We were to bomb Osaka but had to turn back.
— Joe Caner Swann
On this mission 449 planes were sent to bomb the Osaka Urban Area. The planes were loaded with an average of 13,000 lbs. of bombs and attacked the target in the early afternoon (12:00-1:30 pm) from 18,000 to 23,000 feet. The target was 8/10 to completely covered by clouds. About 2.2 square miles of the urban area was destroyed bringing the total area destroyed for Osaka to nearly 13.5 square miles.
The enemy put up heavy antiaircraft fire which damaged seven planes. Air opposition consisted of 10 fighters making a total of 30 attacks. Three fighters were damaged. The bombing force was escorted by 144 P-51s. The fighter pilots claimed two enemy fighters destroyed and one damaged.
Two B-29s were lost to mechanical reasons. Another 49 landed at Iwo Jima on the return trip. One of the P-51s caught fire as it neared Iwo Jima.
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 was mission 189.
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)
