Super-Fort - 25 November 1944 - XX Bomber Command

VOL. 1. NO. 1 25 NOVEMBER 1944 PRECENSORED FOR MAILING

Extends Thanksgiving Greetings . . .

"I wish to extend every good wish of a joyous Thanksgiving to every member of the XX Bomber Command. May the ensuing days be filled with continuous victories over our enemy and the peace that followd be full and lasting."

Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay Commanding General

XXBC PAPER
MAKES DEBUT
   Today, SUPER-FORT, a news publication for the XX Bomber Command, makes its debut. It hopes to develop into a powerful weapon of war as rapidly as the sleek B-29 which it symbolizes. For it is assigned the same mission, to defeat the enemy.
   Only SUPER-FORT won't use bombs and blockbusters. It will fight with words and photos and cartoons. Not to destroy, but to construct--within the mind of each man the importance and necessity of the XX Bomber Command.
   SUPER-FORT will attempt to improve morale, which an American official once said: "is as impotant as ammunition and is just as legitimate a charge against the public treasury."
   It will seek to inform the individual soldier, to give hoim a true picture of his Command and of its great task. Through photos and srticles, it will show how each unit operates and fits into the complicated machine tghat makes successful bombiong missions possible. It also will strive toward relaxation, with interesting features and humorous cartoons.
   SUPER-FORT will inform and entertain. That is its mission.

SOLICITS XX BC NEWS FEATURES

Calling all writers, photographers and cartoonists. SUPER-FORT solicits all copy dealing with anything of interest to XX Bomber Command personnel. Address all correspondence to SUPER-FORT, XX Bomber Command, APO 493, India-Burma Theatre.

DOWN TWENTY
JAP PLANES

By Staff Writer
   HEADQUARTERS XX BOMBER COMMAND --- Omura was blasted for the third time within three weeks Tuesday as Supwerfortresses from this commnad continued the strategic reduction of the large aircraft factory on Kyushu Isalnd. Shanghai and Nanking also were hit during the daylight mission.
   Unlike the Nov. 11 attack upon the same three targets, the B-29s encountered strong fighter plane opposition. Communique No. 22, released by the XX Air Force at Washington, Stated:
   "Our aircraft report that they destroyed 20 Japanese attacking planes wioth 17 probables aand 19 others damaged. Anti-aircraft opposition, however, was meager."
   The bombing at Omura was accomplished by precision instruments through a heavy cloud undercast. Results were not observed. The communique added that weather caused diversions of part of the effort and some of the aircraft bombed the docks at Nanking, while others attacked military storage and trans-shipment facilities around Shanghai.
   "At Shanghai the observed bombing results were fair to good. At Nanking the observed results wwere good with at least two direct hits on warehouses."
   For the first time on a XX Bomber Command mission two planes were down over the target. One is also reported as missing.
   Omura, an aircraft assembly, repair and training installation on the east coast of Omura Bay, was first bombed by Superfortresses October 25. The area, vital to the Japanese war machine, is a prize target.
   The modernly designed plant was built by the Japanese during the present war as one of the Keystones of her air power. It comprises some 75 buildings with 2,500,000 square feet of covered roof and is large by any standard of comparison for aircraft production and engine maintenance.

NEW SERVICE CLUB....
APO 215 -- Enlisted men scan the books in the Orientation and Writing room, under the direction of Miss Lorraine Stanley, American REd Cross, and enjoy themselves by the many comforts provided in the Louinge room.

OPENS NEW SERVICE CLUB, BALL FIELD

   APO 215, INDIA - Weeks of feverish preparations were climaxed here recently with the dedication of the Service Club and official opening of a new baseball diamond.
   Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Commanding General of the XX Bomber Command, participated in all evemts. He reviewed the troops, presented decorations, helped dedicate The Runway, new service club, and pitched the first ball at the baseball game.
   The Runway, one of the finest clubs in India, was presented by Col. Alva L. Harvey to Sgt. Orville Foster, who accepted it for the enlisted men. It had been previously presented to Gen. LeMay, then turned over to Col. Harvey. Furnished and equipped by Special Services, the club is now under the management of Lorraine Stanley, American Red Cross.
   A band concert stage show concluded the program.

