there to Khartoum, Egypt (junction of the Blue and White Niles). Because of the extreme heat (even at night it was 118 degrees F at 5 am) we offloaded our extra engine and gave it to ATC to deliver to India. We took off at 5 am and 10 miles from the end of the runway we were still on about 25 feet in the air. At full military power we managed to climb, but the engines had evidently overheated and we lost an engine over Aden and landed at Mesina Island in the Gulf of Arabia. We had a new cylinder flown from the US on the Red Ball Express and then changed the cylinder ourselves and took off for Karachi arriving in Karachi on the 6 th of June. We left the next day for Kharagpur losing another engine on the way and landed on June 7 th on 3 engines, where I announced to all and sundry after dropping down out

5 of the nose, Where the hell is the officers club? I must have gotten some bad gin and lime there as I was too sick to fly and therefore was not on board when the gear was pulled up inadvertently while taxiing and this caused the demise of 235. We never did get the fuel tanks fixed from leaking on that aircraft. Our fourth mission was out of A-7 in China in the H.H. Arnold Special. We had just been assigned to that aircraft and the crew that took it to Russia was our alternate crew. As we were on our takeoff run with a full load of bombs and gas, we swallowed a valve on #4 just at lift off time. Apparently, the valve broke through the piston and knocked the cylinder head off as it immediately started to burn and the flames were back behind the tail. We tried to throttle it back but it started rolling to the right. I pulled the first extinguisher and it quit a little, but started burning again. At 800 feet we told the guys to bail out the back and at the same time Andy put it into full military power on the 3 engines and rocked it level. It picked up speed and I pulled the second extinguisher into it and the fire went out and a few pieces kept falling off. We ran the engines and flew over the field for a couple of hours to burn off most of the gas. Then came back and landed with all the bombs aboard. Andy was awarded the DFC for his handling of the problem. Unfortunately Bill Hubbard s chute did not open and he was killed when he hit a rice paddy and Hunt and Pletcher picked him up after the accident. I managed to complete my 35 th in June Bob Feldman