When life imitates (nose) art.
— WW2 Airfields Archive (@WW2Airfields) February 14, 2023
B-29 Superfortress crew replicate the nose art which is a caricature of them in November 1944.
I believe the aircraft and crew was lost in action in 1945. pic.twitter.com/BwcNG9YnJa
I'd seen this photo before but until recently did not know the entire crew was killed in action. This is Waddy's Wagon, a B-29 Superfortress based in Saipan. The crew is imitating the caricature painted on the plane. They flew their first mission over Tokyo in November 1944. On January 9, 1945 Waddy's Wagon was shot down while attempting to escort another damaged B-29 to safety after a raid on the Nakajima aircraft factory.
The man in the lead is Captain Walter R "Waddy" Young from Oklahoma, an All-American college football player who also played in the National Football League. He volunteered for the Army Air Corps in 1941 and was 28 when he died.
The other crew members are:
Jack Vetters, pilot, Texas
John Ellis, bombardier, Missouri
Paul Garrison, navigator, Pennsylvania
George Avon, radio operator, New York
Bernard Black, flight engineer, New York
Kenneth Mansie, flight technician, Maine
Lawrence Lee, gunner, North Dakota
Wilbur Chapman, gunner, Texas
Corbett Carnegie, gunner, New York
Joseph Gatto, gunner, New York
No comments:
Post a Comment