air intelligence report, v1n16

8/8/2019 Air Intelligence Report, V1N16

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--O S T ~ T O S PAGE". ,4 - TO -A I R BOMB.... ~ . 'ETS ONE NIP PAGE 8..' ,.

~ ~ ( \ . . P-51 ESCORTOOVER VOKOHAMA PAGE 9

BLACK PAINT WORKS

oAGAINST SEARCHLICrHTS PAGE II14 DAVS ALONE


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XXI BOMBER COMMANDaalliTElliGENCE REPORT

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2.3 June 1945ill BI),lCOM OPERATIONS

Throe Targets In One DayStrike Photo Alch l PlantsStrike Photo Hitachi CompanySi x lJ1Ssions A!5alnst Aircraft I n 4 u 5 ~ y8-29 Does Air-tO-Air BombinsJep Waters JUnodJAPAtIESE Am DEfEESEP-51 Escort over Yokoha.ma

.!!1M rmLLIOEl!:EJe t Black Paint EtfecUve q;al113t SlLVII Fighte r COr.llll&nd nak f.:I:perlenee

. m . - . M ~14 Deys Alone In II L1te Ratt

SPfXiIAL B2f!lI2.Life In II Jap Prl lon Camp

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I t 1s 1ntended that thiS weekly re *port be a source ot 1n!'orlmllt1on fo r c,",_be t crews aml s taff Off1CV5 "ho have e.leg1tlr.late 1nterest 1n t he oper a ti ons ofthe XXI Bomber COl:llllend. '1th1n t hou1l.m1ts 1t should rece1ve th e w1tlest pos_s1ble c1rculllt1on perll l lss lble under th eprovls1ollS of AR :'ISO_5.In order that e ClIlJ:1.al1ll or 1nte l l1_lenee I:I8Y be 1ncluded, th e report 1s11ven an overall classlt1cattoll ot Sec_rat . ihen the nature of th e llIatlrlalwar rant s, l nc ll vldu al articles hnve re *cllved a 1aIre r security claSSif1cation.

The report 15 so llSselllbled thot th ecOlllponent sections lillY be removed andc1rcu la ted or fUed separetely. It P01'-tlons are reprocluclld, seeur1ty regulat lO1lS lIU.' It be o bs er ve d and th e Sou.rCIIcredited.Correspondence regard Ina th is publ1cetlon should be addressed to th e Com-lIItlncl1ll11 General, XXI DOlllber COllll:land.

:OPO 234. c/ o Post!ll8ster, San Francisco,California. A t t e n t ~ of S. 1.-2.

. . ~JU(ES D. GARCIAC010M1, G.B.C.Ae or S, ...-2AUTH: C.G. XXI B.C. Initials U 4 OATI 23 June 1945 :r;--

Rtp,0il0Qcl by 351h PTU

tI ~ b e r C o ~ n d pulled a b iti I ranle .dazzle maneuver on 9: - departing trom i t s systematic1 I l ~ t 1 o n ot Japanese ci t ies toIII to".!'" separate pin-point tar"Qll tile saoe day. The operat1II.., at:ed at the Empire'S de ::w.:e aircraft industry I which'* additional beat1ns as a re "Io!' tile dey'S work.

!fO dngs participated - - th e1 r I h ~ tile 313th. Reports of th edIlloas &l'e as follOlrS:

IlISSION 191stith iUng dispatched 48 a i r ftll tp .lns t the Ka1l'80ishi Air_I I t t C ~ , l'iaruo Pla nt ( Ta rg etIll. it t r.awan1.shi Company ranks ttl foremost manufacturer of1If1&neJ Of al l types and produces~ l & a e s axclus1vely. Target 18aldast and principal Kawan_: ; ~ 1 a : I t . It 1s prbarlly impor_f-.r tile prOduction or th e newt '1DIle-eng1ne carrier_based'It 2: Gtorga, the seaplaD.e t ighD.. and the reeonnalssance~ ~ lIol'lll. me ne . l and-basedII 1 or fighter, the Jillpu, may~ d " ' l l o P u n t a t th e plant 's

'- 1 ~ Shops. PcrH in1'orma_~ a t e l l that engines anc1'Ul.latrts.rr1rere produced here as!lIIllS.~ ~ t y f

\ t p ~ ~ t'1'or the 8..299 bombedOIl! an avel'age a l t i_ ,

tude or 19 600feet I 36 visublyand s u by raw.They d r o p p e ~ 263tons. One aircraftdropped sLx tonson the Aichl A1.l'_craft ~ o r k s at At.suta. Air oppo.sition was lllooer.a te to s tr 00 8 with 25 ElA making 45to 50 attacks. C l a i ~ agatnst theenemy were three destroyed, f iveprobably destroyed and 10 d&al&!ed.Antia irc raf t f i re was !!leagel' tomoaerate and generally lnaccurate.There were no losses. Thirteen ofth e 8_29s sustained battle duage.Resul ts o f the bca.blnll; were b_cellent. The plant was alzlost coc:.pletely destroyed, 78 percent orth e root area being knocked out.

