We bombed another air field near Tachiarai on the Island of Kyushu. We really hit it too. Fighters hit us after we dropped our bombs. I think we shot several down but was too busy to watch. We had no. 3 engine shot out and no. 1 prop off.
— Joe Caner Swann
My father records these events for April 21, and there was a mission to Tachiarai on that date (mission 88). However, his and Mr. Lind's mission lists do not show a mission flown to Tachiarai on the 17th (mission 71) rather than the 21st. The details of both are shown below even though they probably flew on the 17th.
April 17, 1945
This was a small raid to the Tachiarai Airfield (21 aircraft). The bombers arrived at the target just before 4:00 pm flying around 15,000-16,000 feet.
Visibility was clear with a light ground haze. Bombing results were good.
Enemy opposition consisted of inaccurate flack and fifteen fighter attacks. Of these one fighter was destroyed, six probably destroyed, and two were damaged.
All aircraft returned safely.
April 21, 1945
Like the April 17 mission this was a small raid to the Tachiarai Airfield (21 aircraft). The planes carried about 10,000 lbs. of bombs and flew around 18,500 to 19,000 feet. They attacked the target around 10:00 am. There were no clouds but some haze. Most of the bombs hit an open area south of the airfield.
The bombing force encountered antiaircraft fire and five fighter attacks. All aircraft returned safely though with low fuel reserves (500-600 gal.).
Additional Resources
- Read the complete journal kept by the Star Duster's right gunner, Joe Caner Swann.
- Resume of 20th Air Force Missions, (see book information on the books resources page).
- Mission resumes are also available on the Twentieth Air Force Association web site. This site is built with frames. To view the mission resumes click the "Missions" link in the top menu on the site's home page. These are missions 71 and 88.
Mission List
- Truk (October 30, 1944)
- Iwo Jima (November 8, 1944)
- Bonin Island (November 20, 1944)
- Tokyo (December 3, 1944)
- Tokyo (December 19, 1944)
- Pagan (December 30, 1944)
- Nagoya (January 3, 1945)
- Nagoya (January 14, 1945)
- Scheduled -- Grounded due to mechanical problems (January 19, 1945)
- Nagoya (January 23, 1945)
- Scheduled -- Grounded due to mechanical problems (January 27, 1945)
- Search (January 31, 1945)
- Weather Strike to Kobe (February 6, 1945)
- Incomplete (February 15, 1945)
- Tokyo (February 25, 1945)
- Tokyo (March 4, 1945)
- Tokyo (March 9, 1945)
- Nogoya (March 11, 1945)
- Kobe (March 16, 1945)
- Nagoya (March 18, 1945)
- Tachiarai (March 27, 1945)
- Dumbo (March 31, 1945)
- Tachikawa (April 3, 1945)
- Dumbo (April 7, 1945)
- Dumbo (April 13, 1945)
- Tachiarai (April 17, 1945)
- Tachikawa (April 24, 1945)
- Mayazaki (April 29, 1945)
- Fighter Escort to Tokyo (May 7, 1945)
- Tokayama (May 10, 1945)
- Nagoya (May 14, 1945)
- Nagoya (May 16, 1945)
- Tokyo (May 23, 1945)
- Tokyo (May 25, 1945)
- Yokahama (May 29, 1945)
- Fighter Escort to Osaka (June 1, 1945)
- Incomplete (June 7, 1945)
- Hitachi (June 10, 1945)