P R E C I S I O N B O M B I N G

BEFORE.....
Superfortresses from the XX Bomber Command paid a surprise visit redcently to Rangoon where the Kalagon Marshalling yards looked like this.

AFTER.....
The raid, the railroa yards were nothing but wreckage. Contrary to Japanese reports, nearly all bombs hit the target.

JAP TARGETS WELL DISPERSED

QUICK VICTORY
TALK ALL BUNK
   (ANS) -- "Boy, are those Japanese cities bunched together -- they'll go down like a stack of cards!"
   "Yes, our B-29's will level their factories in short order."
   "Of course, we may have to land some ground troops . . ."
   Bunk. And dangerous bunk, too. In going to work against Japan's home industry, the Twentieth Bomber Command -- and other elements of the USAAF, as they join in -- must fly to points as widespread as the industrial centers of pre-invasion Germany.
   The 600-mile span of war-busy cities in Japan proper is greater than the distance between Paris and Berlin. If you include the imperial arsenal of Manchukuo, the targets are still more widely dispersed. For the 1,000-odd miles sepearating Tokyo from Harbin are about the distance from Koenigsburg, in East Prussia, to the Atlantic port of Brest -- the maximum spread of European targets covered by Allied bombers before our summer invasion.
   Some of Japan's target concentrations -- the Tokyo-Yokahama area, for example, or Osaka-Kobe -- do seem choice setups to air attack; but so did Germany's Ruhr valley and countless factory regions which have kept on producing despite heavy bomb damage.
   Japanese home industry is distributed mainly among 15 or more cities, ao grouped as to comprise six major productive areas. Four of these are situated on the main island of Honshu, and two on the southernmost large island, Kyushu.

EASTERN HONSHU
   Tokyo, Yokahama, Kawasaki and Taurumi, on the east coast of Honshu, make up the No. 1 industrial center, with a combined population of 9,000,000. Tokyo, Japan's capital amnd leading metropolis, is almost as large as New York City. It leads the country in manufacture of light electrical equipment and airplane parts, and is second in machine tools. More than 100 plants her make parts for planes assembled elsewhere. Tokyo also figures vitally in the output of chemicals, nonferrous metals, rubber processing and small iron and steel products.
   YOKAHAMA is the "port for Tokyo," and even aside from naval installations probably built since war began, is still Japan's first seaport and top ship building center. The Nissen auto plant, Japan's biggest up to Pearl Harbor doubtless makes tanks, jeeps, tractors, mobile artillery mounts, and truck and plane parts. Two of the nation's most important heavy electrical equipment plants tunr out genrators, transformers and similar essaential machinery.
   KAWASAKI resembles Yokohama industrially, with heavy electrical equipment, chemicals and some sircraft and auto plants.
   TSURUMI has chemical, steel, automotive and synthetic oil plants. Japan probably is counting on Tsurumi's poil output to keep her going when the Allies cut supply routes from stolen fields elsewhere in Asia and in the south Pacific.

SOUTHERN HONSHU
   Next in importance is southern Honshu, where Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Amagasaki (total population 5,500,000) figure prominently in shipbuilding and industry of all types. The OSAKA-KOBE area, a single industrial entity about the size of Chicago, offers one of the choicest targets in Japan. It probably tops Yokohama in wartime shipbuilding. The cities are second in steel and iron production and second in machine tools. Osaka is an extremely important chemical center and produces considerable light electrical equipment as well as airplane parts, ordnance and bearings.

B-29 BOX SCORE

June 5...........Bangkok
June 15...........Yawata
July 7............Sasebo
July 29...........Anahan
Aug. 10........Palembang
Aug. 10.........Nagasaki
Aug. 20...........Yawata
Sept. 8...........Anahan
Sept. 26..........Anahan
Oct. 14..........Okayama
Oct. 16..........Okayama

Oct. 16............Heito
Oct. 17.........Einanaho
Oct. 25............Omura
Nov. 3...........Rangoon
Nov. 5.........Singapore
Nov. 11............Omura
Nov. 11..........Nanking
Nov. 11.........Shanghai
Nov. 21............Omura
Nov. 21..........Nanking
Nov. 21.........Shanghai

   KYOTO, closely affiliated with Osaka-Kobe, turns out ships, airplane parts, chemicals, light electrical goods and some ordnance.
   AMAGASAKI, a smaller city adjacent to Kobe, is an important chemical center, and produces substantial quantities of iron, steel and electrical equipment.

