Evening star., 1944-07-31
D. c. Sergeant Is B-29 Gunner
On Devastating Anshon Raid
BY CLYDE A. FARNSWORTH,

Nil S1BBA
BY CLYDE A. FARNSWORTH,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
ABOARD THE SUPER FORT
RESS MONSOON OVER JAP
ANESE-OCCUPIED CHINA, July
20 'DelayeO We IL aboard the
Monsoon have just witnessed a mas
terpiece OF destruction and II of us
had hand in 1t.
We saw a great part Of Japan's
facilities for manufacture of iron
and steel and related products
crumble in holocaust of smoke in
the first daylight precision test Of
the B-29 Super Fortress.
Super Fortresses by the dozen
passed the test with distinction at
Anshan on the Mukden railway. So
miles outh-southwest of Mukden
itself. 1t was a new kind of Mukden
incident that the Japanese will long
remember.
For As endless seconds this par
ticular B-29 was held on the bomb
ing run by pair Of sure hands that
once guided the plow along an Iowa
furrow. Below it looked like hell
had sprung its hinges.
What the Monsoon did was done
over and over again by other Super
Fortresses which attacked after us
There was nothing the Japanese
could do to prevent it, We saw
fighters try to reach our high alti-
tude and only turn away under our
fire. Antiaircraft fire was mostly
low and Intellectual
City Bombed for Hours.
For five minutes before the Mon
soon started her solo run, B-29s
singly and in formation had been
bombing the sprawling factory dis
trict. Two ruddy orange fires al
ready burned there, one marking q
bull's-eye hit.
Anshan was under bombing for
about an hour. The last pilots over
the target reported flames reaching
5000 feet and smoke to $4,000 and
visible as far as 160 miles.
The smoke-black, gray and sick
ly yellow-already was pluming
over Anshan's factory buildings and
railway trackage when the Monsoon
took her turn. Black blossoms OF
ack-ack bloomed around us dur
ing the three-quarters-of- minute
pass. At least two fighters strug-
gled for altitude under us as the
Monsoon added her train Of demo-
ution bombs to the seething target
FLAX was trailing the Monsoon
when the run was ended. but the
ground gunners never got our range
The pilot, Maj William c. Kings
bury, SO, of Redlands, Calf, who
had been keeping his eye peeled for
fighters and ack-ack, threw the
switches to take the control Of the
plane away from the bombardier
the instant he waved his signal OF
bombs away"
Lets get the hell out of here,
Mai. Kingsbury shouted over the
intercommunication phone.
Washingtonian Gunner.
The bombardier, Second 1t. DON
aid Barton. %, Harlan. Iowa, turned
with satisfied smile and word went
nearly 100 feet from the nose back
through the gun positions to the
tail gunner: Bombs awayl'
The Monsoon banked sickeningly,
peeled of in a surge of downhill
power and went hightailing away
from the ack-ack, back toward the
Gulf of Po. an arm Of the Yellow
Sea, at q speed which Is military
secret.
Sergt. Kenneth Bransdorf. ~, of
Washington, D. c., was top gunner.
He was studying accounting at the
University of Maryland when the
war starred.
The co-pilot was First 1t. Earl F.
Brown. %. Of Cumberland. Md. who
worked up to be day clerk in Cum
berland's Algonquin Hotel before he
enlisted in the aviation cadets.
Left Gunner Corpl. Clarence r.
Hazleton, 80, who used to stalk deer
in his (St. Marys, Pennsylvania
hills home. spotted Jap fighter
climbing toward us and fired q So
caliber burst. But Oscar was too far
away and we soon lost him.
Crew Untried in Combat.
Right Gunner Corpl George D.
Smith, 81, Baton Rouge, La, had
been looking down out of his heavy
glass blister. Smitty called out the
direct hits for the Monsoon's bombs.
That was at 11:l1 am. We had
flown the first half of an approx
mately 5000 mile round trip for that
moment. 1t was an all-daylight mis-
sion. outcome in this war as the
longest daylight bombing mission
only by the B-29s which had made
shakedown raid on Bangkok in
Thailand June s. Half the distance
to Anshan was over enemy land and
water.
y The crew of the Monsoon was a
crew untried on combat missions,
except for a start on the Bangkok
raid, from which the Monsoon
turned back with bad engine.
The Monsoon had taken on into
a red rising sun from a main Super
Fortress base in Western China. as
the lead plane of a group operating
from that field. In the early dim
light, the crewmen had lined up at
the nose of the plane for q last
minute check by Maj. Kingsbury.
This airplane never was In bet
ter shape" the major said, adding
gruf1iy, You guys keep on the ball
and work together and I'll get you
back-every damn one of YOU"
His curse was fond benediction
Nov, let's 60 and knock the hell
out of that target"
The men said little.
They had been told this raid had
been q top-drawer project for the
past year when the BIO was still
. high secret.