MISSION 192In a second portion ot the three.pro08 effor t on 9 June, the 313thWing dispatched 26 aircratt aaainstth e Ka....S$k1 A1reratt Company 'IAkashi Plant (Target 1547). Redarbombing was necessary at the targetand only minor dalll8ge was caUJed toth e plant.All aircraf t were loaded wi tbth e 4.000-pound 11&ht cue bOlllb.Th i s . s th e t i r s t time that th1JCommand has used thil b ll one. I twas bel1end that the blUt ertectfrom mar misses "ould c . ~ ~ >:structural . . . . . . to : r!'r"";" .1'Twent,. tour or ttle B-1'" 1I'--r2or thel l 00 th e tu'SlIt ar" ca anaverase or 17,300 teet. TWO droppedsix on Kecbi lut1llldNo eae.y appall tlOft u:J DO tlakwere eDCOW1teNd altbOQlb- 1III'I'tP

ballooDII . . . . . rep.ted. ! b e r t ' "no l o s l l f t ~ . _ IISIC=ODU- OIl


4/10,TARGET 1476: Above, the Hitachi E1l81n-eerlnp; Company, D1gan PlaDt, betore i tW8S h i t b7 th e 73rd Win,; on 10 .rune. Be ..low, it take8 ,evere be8tW. The rl sUltt> were _. .allent.- (contidential)

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""13TH "'II1G .103:: lh e 313th Wtn.!'; dtdn ' tleave much of Targets 198 and 2010 on 9JUIle. (Story on Page 6.) Heavy st ruc t -ural dlll:l8ge caused l the 4,OOO-poundbonbs ~ l ~ Q w e r e used. (COnf1ilent1al)

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This Company 1s c redi te d w it h on-ly & small percentage of the total A bonus target, the bI tsJapanese production of combat a i r - Light Metal Manufaeturing ~ craft ena1nes, with an est1mated Nagoya (Target 2040) alJo -capacity of 175_2QO engines & month. heavi ly damaged as 8 result o r The target was selected because th e sion 193. (secret)'SIXMISSIONS A C A I H S T ~Orl 10 JUne si x more ~ l s s 1 o n s were and eight by radar. 1 ' ' b e ~ n : ' ' ~launched against separate a i rc ra f t 129 tons of bombs trt:.t lOll-lndcstry targets 1n Japan. These a l t i tude of 17,400 . . ~ _as "ere the ones on the previous s t r ike photographS baorU U '-day, were aimed a t d estr oy tn g th e obtained. The trtng r : . r 1 r t ~ rt"last ot the older, large-seale pro_ f i res observed arter nd theduclng plants Bnd ,everal of the matiOD had dropped ablU,nd W"smaller un1 ts to Which production of th e mission are n4 aacb1JO JIo~ a been or cou ld be dispersed. All excellent . Sh1moda a twOour operating 'll'ings participated ma 'll'ere attacked by which dropped 11 toD! -II


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Lars OF E2iDrY F I G H T ~ S

while 97 P-5ls went to the tnitialpoint (Pugl Mountain) and picked upth e bomber stream.The bOlllbers arrived at the IP Ine lement s o f trOlll three to 12 air_crat't , and as each e le :aent bp'nedtoward the target '&rea e tlight' otfighters joined up with i t , tl1ingparal le l , in t ra i l and about 2,000feet above the bombers with s ~ fighters north ot th.e bOllber streu,and some south ot i t . The tightersfle" mutual support into the targetarea, and then made lSOO turns andreturned to the IP to pick up morebombers. In thts way the bClllberstream was patrolled trOlll 1000 to1110.

The firs t airborne eneal,)' weraencountered in the vicinity or At -Sugi Airfield on the . . , into thetarget , al theu:h the .ajOJlity ofInterceptions cue atter boablaway wI th 8. .e e o e ~ a1rent't tol-10lr1D8 our fore a. ta r at . , RP.I t IS es t1ma te d tbat the p_!511 eDocountered !-to to !SO e ttabt e r l ,th e II l6jori ty or wbieb"1' t Z.....and. th e remainder toJOI. Jut l ,Hups . Oscars IIIl4 G.t&'!81la07 ot th e attackl IIIIDIt f1IIltifl;htel'S ..re r r blab astel'D. I t"u noted that the .rapaD!" li tDear11 '"t'l '1 a t t a c ~ bad aD a l t l ~

advantqe or be did DOt c!OIe. _.of th e attempted attaca 011 ..bOlllbel"S appecoed to . . . . , 'bell) ' a t taokS. ft e Ja tII''' ..

CO):abtt ' ott tail gu" om,",t B ~ . . . tbey all!'J:t'J4 ~ o u s and..lfp:lll. aboutt::,:sluttc I t was on 29 May,tol p..51 fSCort. tried to h it ourtill tht Ja,','on! d th nearly everyL-l.o. torma:;-ar t1J;bter in the area.

o:r torces were escorterd ~ t ~ ~ ;1.s1I1llll the enemy order 0mbai'M lias been estimated a t be-. , UO aDd 150 enemy figh te r s ,!It'QIllns Zekes, Tojos, Jacks ,..;s, Ilco, Oscars and Georges,utl t order. Zekes and TojosD up about 60 percent of th e to -"'"Ibtallc ptlob' claims fo r tb eI!.sIICl1 !fare (air) 26 des troyed,l1:I probably de st royed and 23 dam_ICed. tlla narrative of the opera_t1::1l, frQl the Pursuit pilot-sI ~ p o t l l t , 15 given be low. Bomberlht1 n ll be interested to notebtl actual tactical si tuat ion1111 ha:ldled as well as in the re _l:' Of Japanese t ighter tact ics1.. .n:J O;lr p ~ S l s . th e VI I r ighterUUion report to l l oW! :

