1st Lt Joe Stanley McSpadden
Osaka

Sanadayama Military Cemetery

73rd Bomb Wing Mission 65
Page 4

 

The two documents in this page are from the
497th Bomb Group Mission Report.

The first diagram shows the location where
the B-29s were parked in their hardstands on Saipan.

On this same page is the planned Group formation diagram,
naming each Aircraft Commander and his B-29 Tail Number.

At the top is Capt Geyer flying in A Square 51 ( A-51).

With him was Col Arnold Johnson, 497th Bomb Group Commander,
flying as Mission Commander

To the left and slightly below A-51 is Lt McSpadden in A-56.

Aircraft with a Square around their tail number were scratched ( did not fly the mission).
Those with a Triangle aborted the mission at some point after takeoff.

In the next document is a paragraph titled
Criticism of Mission Planning.

This gives a hint of one of the problems encountered during the mission.

The formation over the target at the bottom of the page
can be compared to the below diagram .

 

HARDSTANDS
LT McSPADDEN AND A-56 HIGHLITED WITH BLUE RECTANGLE

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CRITICISM OF MISSION PLANNING
source : 497th Bomb Group Mission Report

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