Warbird Information Exchange

I didn't want to hijack Snoots Sniper Photo post and Jack Cook posted a great link so I'll ask some questions in this post.

WWII

1. What was the last combat bomber mission in the ETO?

2. What was the last combat bomber mission in the PTO, and was it the last atomic bomb mission or was there actually any missions shortly after?

3. Same questions above, but dogfights in both theaters?

See Jack's link for the last dogfight in the Pacific below

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... i_n9190658

http://home.netcom.com/~jb29miss/index.html

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

B-32s were attacked twice after the atom bomb mission and had the last casulties of WWII
Four B-32s from the 386th BS of the 312th BG based at Yontan, Okinawa were given a three-day photoreconnaissance mission near the end of the War. On the third day of the mission, August 18, 1945, two aircraft were forced to turn back and only two aircraft, the Hobo Queen and the Hobo Queen II made it to Japan. The mission involved photographing an area north and east of Tokyo. The aircraft were unescorted, as the War was over for all practical purposes over. As the two aircraft prepared to head home they were jumped by a large group of Japanese fighters including Imperial Navy A6M2 Zeros and Army Ki44 Tojos. The first attacks occurred at 1:30 PM while the aircraft were at 20,000 feet. The enemy planes made ten passes on the Hobo Queen II with little or no damage. About twenty-five passes were made at the Hobo Queen, which was under the command of Lt. John R. Anderson. Seven passes were made at the tail of the B-32 and one of the attackers blew-up. One fighter pass was made at the ball turret from below with no success, and another six were made at the forward upper turret. About six more were made at the nose turret position, and several more at the upper rear turret. Another enemy fighter blew up, and a third was scene going down smoking. The pilots went to full mix and full throttle and power-dived the B-32 from 20,000 to 10,000 feet. The Hobo Queen absorbed a lot of damage during these attacks. The radioman got the Hobo Queen II to regroup with the badly damaged Hobo Queen to provide some cover. Three men were wounded including Sgt. Anthony J. Marchione, SSgt. Joseph M. Lacharite, and Sgt. John T. Houston. Marchione and Lacharite were at the camera hatch at the rear of the aircraft when that section of the plane was riddled. Both men were hit. Despite his own wounds, SSgt. Lacharite began administering first aid to Marchione, but a second fighter pass wounded Marchione again. Despite the valiant efforts of his crewmates to keep him alive, Marchione passed away at 2:00PM. Sgt. Marchione may have been the last USAAF combat casualty of the War. SSgt. Chevalier administered first aid to SSgt. Lacharite during the long ride home. Despite being unable to bank his aircraft due a feathered prop, Lt. Anderson got the Hobo Queen down successfully.

Thanks guys, great stuff ... as usual

Last dogfight of the ETO was between a Storch and an L-4. Germans "lost"

Interesting indeed, any fine details?, when, where? ... who was the allied pilot?

R.A.F. Bomber Commands last operational sortie was against shipping in Kiel 2/3 May 1945.

It was mentioned on flypast a while ago but I couldn't find a post with much in it.

A bit here: http://www.warbirdalley.com/storch.htm

i think the last pacific fighter victory was by a p-61 black widow.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

The duel between the Storch and Cub is shown in a painting by Burt Mader and titled "Duel in the Sun" Google him and you can see the print. The L-4 was piloted by a Lt. Francies and his observer when they spotted the Storch and emptied their 45s at it. The German pilot hit a wingtip making a turn and crashed into a beet field. The cub landed and took them prisoners. In reading the Storch handbook we were told to never make a banking turn below 200 ft. Guess the pilot didn't read the book! Also one thing I was told by our German veteran was the little known fact that the Germans were trying to find someone to surrender to that weren't Russians, and weren't to sorry to be "shot" down by Americans. They were also pretty sauced up and feeling no pain.

The last large-scale B-29 mission occurred on the night of 14/15 August. The 58th, 73rd, 313th, 314th, and 315th Wings put up some 779 Superforts, 709 aircraft dropping on their primary targets. No aircraft were lost, 33 damaged, and no crew member casualties were incurred. The last Group to attack its target was the 315th, dropping on the Akita Refinery complex. There is some difference of opinion as to which aircraft dropped the last explosives on Japan, "The Uninvited" and "Horrible Monster" being the two airplanes most referred to. "Horrible Monster" was the last B-29 to take off on the mission and was the last to return from the trip, so has been assumed to be the last to drop. This mission for the 315th Wing crews was 3800 miles in 17 hours, and these guys did it without bomb bay fuel tanks! Talk about cruise control and leaning it out!

This mission actually took place amid a lot of confusion because of a stand-down that had been in effect. The 315th Wing had started a big "end of war" party on the 13th when the orders were cut for the final mission.

Scott

A ccouple of tengential items:

After the Japanese surrender, Special Duties (spy-dropping) Lysanders of 357 Sqn RAF (among other types) were used to deliver or parachute-in Japanese soldiers to tell their comrades the war was over. For an aircraft that had carried a lot of unusual passengers, that's even more out of the ordinary. Several aircraft were wrecked, and crew injured (though none killed IIRC) on these operations, and it was obviously uncertain what kind of reception they would receive.

The shooting didn't stop just because the war was over!

IIRC, 87 Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, RAAF had a PR Mosquito airborne when it recieved a call to return to base as the ceasefire was declared. I wonder how may ops were called off or cancelled?

Cheers,

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

James's post about the Special Duties flights reminded me of the many POW and civilian supply drop missions flown after cessation of hostilities. There were aircraft and crews lost during some of these missions as well, I can think of an incident in Holland (I believe) involving Fortresses, and several takeoff accidents occurred during POW resupply missions in the Pacific.

Not really related entirely to the topic, but didn't a couple of mid-airs occur during the massive Show-Of-Force mission over Japan during the surrender ceremony?

Scott

'Operation Manna'; the RAF's resupply of food to the starving Dutch in 1945, and associated US 8th AF operations should never be forgotten, and is well remembered in Holland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Manna

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Before this goes off of page 1, welcome aboard Triangle P.
It appears that everyone else is caught up in the narrative. If you've been 'on the sidelines' (I hate the term 'lurking' sounds like something the Police would make you register for) you understand how this assylum works-in any case, again welcome Triangle P and we look forward to hearing tales about your dads service...............

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-