CENTRAL HONSHU
   A third industrial region, NAGOYA, in narrow central Honshu, probably is Japan's first city in production of war goods, although topped by the Tokyo-Yokohama area as a whole. Here is the leading aircraft assembly point, making Nagoya the first city in finished planes, though not in aircraft parts. The same is true for such ordnance work. Japan's second largest auto factory, the Toyada firm, is at nearby Karomo, a suburb of Hagoya.

WESTERN HONSHU
   Honshu's fourth industrial area, the west coast cities of NIIGATA, NAGAOKA and AOMI, is of relatively minor importance, contained chiefly in their chemical and machine tool industries.

CENTRAL MANCHUKUO
   Three areas seem likely to receive the heaviest blows directed against Jap holdimgs in Manchukuo (stolen from both Russia and China). Already hard hit as the first daylight target for Superfortresses is the industrial area of MUKDEN, including ANSHAN, FUSHUN and PENSHIHU. Concentrated heare are heavy steel, ordnance and synthetic oil plants which the Japanese felt certain would remain beyond the range of enemy aircraft. Industrial expansion at Mukden itself -- where the Japs launched their present war on China in 1931 -- has boosted the population to about a million. Anshan, 55 miles south of Mukden, is the empire's second largest steel-producing center, referred to as the "Pittsburgh of Manchukuo." Its mines and mills are completely electrified. Of nearly equal importance to Japan are Anshan's chemicals and explosives plants as well as her output of locomotives and cement.

SOUTHERN MANCHUKUO
   Leading port for the entire anchukun granary-arsenal is DAIREN, 20 miles above Port Arthur on the Liaotung peninsula, which extends south into the Gulf of Pechili. Indeed, Dairen has one of the deepest and finest harbors in the entire Pacific, ice-free the year 'round and protected by a 1,000-yard breakwater. A modern rail system connects Dairen with Mukden and east China, and its neutralization by air attack would seriously impair Japan's whole investment in Manchukuo.

NORTHERN KYUSHU
   To the south, Kyushu island offers the two remaining "prime targets" for Allied bombers. The first of these, the twin cities of FUKUOKO and YAWATA in the island's northern and western part constitute Japan's foremost iron and steel center and ranks near the top in chemicals. THey also have important shipbuilding facilities, and electrical, automotive, rubber, ordnance and light metal industries.
   Prior to the war, railroad cars carrying raw materials, parts and finished products between Honshu and Kyushu islands had to be ferried across a narrow strait. This bottleneck has been ended, however, by construction of a tunnel between SHIMONOSEKI and MOJI, on opposite sides of the strait. Thus each of these cities must be considered likely targets for Allioed attack.

SOUTHWESTERN KYUSHU
   Kyushu's second vital area is along the southwestern edge, where the strategic port of NAGASAKI and great naval base at SASEBO already have been well plastered by B-29's. The Mitsubishi shipyard at Nagasaki, nearly a century old, built most of Japan's peacetime liners. Together with he Akoura engine works, it has the advantage of being near Kyushu island's steel mills. Nagasaki also has significant aircraft part plants, and factories producing both light and heavy electrical equipment. Even more important, perhaps, is the city's use as a port of departure for most of the military and naval traffic headed for battle areas.

SKETCH PAD

By T/5 Ben Shaw

TWENTY-SEVEN MEN RECEIVE D F C AWARDS
   HEADQUARTERS, XX BOMBER COMMAND -- For meritorious service reflecting "the highest credit to this command and to the Army Air Forces," Major Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Commanding, recently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross to 25 members of Bombardment Groups.

