On the 15th of February, 15 aircraft were airborne in a strike against the Mitsubishi Aircraft engine Factory at Nagoya. Because of weather, only four aircraft attacked the primary. Hachijo Jima, Hamamatsu, and Maisaka and Fukuda were attached by our planes on this mission.
Twenty aircraft hit the port and urban area of Tokyo on the 19th of February. This was a secondary target and was attacked because the primary, the Nakajima Aircraft Engine factory, was socked in. Kawasaki, Toyohashi and Shisucka were last resort targets attacked this day.
Tokyo was the target on the 25th of February, eight aircraft bombed the primary by radar, and seven aircraft hit last resort targets of Hamamatsu, Toychashi, Numazu and Kaga.
The Musashina Aircraft Engine Factory in Tokyo was the target March the 4th, but because of inclement weather, the port and urban area of Tokyo was attacked. Twenty-one aircraft dropped 250 500 lb M17 incendiaries on Tokyo and 12 500lb M17s on Hamamatsu.
Early morning of 10 March, the Group attacked the port and urban area of Tokyo from 6,400 feet in the first of the low level attacks. Twenty aircraft dropped incendiaries on the primary, and other aircraft hit Kamisugoura Airfield, Haha Jima , Chichi Jima and Guguan. Captain B. L. McCaskill, with Lt. Col. Macombe as pilot, ditched on return to base. All aboard were rescued.
The second of the low historic blitz missions came on the night of 11/12 March when 25 aircraft bombed the port and urban area of Nagoya. Our planes loaded with E-46 incendiaries went in between 7,500 and 8,00 feet. Results were not as good as we had expected.
Osaka's port and urban area was next on the list for the Group. 26 aircraft unloaded incendiary bombs from 5,000 to 9,400 feet early on the morning of the 14th. Eleven attacks from enemy fighters were experienced, but we received only minor damage.
On the night of 16/17 March 32 aircraft attacked the great shipbuilding center of Kobe. We carried incendiaries and frag clusters - excellent results were obtained with no losses to the Group.
Nagoya was again bombed on the night of 18/19 by 31 aircraft from the Group. Heavy, accurate flak was encountered, and Captain Shipp was forced to ditch after number 2 and 3 engines received flak hits. All aboard were rescued by the destroyer Gatlin after floating for 38 hours.
Twenty-one B-29s from the Group struck the Mitsubishi Aircraft Engine Plant on the 24th of March. Results looked good but photo reconnaissance showed we were a little short of the MPI. However considerable damage was done to the city. Heavy flak was encountered over the bay and dock area.
On the 27th of March, the Group inaugurated a new type of warfare when they dropped aerial mines in the Shiomonoseki Straits area. Here we encountered the most accurate flak and search- lights to date. Many aircraft were hit, but we had no casualties. Mining was continued on the night of the 30th when 25 aircraft dropped 297 mines in Love Field in the Straits area.
On the 3rd of April, 29 aircraft were airborne on two separate missions, Nine aircraft proceeded to the Inland Sea area near Kure where they dropped 88 mines. Twenty aircraft went to the Nakajima Aircraft Engine Plant at Koizumi. Four aircraft found visual bombing possible, the balance hit the port and urban area of Tokyo as briefed.
The Mitsubishi Aircraft Engine Works at Nagoya were attacked on the 7th of April. Thirty -two planes were airborne, 21 of which struck the assigned target and virtually destroyed it. Hamamatsu, Ujiyamada, Akazaki, Kushimoto and Owase were also attacked on this mission. We destroyed 8 enemy aircraft with 3 probables and 7 damaged.
Kanoya East Airfield was the target on the 8th of April, but because of weather difficulties, a primary radar target at the city of Kagoshima was attacked. One aircraft formed with the 6th Bombardment Group and attacked the primary visual.
Ten aircraft reinforced minefield Mike in the Shiomonoseki Straits area on the night of the 9th of April.
The longest mission to date was flown on the 12th of April when two Squadrons went to the Hodagaya Chemical Plant at Koriyama. McGugin and Wilcox led the mission and had to go around twice to avoid a collision, and McIntyre went in all alone. The arsenal area of Tokyo was hit on the night of the 13/14th of April. Thirty-five aircraft hit the target with excellent results. Lieutenant Kretzer and crew were lost on this mission. Many "balls of fire" were encountered in the target area.
