AFTERMATH

The B-29 will be forever remembered as the world’s first atomic bomber. On August 6, 1945, B-29 44-86292 ENOLA GAY of the 509th CG dropped the first atom bomb, codenamed “Little Boy,” on Hiroshima. The results were unprecedented. No fewer than 70,000 people were killed outright, while 60,000 buildings were completely destroyed. Three days later, B-29 44-27297 BOCKSCAR, carrying the “Fat Man” plutonium weapon, laid waste to Nagasaki. This bomb destroyed approximately 60 percent of the city and killed 35,000 people. On August 15 the Japanese finally capitulated.

A Ki-44-II Hei – most likely from the 70th Hikō Sentai – sits in a purpose-built revetment at Kashiwa, on the outskirts of Tokyo, in the spring of 1945. The muzzles of the wing-mounted Ho-103 12.7mm guns are covered by protective fairings. (National Museum of the USAF)

Although surrender may have brought peace, the B-29s continued to fly. Finding and locating PoW camps in China, Japan, and Korea quickly became a top priority. Once these had been located, the Twentieth Air Force assumed responsibility for air-dropping supplies to 154 of the known camps in August and September. Specially modified B-29s soon began parachuting in emergency packages that contained food for three days, plus clothing and medical kits. For three weeks, Superfortresses flew almost 1,000 mercy sorties, dropping nearly 4,500 tons of supplies to approximately 63,500 prisoners. It was an amazing feat, but it came at a cost – eight B-29s crashed, killing 79 airmen.

Captured Ki-44s of the 9th Hikō Sentai were briefly inducted into Nationalist Chinese (Kuomintang) service alongside other ex-Japanese aircraft within the 6th Fighter Bomber Group. 9th Hikō Sentai ace Yoshitaro Yoshioka remained in China to train Chinese student pilots on how to fly the Ki-84, but there is little evidence for their use in combat during the civil war. Parked behind this weary Ki-44 are two Ki-9 “Spruce” biplane trainers. (National Museum of the USAF)

At war’s end, Japanese forces occupied a wide swath of territory. According to the US Strategic Bombing Survey there were a reported 1,000 Japanese aircraft in Southeast Asia alone. There was also an unspecified number in China, Manchuria, and Korea that went unreported. Many of the serviceable aircraft left behind were quickly made operational by the newly formed post-war governments. One of the most powerful of these was the Communist Chinese Air Force (CCAF). For the first time in its history the communist Chinese possessed a modern air force, but they did not know how to use it. The CCAF’s fighter force consisted of a good number of Ki-43s and Ki-84s, as well as a handful of Ki-44s. Many of the displaced Japanese pilots and mechanics signed up as mercenaries with the communist Chinese, making the new CCAF the most powerful in northern China. The Nationalist Chinese also made limited use of the abandoned Japanese aircraft, as they also took charge of similar equipment to that which had been turned over to the communists. For example, the Ki-44s of the 9th Hikō Sentai at Nanking were taken on charge and pressed into service.

Originally conceived for the heavy fighter-versus-fighter role, the Ki-44 would go on to fill many different roles including bomber interceptor, air superiority fighter, ramming fighter, and nightfighter. Overshadowed by the more famous A6M Zero-sen (in both the fighter role and kamikaze) and the numerically superior Ki-43 “Oscar,” the Ki-44 has never been viewed as one of the great fighters of World War II. Its limited production run of 1,225 examples represented just nine percent of the JAAF single-seat fighter production, limiting its use and effectiveness.

The B-29 would be one of a handful of World War II aircraft to see action in two conflicts. On June 25, 1950 North Korean troops crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea, thus starting the Korean War. At the time the Far East Air Force (FEAF) was equipped with 22 B-29s (many were World War II veterans), 24 weather reconnaissance WB-29s, six reconnaissance RB-29s, and four ASR SB-29s. It was over Korea that CFC gunners would encounter a new and far deadlier enemy than the Ki-44. In the late fall of 1950 the swept-wing MiG-15 jet fighter appeared in the skies over North Korea. The number of communist jet fighters steadily increased through 1951, and on October 23 that year eight B-29s from the 307th BG encountered more than 50 MiG-15s. Out-gunned and out-ranged, three B-29s were shot down and five badly damaged. The MiG-15 was proving to be a tough adversary, with the bomber’s 0.50-cal machine guns being considered “worthless” against it. Shortly after this mauling the B-29 returned to its more familiar role as a night bomber, relying on the cover of darkness to help shield it from marauding, but radarless, MiG-15s.

CFC gunners would be credited with 16 MiG-15s shot down, but like the claims made in World War II, this figure was highly inflated. Indeed, many gunners believed they never hit a thing when trying to defend their aircraft from jet fighter attack.

The B-29’s war in Korea ended in July 1953. After three years of conflict, Superfortresses from the FEAF and Strategic Air Command (SAC) had flown more than 21,000 sorties and dropped nearly 167,000 tons of bombs. A total of 34 B-29s had been lost in combat, 16 to fighters, four to flak, and 14 to other causes.

Construction of the B-29 ended in May 1946, with the last example rolling off Boeing’s Renton production line on the 28th of that month. Hundreds of new and combat-weary examples were put into storage, many of which would eventually be returned to service during the Korean War. As part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP), the Royal Air Force also received 84 B-29As and three B-29s between 1950 and 1952. Given the name Washington, none of these aircraft were nuclear capable. They would serve in the bomber role with the RAF until 1954, when they were returned to the USA.

The blackened exterior of this 19th BG B-29 gives it an ominous appearance. The group was based at Kadena air base, on Okinawa, during the Korean War, its trio of squadrons (28th, 30th, and 93rd) being immediately thrown into action attacking invading North Korean troops and other targets from June 28, 1950. By war’s end three years later the 19th had completed almost 650 combat missions. (National Museum of the USAF)

When SAC formed on March 21, 1946 the small number of Silverplate B-29s assigned to the 509th CG were the only nuclear bombers in the world (at that point the USAAF had nine nuclear weapons and 27 B-29s capable of delivering them). They would retain this distinction until replaced by the Convair B-36 Peacemaker in the summer of 1948.