We took off to bomb Tahikawa Airplane Engine Plant west of Tokyo. We went over at 10,000 ft. There was plenty of flack and a few holes. There were some fighters. Take off: 2:30, Land: 16:55.
— Joe Caner Swann
The target for this mission was the Hitachi Aircraft Plant in Tachikawa. A total of 131 bombers between the 73rd, 313th, and 314th Bomb Wings participated. The target was attacked around 10:00 am from an altitude of 10,000 to 14,500 feet.
The bombers carried about 10,000 lbs. of bombs. While the weather was at most 2/10 cloudy smoke obscured the target. Several buildings suffered direct hits. Eight planes of the 73rd Bomb Wing bombed the Shizuoka Aircraft Plant as a secondary target. This target received 60 visible hits and four small buildings were destroyed.
The enemy responded with heavy antiaircraft fire and 249 aggressive fighter attacks. Seventeen enemy planes confirmed destroyed with and additional twenty-three probables, and twenty-five more damaged.
A total of five aircraft were lost: two to flack, one to fighter attack, one had an accident, and the fate of the remaining plane unknown.
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. This is mission 96.
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)