TACTICAL NARRATIVE~ t ~ ~ l _ o t 101 P ~ 5 b ot th e VI I~ to II were atrborne a tttld,scor t B-l;9s on an incen_'1111 1ll1on YOk0h8flla. Rendezvous~ . 6 : 0 fe.tator B ~ 2 g e .s lIade a t" ~ 1 a a t e O'Ver Kite ROCk a t 0700.c ~ tolJ 275 IIUes from base: ~ 1 I t l I to ~ tvfl;et th e t ighters& l ~ l s t 500 teet toget beneaths . teet ~ then reCovered tol lio1Qt e time t he d ep ar ..." ~ I l t ' r l reached. At th e DP.ltttor B ~ 9 ; i ~ t e r , eSCorted th eo the ra l ly point

FlO!ITm Esc""For th e above tb , ItaP-5ls "ere airborne trctl jlOl'1'l'cor t to th e B ~ Z 9 s . B I l I a ~ a a t s .reported Sighting 36 01'tl'sembly point bu t !lone 07t l ' : "gets . No fighters were l ' t ; ~ ~ -l o s t . (Secret) ,

iJ o Jilna. - r ; , ~ : e ; ~ ' ItJil). ,claia3 againat the ' n e ~ ' l ! ' l t , ~ ~20 aggreSsin attacQ'V'probably destrOYell atlll "" IllIied.. Flak Was Ifteager llllI. 1 .. 6Io..liltNo B-29s "ere lost. l l I t ~

.lAP WATlas -:;f(;"JB-29s of the 313th I'liruz: kept th e hOlle-.nlters o f J ap an well polluted duril'1l!i theweek, 85 drOPPing 350 2,OOO-pouod mine'and 359 1,OOO-pounders in three ~ i s s i O ~tJo B-29s were los t . (W _)

BOMIIN,and Tojos. He caught lilt:;.of a Tojo cOllltlll tn lu t

a 12:30 high. 'nle TOjoo in (apparently tntent OIl t llj.o in g r ight into Lt. ; ; 1 1 . ~o lap) bu t at the last llrollbr oke under the nose or QIo B-29, passinll; not ll.OI'e t!lll.o yards below. At that I l l .o Wilemon dropped hts b*.oo Others in the tlllll1lo t e l l th e re s t or tilt I\ll!


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KAINTENAliCBThe tollowing was polnted out inth e Varch 12 issue of AAFls "AirOperations Briefs"::

(Lete Information trOlll 20A1 1.5t he t as a result ot th1S experlJlenta l l B_29s in thiS thMter are tohaTe black b o t t O l l l s ~ .ew 008' rt Ube painted in the StatAls.) (. . . . )

- I t is 1mpartant that m a i n t e n ~ance uni ts of echelons 8IIployinsJ e t 11622 understand that the closerth is type ot camout'lage approachesth e appearance ot a black mirror,th e more effective it becOll8s.This was clear ly brought out duringth e course of th e theater tour (5th,7 th and 1 3t h Ai r P'orces) whftl'e IUnyuni ts ..ere no t aware that the tlfec_tiveness of Jetl522 depends largelyon proper maintenance.-

JEI ~ e J 1{ffective ~ g a i n s t Searchlights

craf t are di ff icul t to tracK With the opticalf ire-control instruments a t the gun batteries.A det in i te influence on th e effectIveness Isth e e xp erie nc e and abil i ty of the eeuchl1Chtand gun be t tery crews_

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!M 28th SqUad.'I a.E9s of the~ l lill& ree ent11pe.inUid Je t:f.:t on the b o ~ t o m

:0 d'terlliDfl tlete:tlfellflSS ofC1l paint a!WIt uarchlij;t 1lluinat11.l. Initial reports o.n th e t e s tIf ttUI atreratt ar e very tavor&ta. ftle blsck-painted planes.. fiml 01:1 both of th e recentll1.lht strikes. Only one ote. I I ! toned by searchlights andt1.I one wall illuminated to r ap ~ l u t e l y one Illinute. None ot. . . 8-29s W8S damaged on eitherI1I1IC1l.

JET 1622fllt ll4;h glOllS black paint carr.. tllt code l:l8IDe of JET #622. It. . h1(h SPecular (mlrror J re_a.UOII and a very 'low di f tuse

Ueattertd) reflection. A surtace~ l D t e d reflects a concentrated; : the lI1l'Tar angle with a..... or light scatter1ngo e directIons.Bml:,IVmEss

~ r t : blaCk pa int sho uld~ l r J f . ' 0 3 t etfective m con_' t " : ' ~ ~ 1 g h t 3 "hich

00J 01' SOImd-eon_!'Ii ,; ."",.llyl 1tGr.I ~ O d Y e r y l l t t e et _

t . : . . ~ t L l l 1'ac1ar-eontrol......... 8bts or guns I I . ~ ~ ' t 1 ' t l I i t 1l1Ulll.ltlS._" ' 4 ~ ) ' ~ C C I I P l 1 s h e d suc ..

