500th Bomb Group (VH), 871st Bomb Squadron

Aircraft Commander

Aircraft Serial Number

Nickname

MAJOR ROBERT GOLDSWORTHY

42-24656

Rosalia Rocket

Tributes to SSgt Wells can be found at

Scott Muselin's Virtual Cemetery at

Find-A-Grave

and at

Honor States

The assistance of the following is appreciated:

Roy Wall
Jim Bowman

Ed Lawson
Scott Muselin

Al Schutte
Wes Injerd

1st Lt Henry Hewson Warde, SSgt Carl Thurman Wells, Jr,
and Sgt John Alexander Wright were members of the
Major Robert Goldsworthy Crew.

Their B-29 was lost on 3 December 1944.
Four of the twelve men in the crew died as a result of the crash.

Five of the survivors were taken to the
Eastern District Tokyo Kempei Headquarters.
Three survived captivity.

1st Lt Warde, SSgt Wells, and Sgt Wright were taken to Chiba City, Japan.
Their death took place on 4 December 1944.

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SSgt Carl T Wells, Jr, was born on 31 October 1920 in Portageville, Missouri.
His parents were Carl Thurman Wells ( 1888 - 1961 ) and
Cora Mae Boatwright ( 1883 - 1958 ).

There is very little information about them at Ancestry.com.
He was their only child.

The population of Portageville in 1940 was ~2100.

He attended schools in Portageville, graduating from the high school in 1938.
There is no yearbook for this class at Ancestry.com.

However, the High School has put together class photos at their web site.
The Class of 1938 is in the third page of the

Introduction
section.

Following this commentary are a map of New Madrid County, Missouri,
and a list of Sgt Wells' stations.

According to his enlistment record, Carl Wells attended college for two years.

He enlisted in the United States Army Air Force ( USAAF ) on 9 April 1942
at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri and was there for two weeks.

He was then transferred to Scott Field, Illinois,
and the basic Radio and Radar school.

His next assignment was the Radar School at Boca Raton AAF, Florida,
from 12 September 1942 through 23 May 1943.

Following completion of these courses, he was assigned was to
Grenier Field, Manchester, New Hamshire,
from 23 May through 1 September 1943.

There is no information indicating what unit he was assigned to at this base.
At this time Grenier Field was home to Anti-Submarine squadrons as well
as a jumping off point for B-17s and B-24s flying to Europe.

His next stop was a ten day stay at Langley Field followed by
his transfer to Smoky Hills AAF, ( SHAAF ) Salina, Kansas.

He was with the 58th Bomb Wing ( VH ), 468th Bomb Group ( VH ),
at SHAAF until 8 March 1944.

In April and May 1944 the 58th Bomb Wing
departed Kansas for the CBI Theater.

Sgt Wells' last station in the United States was at
Walker Army Air Field, Victoria, Kansas,
with the 500th Bomb Group, Very Heavy.

The 500th departed Kansas for Saipan on 14 October 1944.


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NEW MADRID COUNTY
MISSOURI

source: Google Maps