Update
31 January 2024

Introduction Page 2

has updated information concerning location
where B-29 was rammed

500th Bomb Group Very Heavy

AIRCRAFT
COMMANDER

B-29 SERIAL NUMBER

NICKNAME

SAMUELSON

42-24692

Z SQUARE 12

The assistance of the following is appreciated :

Roy Wall
Ed Lawson

Scott Muselin
Jim Bowman

Randy Watkins

Air Force Historical Research Agency

National Archives, St Louis, Missouri

Ancestry.com

Perry-Castaneda Map Collection
University of Texas, Austin

A tribute to Sgt Robert James Janecek
can be found at Scott Muselin's

500th Bomb Group Virtual Cemetery

CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
FRIDAY
11 MARCH 1945

source: Cleveland Public Library

Sgt Robert James Janecek was born 9 December 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio.

His parents were Joseph R Janecek ( 1901 - 1963 ) and Helen Hahn ( 1904 - 1982 ).

He was the oldest of their three children.

There is very little information concerning Sgt Robert James Janecek
other than what is in his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF ).

A few documents in the Introduction section are from Ancestry.com

The below biography is in one of the Family Trees at Ancestry.com
The author is a cousin but no name or dates are provided.

In there is a description of how the B-29 ( Z SQUARE 12 )
that the Samuelson Crew
was flying the 19 Feburary 1945 mission was lost.

Following the Biography is a document with a list of Sgt Janecek's stations.

Included is the location of his death,
the Tokyo Temporary First Military Hospital located in Ushigome-ku.

A map of this location is in the
Introduction
section

Following this list is a statement by Tech Sgt Robert Evans,
the sole survivor from the Samuelson Crew.

The Primary Target for the mission that the
Samuelson Crew flew on 19 February 1945
was the Musashino Air Craft plant located north of Tokyo.

Undercast made visual bombing impossible and the B-29s
headed to the Secondary Target,
the Tokyo Dock Area.

Documents within his IDPF state
two different locations where Z Square 12 was rammed.

This difference appears in several of the sections,
with the dates of reports ranging from 1945 through 1949.

Based upon where Z Square 12 and nine of the crew members were found,
my estimate is in the area of Uenohara, Yamanisihi Prefecture.

In the
Samuelson Crew
section

is a captioned crew photo from
the Ed Lawson Collection.
At the bottom are the words :

Shot down 30 miles NW of Tokyo.

BIOGRAPHY

source: Ancestry.com

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BIOGRAPHY SOURCE

source at Ancestry : Unknown

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STATIONS IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES
DECEMBER 1942 - NOVEMBER 1944

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STATEMENT BY TECH SGT ROBERT F EVANS
13 JULY 1946
SOLE SURVIVOR OF SAMUELSON CREW

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