, tbe black atr_ .%perlaenta!

some isolated Inatart ' : ;hters a t t e I l l P t e d ~ ' tbtside passes. In ' o t ~ - G r . I ~ ~t ive action by OUr 1 at... Itturning to Illeet a P lett, ~ sufficed to CeUse h : a \ l ~ ho..'and to adopt defetlllhe to ~ . . "ttetlel 'These de t enshe . 'sta ted ot split-tsl1 .. . ~ 1\t 1tUde rapidly, then ~ : : ~ . : .in a 51011', t1&ht tU1'n to tb:C tUSing t laps. The el:ltl:1zed th e high aanflln'Q'tIl,. It:his plane, turnlng 1 I l 1 t ~ ~ l J ~P-51s, caUSing th8111 to ItSeveral Toj os , when l t t 4 t ~ ~ed up, snapped over Oil thlhand a t tempted to CQlflllOWll b::t ion over th e attatk1ac p!.a:t "IIwere unabl e t o exfltute thtl ' "ver success ful ly.

In those InstaDCU 1D 1 I l 1 ~ 1 tr ighters were forced to 1'110\"!."ojos, they had no d 1 t t t ~ t nleaVing them. The consldtltdl:lent of the pilots at tc ..f ighter activity m., that tilt .." S I Q

~ a , s aggres , t ,e , but did - , ' s a d v a n t a g e ~In ..,ery attaCk, ,--=ad aD a l t1 tude adftD"" :;,Ato tlv e thoWiaod t.'C, .- .pr-.

re luc tan t to a ttaOk - .. '"same level. IUtua1u1,ed by our pl10U- a u i ! , Y I J I ~'7 to r ~ p O l . 0/ 1 J I " ~ . t . I 'a1rcra t t ot t or tb ' --;-.!plane.. ID..,er1 - , , . . . , . ~ ,support or ' C 1 S . t 1 l ' ~ , . ,enelllJ' broke ott.

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ers were much more aggressive to warS our ngttters durtl1& th U mU s i o ~ than on any previous mlsslon ,makL.b numerous coordlnated attacksw l t ~ frail three to seven planes1ut It ,lIS found that our mutuasuppo'" ta c t lcs scissor lcg worked very well In cuscouragingthe enemy from closing range.)ne t lghter group reports thatIn avary case where mutual supportwa! flown the enemy broke o rr a ta: A G

tack. Japanese evaslve tact ics andbreak8ways conslsted of spllt_essesfollowed by dlves to mintmUlll a l t i tUdes, and slow t igh t t ur ns uaingflaps. Friendly righter pilotstOll.Dd that their speed advantagewas usually enough to evade th eaotllly if they were hard pressed.During th e time spent in th et alge t a rea P-Sl piletts des troyed26, probably destroYed nine anddacaged 23 enemy aircraft . FrieM.lylosses over the target were twoP-5b and pilots, aM. a third pi lo tpcachuted during th e return toba u but was picked up by a surfacerescue vessel. Four P-51s werede.gad.

VII F .C. REMARKSEnecy t ighters attacked usuallyio group. of three to t ive, bu t onon, occasion the attacking groupor lekss m.bered savan. Very tewof the attack! were prassed b:r a

Uti le Plane. Attaclu ..re madetrill lI1x O'clock, to r hlgh sternPuses, In 1lI0st i ns ta nc es , but il'l.

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missions to Nagoya. Tht.plane had 80llle troubllpr ier to take-orf and wasone ot th e Late starters,gettinll: or t about 0230. It- was no t heard ot or seent: again unt1l noon ot 27 Uaywhen one ot th e Navy Dumbos. pat_rollin/!: the area sOIne 150 milessouth - southeast of 1.0, ~ p o t t e d aman in a ra f t , went down to inves.t lga te and saw a frantically wavingsurvivor therein.The Dumbo promptly sent out aca l l fo r help tran a surface vea_ge l and vectored other Cat al inasto the scene along with a B_29 tl'0llILt. Ell is ' own g ro op, t he 40th. 'lbel e t t e r plane was returniTIII: frOlll aSuperdumbo mission north of Iwo andstood by as long as poss ible.

D E S T R O ~ TO THE RESCUEThe ca l l fo r help trom the l;avyDumbo wes answered by the Destroyer

Case, which was then escortiM aconvoy some 50 or 60 m11es away.The Cese couldn't leave her stationunt l l aer ia l escort to r Iler chars:uhad arr ived. bu t as soon as p05sible s he hur ri ed over to the posit ion s t t l l marked by two circlingDumbos a t 23_245 14l-55E. and atabout 1700 & thoroughly ahaUsteda nd emaci ated 2nd Lt . gUll . . .carefully brought aboard trCII tb Ir a f t where he hid lpent tb l l i l t13 . 401' .Re had 10it 38 ~ all bilk

was ra . and bUst""" fit! t b I ~ ' "and hiS haDds were .with sa l t water ,orel, alth" _.....