Twenty-five aircraft unloaded fire bombs on Kawasaki on the night of the 15/16th of April. Harper had his number 4 engine shot out over the target and had to crash land at Iwo. Found his right wing gas tank holed, elevator tip shot off and aileron cable cut. Two Squadrons attacked Kokubu Airfield on Southern Kyushu on the 17th of April. Enemy opposition was weak and ineffective and results were excellent.
Kokubu Airfield was the target again on the 21st when 22 aircraft bombed in three formations with good results. Kushira Airfield on Kyushu was the next target on the list, but because of weather difficulties only two planes got to it. Five other aircraft attacked Kanoya Airfield. We went back to strategic bombing on the 24th of April when 10 aircraft from the Group bombed the Hitachi Aircraft Company west of Tokyo.
On the 26th of April we were back on the airfields. Eighteen aircraft attacked Nittagahara Airfield on Southern Kyushu by radar methods. Kokubu Airfield was attacked again on the 27th of April by eight aircraft from the Group. Kokubu was hit again on the 28th by two Squadrons. The Tachikawa Army Air Arsenal was the next target to be hit, but because of cloud cover the formation of 9 aircraft attacked the Japanese Propeller Plant at Hamamatsu. Twenty-three aircraft were airborne on the night of the 3/4th May to reinforce minefield Mike in the Shimonoseki area and Able in the Kobe-Osaka area.
Opposition was light and the mines were dropped as briefed. Mining continued on the night of the 5/6th of May when 24 aircraft were airborne in a strike against three minefields. King Field in the Tokuyama area, Able in the Kobe-Osaka area and Tare in the Nagoya area were reinforced.
On the 7th of May, two formations attacked airfields at Oita and Usa. The formation on the Oita raid made a second pass at the target and was jumped by approximately 60 fighters. 1st Lt Richard A. Gray and crew went down over the target, and Lt Andrew DeV. Penn, who was injured over the target, was lost in ditching. The formation at USA ran into stiff fighter opposition also, and Lt McKillip was rammed over the target by an enemy fighter.
The Okinawa Campaign support continued on the 10th when the two formations attacked Miyazaki and Kanoya Airfields. The formation attacking Kanoya received aggressive enemy aircraft attacks. Saeki Airfield was next on the list. Eight aircraft attacked with excellent results on the 11th of May. The urban area of Nagoya was attacked with incendiary bombs on the 14th of May with excellent results . Captain Kelly ditched on return, and Lt Low bailed his crew out over Iwo Jima. Nagoya was attacked again on the night of 16/17th of May. The target was completely covered by clouds and we experienced very little in the way of enemy defenses.
Twenty-four aircraft carried general purpose bombs on a raid to Hamamatsu on the 19th of May. lst Lt Tony Obert crashed into the sea shortly after take off on this mission. Thirty-five aircraft attacked the urban area of Tokyo on the night of 23/24 of May. Bombing results were achieved. Approximately 40 "balls of fire" were observed from the target area to landsend.
Tokyo was again the target on the night of 25/26 May. Heavy, intense, accurate flak was encountered over the target, and we lost four crews this night. Colonel Charles Eisenhart and Captain Jones led the entire XXI Bomber Command in the highly successful daylight incendiary attack on Yokohama on the 29th day of May. Yokohama was never again a target for B-29s. Thirty-one planes started the month's operations in a daylight incendiary raid. Eighteen of our aircraft were damaged by flak, and one plane was lost over the target. Results were excellent.
On the night of 7/8 June, we commenced a period of mining which lasted until the 4th of July. All mining done in the XXI Bomber Command during this period was carried out by the 505th Bombardment Group in the most successful operation of its kind in the history of warfare. Twenty-six aircraft reinforced minefields Mike, Love and Charlie on the night of 7/8 June. Twenty-eight planes were airborne on the night of 9/10 June to sow mines in the fields of Love and Mike in the Shimonoseki Straits area.
On the night of 11/12 June, 26 planes sowed mines in minefields Mike and Zebra, located in Tsuruga Bay, was a new field for this Group. Thirty planes were airborne on the night of 13/14 June on a mining mission against mine- fields Love and Uncle. Three forces of thirty aircraft attacked minefields Charlie, Nan and Mike on the night of 15/16 June. Twenty-eight aircraft reinforced minefields Mike and Able on the night of 17/18 June. Twenty-eight planes were airborne on the 19/20 June to reinforce minefields Mike, Uncle and Zebra and twenty-eight planes dropped 232 mines. In the early morning hours of the 22nd of June, 30 aircraft attacked minefields X-ray, Yoke and Uncle were next reinforced when 27 planes were airborne on the night of 23/24 June.