Most of the men in the 1st Lt Franklin W Crowe crew got their start in Kansas with 1st Lt John D Bartlett as Aircraft Commander. He was with them until mid-March 1945 when he was transferred to
73rd Bomb Wing Headquarters.
Lt Crowe then assumed position of Aircraft Commander.

Below are two photos of the crew with the first taken at Pratt AAF in September 1944 and
the second on Saipan December 1944.

The Bartlett crew departed Herington AAF, Kansas, on 11 October 1944,
for Mather AAF, Sacramento, California.

Their movement order, issued at Mather AAF, lists most of the crew members.
They arrived on Saipan 20 October 1944.

The B-29s of the Flight Echelon always had an enlisted man, usually the ground crew chief,
fly with them until they reached Saipan. One man on the crew was ' left behind '
and most likely reached Saipan via the Air Echelon.

Capt. Bartlett flew 15 missions on A Square 7, American Maid, before being transfered to
73rd Bomb Wing Headquarters on 21 March 1945.
Lt Crowe flew five of his nine missions on American Maid,
including one Abort and one Scratch.

His last two missions were flown on A Square 16 ( no nickname ).

In the below photos are most of the men who flew with both
Capt Bartlett and Lt Crowe. TSgt Alvin Hart is in the bottom row of each of the photos.

MACR 14593 lists the names of the men who were on A-16 when it was hit by flak
and crashed close to Osaka.
Seven of the men were with the original Bartlett crew.

The following information is extraced from the January through May 1945 869th Bomb Group Morning Reports
( provided by Roy Wall ) :

SSgt Lawrence W Beecroft left Pratt AAF as a member of the Leonard Cox crew.
He survived the ditching on 15/16 January 1945 and on
20 February was attached to 73rd Bomb Wing Headquarters.
He was there until 6 May when he returned to the 869th Bomb Squadron.

On 6 April 1945 eight men of the original Bartlett crew were released to
APO 953 ( Hawaii ) for R&R.
They returned to Saipan on 4 May 1945.
This would be the most likely time when SSgt Beecroft joined the Crowe Crew.

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In the second page are two documents from the POW Research Network Japan
concerning the Chubu Army District.
The Crowe crew discussion starts at the bottom of Page 4
with most of the material on Page 5.

Bartlett Crew Kansas
September 1944
Layout by Scott Muselin