ON R LIFE RAFT.'+,. _11_ _

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the story otlllU ita E Ell i l l . eo D ! L t ' o ~ t h t 8_2913'1751.f 1 1 . ' ~ to tba Interroga .. oN'tcars or the 58th:: tiD.! on hts return to,It aftlr spandll1g 14!W ull\e at sea on a one -man l l te~ (Lt. Ellis I experience wasff;'GI'tad brien.\' 10. Usue No. 14 ofti l p.lbl1catlon.)tm"lig his period at se a Lt. El

1I1 bad only two oranges and' aboutI ~ and a half of wa te r . mos totlbteh he collectad in his sa l l .fact that he survivec a t a l l 1s1I1r!Cle and waa a resu l t of hisptA! J u d ~ e n t . common sense and altroog 1111 to survive. Although':t WJ the only member of hl s crewI ll 'v l'eeoverad was also th e on_1J'lether or the cre. who was not aPld sIber.~ R! P!1"haps this tac t which.le:lalh1C1l to stUdy as much of th e-ud on surVival a t sea as heUI. btlay his hands on and to checkIn e ~ ~ u r v t ' l 8 1 equipment with ex -l ~ a ~ : ~ r t is to .11 Lt. El l i s '.. but itthan to Polnt any mor_au tla:Ple more crews would copy~ tl.lt; more people would beUdtell stories to their grand .." '" 'nSSIHG- ON 11AGOYA RAID

l . J . ~ story sIt" ka7 wh;er ts on th e night or" ' ~ l b -8 c ~ plane on whichlelll or ~ ot took o tt one two incendiary

maY-bedu e to h e ~ : a S O n a b l ; t l a n aThe se c o n l lll8.clllne e a ~ l 1\, IUble rem gave I t ~ s ta l la t l o ~ ; e . e o n t r ~ 1 e ' t ~ P c i t t t , -edge or S u s a k ~ \ i l l e l l ~ : t . ~Pilot 0 r r 1 e l d , C b ~ 10Jti..4.belief t h l : l ~ 1 n l o n telld t b l ~re luc tant t J apaneae : to tin g a i r e r a f ~ engage h A ~ rather than D l e : ~ . 1 ~ d " O l l ,FLAK SUCh an tt:q During A P r l ~ E P C l l ' r I I C l l t t t e l ~mand a i rcraf t I VII ri 2Loss and d lew ~ 7 i J l t a r itt.0.59 percentamege ~ to l!'t:tidalll8ged and th rWith bra tlq,As of 7 aa lost I sumsd th e ~ ~ i l l tlleh'llr .bagan s t r ik e or VlJl ..home iSland:s ~ g a l l l S t ~ ' i ~ ' 1in addit ion toOtbHonahu &fillThe primar e BOb1b I t l i 1 . . ~ers on eseor{ mlSSion ottha fl 'break up head opeuuOlU t4t*'t ee t leedi -on attaeb IlId IIstream rr .....J8 frelelllents ot U11 .....t ,;_ vw ontal nda e ~ . 'Rhen bombers a '161 ..ntense f lak area lid Wlrt_.t e rs were no t J a ell"escort fighter:ttackillg 1 l l 1 ~insofar as they : ~ ~ d ll't'a::hU:!Iford th e maxi Itm ....bombers 0 mum , proteetiOll to Iir ne ighter .... loal .hokyo 00 7 Apr il t o a dirtel ~ I l "eavy AA. On f ighte r s.eeps to Ula nd , t he following arl thl.LI1losons leat"ned and tecttc. QlII!:The 10ll'..level group broke,,!10to a three squadrOD rO,.UIlIt"tacklng In l1oe..brl8rt"'!11t h r ee d i ff e ren t anal" n\ll e:coordination to split tblweapons defenses. WIle" -.JIr.fense instal lat tolUl " -..eXiS t. th e rlank111 tll$l" ..d es un at ed t o preas thtlr Itaga ins t A" and 10 d.' . . . .wi'th e centra l section c th e _ In target. ,Heavy gullS I8Der.111:"problem to th e ta lt ~ ! ~ , aU'"able f ighters. Virt;-::._"eae lnewrAd bfI.I ""0 I J - - "t remel y f le x Ib l e p : t . . . 111t lMed 13.2 IlIII IIfI.cb1DThere bave beeD tIPrf4I rstt'ot th e use of j ' - I I "date and th e t r " ' ~ : ' . " ; ' 1emy A" loadla&1 aPr:A-1 1 l es s thaD ,taJIlIaJ"O'

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'!tjft/HTERC(JMMANf)

cltAa wre 1be r8lllu.1't

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Recently th e VII Fighter Commabdbas issued two reports whIch sum-marize th e enemy antiaircraft op_position 8Dcountered on m1Ss1oru!l orvarious types. These reports ar eot par t icu lar in terest to personnel of this Command. tar they coverAA !Dcountered on eseor t of ou rB - 2 ~ s and give their reaction toJapLnese automatic weapons.FLAK REPORT RD. 1'l'be f i r s t P-S! and P-61 sortiestrOll Iwo J1Jaa were contined to at _tacks on the BonIn Islands chain,1105117 Chichi J1JI&. In th e monthor larch th e r ighter COUllD&nd new587 sortlea. Loss and damage dueto flak was 1 .8 percent, with ninealreratt damaged and two lost.B:eavy gunfire Is rarely employedI l g a ~ D S t t ighter e1zoeratt. Auto-matic ".pobS seldCli cOTIIlDlt them_selTee abon al t i tudes of 4,000teet. When. they do, the character_lstlcs or t1re are: meager to .04_era':;8. 1Daceurate and tl'aUiD4\:.Low-leval attacks caule vlgoraulreactloD, r ec el l'e i nt eb ae and ac..-curate f i re froll autc.atlc w"PObaand 1IIfI.chlne g\lD.I . Bcnrever. therehaa been no evldence of Aft barragefire nor do tracers appear 1l l vol ..woe.""

