B-29 - American Beauty

[MikeC]

I saw in the "B-29 Losses During Dates of Missions to Kobe, Japan", a B-29 "American Beauty"'s crew's fate was unknown. My great-grandfather gave me a story and it appears to exactly match the June 5, 1945 mission. Here are some notable parts of the story:

Mission: Fly from base at Tinian in the Mariannas in Western Pacific to bomb naval arsenal at Kobe, Japan. Formation had eleven B-29s.

Date: June 5, 1945

American Beauty Crew (Those who are indentified) -

• First Pilot: Robert Mills, also was Flight Commander
  Co-Pilot: (First Name Not Given) Barnes
  Navigator: John Frens
  Bombardier: (First Name Not Given) Satler

The plane recieved damage during the mission and decides to land at Iwo Jima. The aircraft crashed upon landing at Iwo Jima. He says Satler was knocked unconscious and the only one injured, but recovered later.


Here are some specific details that he gave in the story:

• Identifies Bob Skelley as the pilot of the number two aircraft;
  
  89% of the bombs from the formation fell within 1000 ft. of the aiming point;
  
  Says that the gunner reports he was watching one of the formation's B-29s trailing a thin stream of white smoke and then explodes (was not able to identify aircraft); and
  
  At Iwo Jima, notices an airplane make a ditch into the water.

Unfortunately, in the story, he didn't give any serial numbers or which bomber group & squadron he was part of. However, I might be able to find this information in other things that I have from him.

If it helps any, the tail number of his plane was 703.

Hopefully this will information will help and maybe someone can add to this.[/list][/list]

[Daniel Leahy]

After a brief web search I came across this site:
http://www.20thaf.org/groups/ac%20data/468th_AC.htm
It lists "American Beauty" as being B-29 42-24703 of the 792nd BS, 468th BG.

I've also checked the Army Air Force website's MACR database for B-29 losses on June 5, 1945 - Looks to be quite a few:

42-24742 : MACR 14858 : 498th BG
42-24809 : MACR 14603 : 29th BG
42-63451 : MACR 14606 : 444th BG
42-65336 : MACR 14394 : 462nd BG
44-41126 : MACR 14847 : 22nd BG
44-69665 : MACR 14390 : 468th BG
44-69766 : MACR 14602 : 330th BG
44-70008 : MACR 14604 : 29th BG

[shootski]

Are you still looking for info on Mills?

[AmericanBeauty703]

The American Beauty was part of the 58th Bombardment Wing, 468th Bombardment Group, 792nd Bomb Squadron as best as I can tell.

My dad was the bombardier.
His name was Lt. Earl G. Statler.

He talked about the crash many times. They were coming back from a mission and running low on fuel, they got permission to land on Iwo Jima. When the pilot realized that they were going to crash he told my dad, "Statler, get the hell out of there." Just as my dad stepped over his seat, they hit, and he was thrown back into the nose of the plane fracturing his back. He was in a body cast for about 6 months. He did recover.

The co-pilot was Lt. Robert L. Barnes as listed in a pub about the "Billy Mitchell Group" 468th BG during Feb. 1945. It can be found online. It discribes another time in Feb. the American Beauty sustained bullet damage but made it back ok. Only my dad, Lt Earl G. Statler and Lt. Robert L. Barnes were injured. (He had another great story for that one)

May I ask: was your great-grandfather on the American Beauty? If so, what was his name.

[AmericanBeauty703]

The serial # for the American Beauty was #42-24703

Here is a link that shows the American Beauty (pic #26)
http://b-29.org/58BW/468thBG/meredith/meredith1.html

You can also find info and pics of the American Beauty on Wiki

Here is also a link to the 792nd list of aircraft
http://www.468thbombgroup.org/LinkClick ... 60&mid=536

[hgbrewster]

Hi there,
I have a notepad of my father's and it sounds like he was on the June 5,1945 mission of the American Beauty. Here is what he wrote:
"Fire-bomb raid on Kobe, lost No 1 engine over Target. crash landed at Iwo Jima. Flak & Fighters mod, but very good. The "Beauty" will never fly again. we almost cried when we saw her laying there. all smashed up."

I didn't have a close relationship with him so I never heard any of his war stories. But, several years ago, my mother found this notepad where he listed all his missions during the war and gave it to me. I think by the time she discovered it, he had already passed away. At that time, it saddened me to read it because I didn't know him well. But, I happened to find it last night while looking through some family pictures and became very interested in his notes. My mother has also passed away, so I don't have the chance to ask her any questions.

Based on his notepad, his first mission was on Dec. 14, 1944, where they blew up a railroad bridge in "Bankok." (His spelling...) From what I can gather he was stationed in China or India, (perhaps both,) then at Tinian in the Marianas Islands. He flew 24 missions, with the last one on August 14, 1945. His entry for August 15, 1945 reads, "The fighting was officially ended this morning."

His name was James R. Ashworth, and he was usually called "Jimmy." I think I was told as a child that he was a tail gunner. If anyone has more information or pictures about the crew of the American Beauty, or if you or your parent knew him, I'd love to hear from you. I also hope this helps add to the list of crew members on the plane.
Warm regards,
Helen Gaye Brewster