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In WW II, great formations of hundreds of aircraft were fired at by hundreds of heavy guns. The B-29 crews, for at least a few minutes on some targets, had EVERY gun concentrating on ONE aircraft -- "yours"! The searchlights from the I.P. (Initial Point) to the target were essentially to illuminate the B-29's for orbiting MiG's, not particularly to light up B-29 targets for the ground gun crews since most AAA guns were radar controlled anyway. While radar controlled searchlights "locked on" B-29's, frequently "coning" one B-29 at the apex of the lights, |
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| MiG's would pounce on the B-29 like Yellow Jackets out of their disturbed nest. The Antung MiG Base just across the Yalu/Border and within visual sight of most major Yalu River targets was operating up to 300 MiG-15's that could not be taken out on their Chinese/Manchurian Base Refuge due to the political vagaries of the Korean War. | |
 "Bait Me" augured Sept 12, 1952 on way to Suiho |
In some "air battles", such as over the Suiho Hydroelectric Power Plant and Dam (then the 4th largest Hydro Plant and Dam in the World) on September 12, 1952, the searchlights were lined up like a boulevard on both sides of the Yalu River, tracking each aircraft that could not effectively jam (deflect) them with ECM (Electronic Counter Measures). The MiG's, in their intense pursuit of "coned targets", flew into and through some of their own flak. In spite of what was reported in official records |
| and U.S.A.F. Korean Air War histories as a 307th Group ship shot down by fighters, that aircraft and crew were lost to a direct flak hit and resultant explosion with a full bomb load with burning wreckage falling on the Manchurian side of the River. | |
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That aircraft was directly in front of us and we reported at debriefing 5 hours later that there was "'little or no possibility of survivors" and we were WRONG! The Right Gunner, 1 out of the 12 crew members aboard, had survived, evaded capture for 12 days, was a P.O.W. for 12 months, was repatriated in August of 1953 and I talked to him at Thanksgiving, 1998. But that's another story, the most incredible that I could relate! After Suiho, we started to get Marine Night Fighter cover by F3D Sky Knights |
 Bud in his gunner seat |
| a side by side tandem seat radar jet fighter from Marine Squadron VMF(N)-513. On major Yalu targets the F3D's flew at higher altitudes, orbiting between the I.P. and target, waiting for calls for assistance from the vulnerable B-29's flying their straight and level NO evasion bomb runs! The security of having this cover was a great morale boost and we frequently had them fly and play almost in our prop wash in the dark, knowing that we, by agreement, were the "gang that couldn't shoot !!!!!!!! It was great practice for their radar tracking skills but initially a little unnerving having an unidentified Bogey virtually on our tail! | |
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On one mission our Radar Observer shouted on interphone, "2 bandits (MiG's) comin' in at 10 o'clock, my side!" Heart in my throat, I reacted, "'High or low-" " I can't tell you that, our radar only shows azimuth (horizontal plain), NOT vertical or altitude!" Peeled eyeballs never saw either of them but our flight engineer looking out his escape hatch window saw 2 rocket tail flames pass just above us on their way to our 4 o'clock level. We NEVER fired! That same night at debriefing, reports of action and log position reports proved that one B-29 crew had also impulsively fired at an unidentified aircraft - another B-29 in our group, with a .50 caliber round stopping in the seat and underlying flak jacket of our Group Executive Officer, Capt. Eugene Smith! |
| In this strange war, with stranger limitations - political AND practical - B29's dropped 167,000 tons of HE and Incendiary Bombs, more than the total dropped on Japan by B-29's in WW II, excluding the A-Bombs, of course. We lost 34 B-29's in combat, several others -perhaps even more- to operational accidents related to equipment failure, severe weather, etc. And we lost several B-29's in the night raids of late December, 1952 and through Spring of 1953, but the crews still saddled up knowing they couldn't shoot back unless clearly fired upon, letting the other guy throw the "first sucker punch. What a marvelous gutsy gang, that gang that couldn't shoot ........ | |
 Bomb squadron formation |
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 Crew awaiting take-off |
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 Joe Whisman - Radio operator |
Administration Building
- Randolph Field, Texas