sulfa po"der supplied in hi s f i r s t


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snips they could see aheM justbefore their trOUble "oulO have n o ticed the flash or ttlelr explocl.lngplane on the water. 'lbe nyloncord on the sea anchor would notremain t ied, however, and eitherduring the t i r s t or the seCondnight it came loose and was lost.This .,as a serio\J3 misfortune butEllis wisely made another anchorout of his saU, aOO as tle laterworked hi s navigational problem outhe either used h19 sail as an a n chor to hold him in Position orsailed " i th i t towards Iwo when thewind was favorable

SETS SAILWhen Ell1s hit the water bewasn't exactly sure or just wherehe was. There was s strons .1ndblow-1tl8 !'rom the west which he knewwould force him ort course to theeast away from the regular path tolwo. He was not sure whether hewas anywhere near Pajores and theother upper islands d the Ilarianas,as he hadn't had a chance to c h e c ~ "

wi th th e DBvigator before jumping .He was actually afraid that hewas in th e big gap which 11es be'"tween these islands and vtnirui-I.o,so hi s maJal' objective was t o stayon th e plane trac k to lwo and hesal1ed or used hi s sea aochor, asth e wind made l t desirable, 'lhef i r s t day out, the wind blew t'r0lllth e west, and he used his sail as asea anchor. On fol101t'1M days i ts hi fte d to the south and souttl'tJestand "he scudded alOl:l8 'oebinl! bissal1 , Fran star t to t1nUh he sawno s 1p:n of th e other lDelDbers at hisplane crew, bu t be118ft1 thst i tth e navigator got dOWD a ll rightand any" of th e otherS joined up11'1 th bim, they would tr, tD p t toPaJ ores or one of the oearby lJ -lands.

After the secoocl da , out tb Iweather moderated a b it and b . di-eided to eat one or bll preoi ; :oranges. B. bad aIrMd7 ,tarl"atlol11ag hwe l t OD a.. oa:ia g what be could wb..... WU1sQUall c_ b7 aa4 - a__of 01117 _ on11AIlII" !dO - suPP17 eacb daJ. oa. tb I n,t I l txtb clay be at e tbe 110 - .....th e PaDIS ot bani-- .. ---- .....

l le d t he pierc-inglY he P ~ i f e jacket Justeord on hiS te r and thenJ;,alftJ hi t the . .8 feet thrOUAh~ $ f _ . ~ aboU\til fi l led chute'" ~ b 1 h19 5d and s et tl ed i np l " ~ t c o l l a R i ~ next concern was)lfltt ISter. nf lated , which het)1hI 1Il.5 rl t t \mile a t th e same~ ~ ~ t d to do t out of hiS pa ra''''""tltW to he got hi s legsj;II . e a l l " b ~ eshroud lines and11\ o them and theD In'' '&I:dllSOUh lost hiS chute,II raft ",8 a111 presumably ,4l.51Ppear, .. ' t st i l l thinking clear-t.JtID bU t h1zD.Selt settled inIf nus go art which was tos

~ l t e ~ l l S ~ v e s aD5 swells~ . 1 t II' _ t1nlates were about 15it t ~ o as daylight approach~ blian to take stock ot hiSI!t:lUOll.II bid nt h him the following

'lOll L'I4 aqulpalent: O"ne h al t p in t; . ater,one water-logged sig-HIatt -.!lleh wes useless as -SOOD.1 \ lOt n t, a pocket knite one:U!1;S1bla canteen,wh1ch was ia terIIlIl tor catchinp; rain water, ata;&lS, a dgoalm1rror, one f iSh.lt1t, a Ute raft petching k1 t ,, .... aoeb.cr and a sal l . For tood'kot .. re Ju9t the two oranges_I he had brought along in hiSrl1ilt tu1 t.

nES DOIrN HIS GEAR..: Illflg after he had landed he1110 t ~ o ; : ~ ~ y seasick, and stay_'U, 11th the next day and a'Ilri ba411 ~ h dry heaves wrack1Zl8. . II I _ e second day. 'lbeorv 1 rOUgh and hi s raf t!l-. I2tlrl on him about three~ t t q 1 1 8 b : ' ~ a d tlJoS11t two days,II b4 the l'llt't a hi s gear~ So he ~ n the r a f t tied.....~ ot t t l ~ ~ ~ none Of h i .""'tOl'tunes "::os 1n each atll. "' .. . lossto ~ ~ h C l r ' . h th1s tllle wu~ b e . . ..p hta ch he had pUt1 t t ~ u . O Q t , in n t he s cene ot~ be..,. heatodopes that some_"'7 bt.1lt4Oqt 011 ~ e 1 r di.treae, Or that Just betor .one of th e two

-rhey wereing, E1l1s s a i ~ i n ~ e 110..him, and f'rCQ -hethe llil." ' l ~ L to se e of th t tle ~ t e . ~ "'IlLrougb, With e sea , ~ and w ith the co:he e l l 8 ~ ' " l l equipment hav1t1A bottles IlQ ~ l ever on pUtt1 no ert ' 1 l 4 ~ ,ord.er to bai l ttl1s r 1 r ~ t '!bib'than a minute : g1'tll ~ t th e engine f irs t 30 aeethis period Ell t ian 1 l " 7 ~ l l t ~pilo t both had slln titstrength on apP17 th Illlllikeep th e Plane strail"igbt ~ ~ . : . :.ht." ....'BAIL-OOT

