Mission records for an airplane

[PbyCat-Guy]

I was researching my uncle's B-29 (werewolf A sq. 28) of the 497th BG 73rd BW from Saipan and was shot down near Tokyo bombing the mushashino engine facotry on 27 Jan 1945. Im wanting to figure out how many missions the aircraft and aircrew flew. Any one know where to figure this out? This is the missing piece from my research project on him. Thanks.
-PBY

[TonyM]

Obtain the unit history (on microfilm) from the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Alabama. This unit history will list who flew on which missions and with whom. The history will list what aircraft, most likely by serial number, flew on each of the missions and who flew on it. Your uncle probably flew on several different B-29s during his tour, rather than flying on the same aircraft for every mission.

The unit history microfilm reel costs about $30 a reel; some units have more than one reel. Once you have the correct microfilm reel unit history, you can go down to your local library and view them on their microfilm readers and also make copies of the pages that interest you. If you live near enough to Maxwell Field, you can just go down there and look at the reels for free. Call ahead so that they can schedule you in--you just can't show up at AFHRA without advanced notice. Civilian researchers are allowed 100 free xerox copies per visit.

Good luck with your research.

TonyM.

[Steve Birdsall]

Unfortunately the basic 497th Bomb Group monthly unit histories won't give you much. I used them for .Saga of the Superfortress and they were pretty much a first draft of the 497th book that was published by Newsfoto after the war.

73rd Bomb Wing records were much, much better.