497th Bomb Group (VH), 869th Bomb Squadron

AIRCRAFT COMMANDER

AIRCRAFT SERIAL NUMBER

NICKNAME

CROWE

42-65348

Unless otherwise noted, the source of the documents in these pages is :

SSgt Russell Warren Strong's
Individual Deceased Personnel File ( IDPF )

source: National Archives, St Louis
Roy Wall



The assistance of the following is appreciated:

Ed Lawson
Scott Muselin
Jim Bowman

Sam Pennartz
Dick Beck
POW Research Network Japan
National Archives, Maryland and St Louis

497th Bomb Group Virtual Cemetery

Scott Muselin

Russell Warren Strong was born on 23 February 1921 in South Windsor, Connecticut,
located ~5 miles north of Hartford.
He was the eldest of Herbert and Pearl Strong's three sons.

He was raised within a radius of 10 miles of Hartford,
attending Middletown High School close to his parents' home in East Hampton.

Following his graduation from high school in 1939,
he worked at a machine shop in New Britain, also near Hartford.

His Registration Card is below and is dated 16 February 1942.
In October of that year he enlisted in the US Army.

A few of the documents in his IDPF state that his
Entry into Active Duty took place 14 November 1942

There is no list of stations in his IDPF .
Based upon his dental records, following basic training he attended the
Radio School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota , in February 1943.

This was a general radio school and students were directed to
other schools based on their performance there.

From Sioux Falls he was transferred to Boca Raton AAF and Radar School.
He was there in April 1944 and close to completing his training.

His next station was Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas,
where the 497th Bomb Group conducted its training.

He arrived in mid-May 1944 and was assigned to the 869th Bomb Squadron.
This order is the last document below.

During this time he joined the 1st Lt John D Bartlett Crew.

In October 1944 the crew was part of the Flight Echelon and
transferred to Herington AAF, Kansas, for processing.

Ten members of the crew flew on their B-29 to Saipan,
departing Kansas on 11 October and arriving at Saipan on the 20th.

Lt Bartlett was the Aircraft Commander and Lt Franklin Crowe was the Pilot.

In mid-March 1945 Lt Bartlett was transferred to
the 73rd Bomb Wing Headquarters as Assistant Training Officer.
Lt Crowe took over as Aircraft Commander.

Lt Bartlett flew A-7, Serial Number 42-24593 and
Lt Crowe A-16, Serial Number 42-65348.

In the Crew Section you will find some information about the
Bartlett and Crowe crews.

A-16, flown by Lt Crowe, was hit by flak during the 1 June 1945 mission to Osaka.

Four of the men were able to bail out and
the other seven died when the B-29 crashed in the vicinity of Mt Sanjo.


In the Mission section you will see some of the documents that led to
confusion where the B-29 crashed.
Some state that the aircraft ditched 90 miles out to sea.

A starting point to get an overall view of what took place with the four survivors is in the

Change in Date of Death
section


Throughout the documents you will find a statement similar to
" Crashed at sea 90 miles south of Osaka. "
This is not correct.
The B-29 flown by Lt Crowe crashed at Mt Sanjo, southeast of Osaka

There are overlaps between some sections in Sgt Strong's page.

In particular, this is found in
Coming Home and Correspondence

Following his Registration Card below are his Enlistment Record and
one page from Special Order 236 issued at Pratt Army Air Field in August 1944.

This order has 25 pages and
lists the men who will be in the Flight or Air Echelons.

Those in the Flight Echelon will fly their B-29 from Herington AAF to Saipan.

The Air Echelon will travel by rail to Hamilton AAF, the Aerial Port of Embarkation.
From there the men will be transported on C-54s to Saipan.

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REGISTRATION CARD
FRONT
16 FEBRUARY 1942

source: Ancestry.com

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REGISTRATION CARD
BACK
16 FEBRUARY 1942

source: Ancestry.com

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ENLISTMENT RECORD
PAGE 1

source: National Archives

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ENLISTMENT RECORD
PAGE 2

source: National Archives

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SPECIAL ORDERS NUMBER 99
HQ 497TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP ( VERY HEAVY )
PRATT ARMY AIR FIEDL
16 MAY 1944

source: REEL B0662
Air Force Historical Research Agency

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