When the orderEllis said that he t ~ bIUbody in the rear un OlJ.&bt!"!J-t ion balled out. ~ e : . " : 1 1 ~ ...trom l a s t to leave the r tbllt:it ion, being followed I l ~ "dtately by the flight e".1 011t th e pilo t . ''0 llttl IiEllis says he jUlllPed t.IIrnose wheel hatch feet f 1 n t ~ a :

i08 th e plane wel l. u a O ~ U iwas ou t he pulled hiS r1p citw1 thhls own chute open1n,e: nonI1lJ:He then fOCUsed his etteat1luth e plane and noticed tour Ntchutes come out of I t bonth e after section and two f1'(I"forward section, He bel1end IflIla s t of these tiro rornrd elm. Ibe th a t of Donlon the pilot, U 1\1plane went over 1Dto ,wtl:Ilbank almost 'immediately thertLtw ,as if th e result ot re4UeN"sure on th e rudl!er eDd a 1 ~ :The p18ne then started an 11;ver t ical dive, .-hich .. ~ ~ 1 1 D .crash and 'brilliant _rth e surface.

LANDS sAl!LYJIIlI'Immed1ately attar t b ~ 'at tent ion turned t ; a ~ t l ; ~ament, as he was hi c ~ ~ ~iDA' th e surt'8ce andtJIti. I J ' ~ ' "any at th e other c tic' tohad. made ita prac ctll" , .Mae \ 'es t over b1Sw1JI ,0 till no t be1ng able t ~ yelt ~ could inf la te b t 0

h i t th e water W i : : : U c ~ribs inside orharness.

RE1VRNS TO TELL STORYLt. El li s t iDa ll y came around to

the point where he could be broughtbeck to hi s bome base and he "a sreleased trom the TiDian hospitalon 9 June and told hi s story 1n de_ta U to the ':'ling Air-sea RescueBoard on 10 June.P'rom the time of t he ir t ake -o ffon 14 Kay, the story runs as fol_lOll'S: As soon as the plane clearedT1n15O on its way north to th e Empire, Ell is .and most of the othermembers ot the crew went to sleept o cet eh up fo r the Job ahead. Allthe enlisted members of th e crew

had stoOd guard duty the n1ght be':'tore aDd already were rather t ired.All Ellis remembers i t , when theywere Just about two hours ou t onCOU1'fe to lwo fly1ng a headirut trom331 to 337 degrees true a t an airspeed at about lao knots, he awoketo the sound or a runawsy propeller,'!'he IfUmber 2 prop had gont! out onthem and despite the comb1ned etrortll or pllot, co-pUot aDd f l ighteORheer they were unable to feath_er the - damaged engine or ge t i tstopped, Ellis says i t was a me. t

te r of seconds only before thatengiu caught t i re and they a l lknew they wOUld have to ball out.

aid kit already had started theseto helling. He "a s s tUl too "eakto talk and must have been a l i t t l eout or h19 bead (a s who "ouldn'tbe) oecause be c ouldn I t rememberthe unit he had cane' trom, or Just'll'hat ':lad happened in th e preceedingtwo "eekS.They pu t him to bed aboard thedestroyer and started bringing himback to l i fe and health and thentook bim to 1" 0 Jioa lfhere he was

taken to one at the hospitals andallowed to continue hi s comeback.The 9tory 19 marred at this pointby the tact that hi s presence onthe i sland "a s no t immediately medeknown to the Air-S ea Rescue peopleand ,a s soon a9 he wss able to ta lk,the ltiole story ot hi s previous ex perience taken down so that th eother possible survival's could besearehed tor.

n.un. USuallybad !t that tllll8.


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U 1 , ~ 9 a pPRISON CAMP

INTERROOATIonSThe major1ty of menafter capture by t h Japanese, were takeneither to t ~ l:ew La_:::ourts (the elty lock.up),'or toJl1dsonCol.l ege, par t of whictwas then 10 use as Jap Air ForeEHeadquarters. Some of the men, par.t icularly those who hed beenOll.ptured 1n villages outside the elty,had been interrogated before t.'!eyreached these places and alreadyknew s o m e t h l ~ of the Jep 51ste:l ofslapping and beating pri soners 1norder to extract informatlon. Otherswere ini t ieted into thiS ga:;e soon

af ter their arrival.D.1ring the several days the oenstayed at these places, and attertheir removal to the PO'1 cal'lp, theywere interrogated many t iMS, (A68 ..tailed report OIl these lnterrOiP"~ i o n ! l . t o g e t 1 e r with a liSt or typical questions, r i l l be prioted la.a future issue or the A.I.lt.) Umay be Doted at tfl,1I p o 1 D t t b ~ 1that taw .eD were be&teD ano . .aned w1th tbe1r 11" ' at _ t, e r rop t10" al1ibC1l11' . . ,.ent no actual pbJI1II1any kind_!!o.t ot pleased '1ft tb HI

of Burmese collaboration indicatedthat the Japs had thee thoroughlycowed, and the Burmese were atra1dto do anything that would ",ntagon.h e t.hem. 'nley were deeen t er.ougb.to the men ;men the:' had a ch.!.l'Ir'o! _bu t they never forgot tha.t the Janswere there.

