PERDITION 1, XXI Bomber Command Mission Number 67 ,
was a Maximum Effort
Every available B-29 in the Marianas flew this mission .
Three of the seven B-29s lost on this mission
were from the 73rd Bomb Wing.
One of these was V-23 from the 499th Bomb Group
with Capt Will Latimer, Jr, as Aircraft Commander.
Below is the Mission Black Board for the 499th Bomb Group.
In the upper right corner is V608, Call Sign for the 499th.
Capt Latimer's name appears next to #23
and in the far right column is the word MISSING.
Below the Black Board is a teletype summary from
XXI Bomber Command. In the first sentence are the words :
FOLLOWING PLANES LOST WITH NO WORD....
There is overlap between the Mission and Latimer Crew sections.
Information concerning the crash site came from TSgt Louis Vance,
the only member of the crew to survive the War.
His statements are in the
Latimer Crew
section.
Below the Teletype are three Navigation Charts.
The first is the chart used by the Radar Counter Measure Officer
and shows the complete track from Saipan to Tokyo and back.
This is followed by a chart with part of the track approaching Tokyo
shown.
A closer view is in the third chart showing
the entry and exit points to and from the target.
To the left of these times is Chosi Point.
Capt Latimer's B-29 went down between Tokyo and Chosi Point.
