Meeks' Marauders: Page 4- Part of the B-29 Superfortress Then and Now

I was a member of the 313th Bombardment Wing, XXI Bomber Command, 20th Air Force, 9th Bombardment Group (VH), and 99th Squadron.

Hundreds of B-29 radio operators will never forgive the guy who designed the Superfort. For the entire 14-16 hours of a mission, the operators tricked out in flak suits, Mae Wests, and parachutes, sit cooped up in a windowless cubbyhole behind the front turret. Their voices give out reports from the target, but unlike other crewmen they never actually see what is happening. The few seconds over the target are the toughest. The radioman has just enough room to tell the bombardier the bomb bays are open. Sometimes he can sneak a quick peek at Japan through the open bays.

Most of his knowledge of the battle comes from the whoops and hollers he hears over the interphone. Most combat crewmen can catch occasional naps but the radioman cannot, If he misses one flash from a ground station the whole flight can end up in the drink.

The hard and fast rules of sound radio procedure are to stay off the air unless you absolutely have to talk. If every operator on a 300-plane strike tried to send even a 1 minute transmission the ground station would be tied up for 5 hours -- too long for anyone trying to push through an SOS.

You can knock yourself out teaching radiomen to observe radio silence, but it's tougher to teach them the second most fundamental rule - listen before you send - and that means sweep the dial several KC's on either side of your frequency before you send.

Me doing wash on Tinian

Suicide Point

After months of operations against Japan, the rescue procedure is fairly well established. When a plane is in trouble, another plane will drop out and act as an escort. If the distressed plane cannot reach the ground station and radio silence has been lifted, the buddy plane will try and contact the ground station, surface craft and Army Airways Communications System for necessary bearings or pick up from a Dumbo.

The rescue system is a mutual aid society. Everyone takes turns flying Superdumbo and that can be deadly dull or as very busy. Radiomen are constantly being reminded that someone else may be in trouble.

Maj Gen Curtis LeMay himself was on the field to congratulate one operator for tuning in the Jap navy.

Strike reports - how, when, where and how much, enemy comeback and notice to alert medics - must be put on the air soon after bombs away. On weather strikes, reports must come back exactly when and as ordered. Authentication of messages has to be according to Hoyle, and not merely almost right or ground station will cut them off cold. On top of the routine of sending and receiving, the operator can't just bury his face in his hands and cry if some of his equipment is shot out. On a recent weather mission, Sgt RB Wallace had both his trailing wire and fixed liaison antennae shot out. The whole purpose of the mission would have failed if he hadn't known how to put a jumper on his command set. Over and above these regular duties, B-29 radiomen are trained as emergency medics in case of casualties in the front office. Their first aid work has brought them a sheaf of commendations.

Bad Luck in Air Cadets channeled a lot of high-grade brains into B-29 radio. The 29's skimmed the cream off many classes graduating from the famed Air Force radio schools at Sioux Falls, Scott Field and Traux Field. In 101 details the job calls for the discretion and know-how that this mans Army theoretically requires of a man who wears bars on his collar. Taken as a group, the B-29 operators look, act and talk with the assurance of men used to making and carrying out their own decisions. For long stretches, the radioman may feel like excess baggage, but in emergencies he is in virtual control of the plane as he must be as firm in his decisions as the pilot himself.

Our garden behind our barracks

B-29 radiomen point with little chagrin to the payoff - - they are frozen at Staff Sergeant and cannot make tech like their cousins in the 24's and 17's. One bitch written to stateside publications asked what is the percentage in doing well in radio school only to become a staff on B-29's, when you can take it easy and make a higher rating on the 24's? The reason generally advances is that B-29 men are not trained as gunners.

B-29 radiomen know their first and second echelon maintenance. But malfunctions are as rare as hen's teeth. "Our best friends are our superb equipment and the guys in the ground station. We've been working with these boys since we set up in the states. They work harder even than us upstairs and most of them would probably rather be flying too."

"My crew chiefs have all been aerial operators at some time", said Lt. James Goodreau, OIC of the ground station. There appeared to be only one man who had any fault to find with the Marinas B-29 radio setup. He was S Sgt Thomas J. Austin, chief mechanic of the battery of transmitters that do the sending. He complained that there were bugs in his equipment during the early days. But he meant really live bugs - not technical kinks - that flew into the sets and shorted out the circuits.