d1q.lS

e rollowing re -ort from th e XX BOf!lb~ command is basedon th e intel ' rogationof 29 c rew membe rs ,officers and e n l 1 s t e ~men, recently l ibera -ted froo a JapanesePr!N camp in Rangoqn.Al l were fran th e 40thB o m b a r ~ m e n t Group andwere p art o f a groupof 46 men repor ted-lII1ss1ng" on 14 Decembe r 1944 trom a bombing 'mission to R ~ n -Igoon. "

-;:;,. ...-- ,~ . . . . tllhll'"HI erew members landed in or

CIlI' the c1ty of Rangoon and wereIl:ost 1mcled1ately taken i nt o c us t:llly by e1ther Japanese soldiers or~ e Only one man, T /S gt . E .F .l'rtr.mer, was able to evade in:metate. Cll.pture. It was 5U days betel'! he was picked up by Burmeseturned over to th e Japs. Crewll/eZ'S report that th e Burmese

no hos ti le edv an ce s. and in1 l t e r a ~ e s seve them humane and con1 ~ l e treatment unti l the Ja pI t t Q r t i o l l . ~ r i v e d , bu t they made noelp them evade capture.' l t i : g e ~ O ~ t e who were picked up by~ _ C l l : l e Und"llS stated that it they~ l ' S 1t. etected by other vll_' ~ t b GUld be an easy matter to~ ~ l . . ! h e b u t l n getting beck to th e-..q ban Since others had seenover ~ ~ t , they had to be turn

1l0ll1e! ta the Japanese or thet:e 1ng thel/e reprisal act ion byIIecPle 'lhVillages and klll1f\/! e a ll- ov er p ic tu re

",..&,

night . 1Ib.en h. tne)' ....catch their e nad " ~ would CCGle b a c ~ ~ t e n t l : ~ 11' pretty high by e ! e . ) ' 1 ~ ~ b o l t lL\eve r no ti ced t h bQt 11011It,mirror lIbich hesJDe.lJ. t14.l Qtwhenever any p1 USfld t ' ~ t t Itthought i t use l= ' e", ....dye-marker unle S t o ~ . '__reasonably Cle!!:! s _ t b ~ 'l:t:.use or h is lD1rro; Tbb, P1.llhis l i f e . I p r o ~ l tAtter 13 dadr1ftlll1t. dur i r : ot . , ered almost 225wh1eh tilt Ii ok au. l:ll,we er and more aM l:JI! . .W:hat was goiQA on lor, baaJ ...te d a Catalina C ~ 1 : ! ~ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' "three miles away trCII ti:- ..westward a t abCJJt' 1500 '"f ee t , he estimates. I to I..He rea l ly Worked witt! h1th is t ime, and to hh ~ 1 3 : t tsomeone in th e plane all h1J;:a headed ove r. He brob .UIIre s t o f his d)'"8-tlarker at 1tlI.I.

and sure enoUi;b the p1IllI , .ove r s nd circled bb . I t_ ...ceeded to drop sollie auppl1a 1 1 and he feebly paddled ORr. IIget tiOR the p e ~ k a g e s open, !tile.bo says he waved hU IrIS III t:at ic thanks t which he rep_lid ath e 40th Group B-29 cThen addit iona! Catalll1&S c"to stand by him untll tbI.could arrive and CCIlplete thtrtcue.'l\te s tory just ablT . t 'alS:

~ ' / e are s t i l l 100kinR f %U'members of his cr!lf 111 HIback in our midst aaa 'ZlIt'"h is story S 1 t l l p l Y d 8 n ~ } ~ t 1 1 b I f f ~ill,llj fsshion, an hiS CIIlI""sat is fact ion ~ \ P l 1 n . , ari1hor se s en se , sc as1bl ' tw",were as much r8SPo otblt titf ina l rescue 88 any(C onfidential) ,

UNSEEN BY B-29s!he most heartbreeking thing ora l l was to watch fou r complete B_29strikes rl y ove r him \ ' i thout seeinn:

FISH ~ E HDf COIi?ANYA')out this time he began to tryhis hend at fIsh 1M. There weretwo types of small fUh around, onea slll!ll school of fIsh t ha t stayedunder the shade of hi s raf t , andanotler larger kind that were about10 t:J 12 inches long wit h s ha rpdorSil fins whIch he s&1d theyraised when the.v were angry. Catching e1 thar of the!8 types lIlS t ru1t_less by handl1ne 5 0' be rigged upone of hill paddles that he hadoede f rau piece or hoatltU1; dr1ttwood as a sort of elub and spearall in one. ','Ilth tMs he proceededto obtain one of the larger typesof the fish. He took one bite otthis, hew8Ve.r, and decided that hewould rather starve to death thanea t i t , as it tasted just likesuet.His in teres t In fiShing alsowaned about thiS time, as SaDesharks started sw1mmlna: against th eunderside of th e ra! 't and. as Ell ispu t i t , cocked a hungry eye a t him,Barracuda al s 0 came by. bu tthese seemed tolBve other interestsand never bothered bim. He gaveone shark a ra p on th e dorsal f inwitt one of hi s paddles when it

C8J:lE too close fo r his l1kiOR, andfo r a mirute he thought th e f ishwas g o i ~ to give him a bad timebu t i t finally went away a t t e r m a k ~in g Salle ugly lOOking passes a t hisraft . One of his major worries wasthat the sharp dorsal t ins of th esmaller rtsh would puncture h isthlll rubber raf t and that th e s torywould end r igh t there.

air intelligence report, v1n16

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