   Numerous other medals were also awarded.
   Heading the General Ordrrs list was Lt. Col. John P. Gregg. Others receiving the "coveted" award include:
   Maj. Boyce C. Anderson, Maj. Gust Askounis, and Captains John C. Campbell, Robert E. Copley, Ira V. Matthews.
   1st Lts. Lloyd H. Alford, Herbert G. Hirschfeld, Gerald P. Offerman, and Robert A. Winters.
   2nd Lts. Charles E. Biehle, Oscar I. Smith, Merton H. Jones and F/O Louis L. Grace.
   M/Sgt. Charles W. Whitney, T/Sgts. Harry Klein, Fred H. Thompson and S/Sgts. Delbert C. Glover, Leo E. McBride, Ralph M. Smole, Samuel P. Winborne, Arby C. Conant Jr., and Stanley V. Sienklewicz, and Sgts. Charles I. Cummins, David C. Banks and Frank D. Morgan.

The Staff
Adviser............Lt. Donald B. Bischoff
Editor-in-chief.........T/5 Frank W. Lane
Art Editor.............T/3 Robert Goldman
Layout Editor................T/4 Al Fogel
War Writer.............Pfc. Lee Rasmussen
Sports Editor............Lt. Dick Erdlitz
Cartoonists................Sgt. Dick Gunn
...........................T/4 Paul Tieji
..........................Cpl. Lee Wexler
.............................T/5 Ben Shaw
.........................T/3 Brown Hudson

SUPER-FORT is published by the Information-Education branch of Personnel Section and Special Service Section of the XX Bomber Command. (All articles and photos are solicited and should be sent to SUPER-FORT, XX Bomber Command, APO 493, IB Theatre.)

"Not just the best trained soldier in the world, not just the best equipped soldier in the world, but the BEST INFORMED soldier in the world."

An Editorial
If the average G.I. were blessed with the powers of mental telepathy and knew what the Japanese warlords were thinking -- not releasing for publicity -- he would better reliaze the potency of the B-29 and the importance of the missions now being flown by the XX Bomber Command.
Mission results have been remarkable so far; and there is accumulated evidence to indicate that the bombing raids will continue to improve as the enemy's industrial and manufacturing areas cease to exist.
That the Superfortress is unequaled, superior to any other craft in the skies today, can be testified to by its fine showing.
*Just eleven months after the first combat B-29 rolled off the production line, the Yawata steel center on the Japan homeland was bombed. Then the raid, orginally publicized as "experimental," began in earnest and such important enemy centers as Okayama, Omura, Anshan, Palembang, Nagasaki, Dasebo, Singapore and Rangoon felt the wrath of American bombs.
Steel mills which had been producing enormous quantities of material for the Nips' war machinery were seriously damaged or destroyed, air strips found themselves potted with craters and p[lane assembly plants, railroad marshalling yards, shippimng facilities, dry docks, oil refineries and other important military installations all were pounded.
Opposition was meager during the initial assaults then the Japs threw all their anti-aircraft strength at the bombers -- flak thick enough to walk on and clouds of fighter planes. (American newspapers interpreted the change pof tactics as an admittance of great destruction.) However, B-29 losses were few and most of the planes, many times on pnly two engines, returned safely to their bases for renewed attacks.
Noting the progress of the Superforts and their crews, so-called experts have now eliminated the word "experimental" in their discussions and picture them as the weapon that will rain devastation- distamce immaterial -- upon the enemy until he bows in surrender.

Turkey for Thanksgiving.
That alone should be enough to whet the appetite of Spam conscious GIs, but the Army Services of Supply has gone the limit and a five-course dinner is in the offing.
The tentative Thankgiving Day menu will read something like the following:
Tomato juice, TURKEY, brown gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, escalloped corn, pineapple and cheese salad, mince pie, ice cream, coffee, candy, nuts and fruit.

Discharge Insurance Now is the time to start planning for the day you don the civvies again. We are not trying to predict the end of the war but feel that it's good "discharge insurance" for you to start saving more money now than ever before. The Army offers excellent opportunities for saving. Here are a couple of suggestions:
SOLDIER DEPORITS --- These offer 4% interest! Just turn in any amount to your personnel officer and he will have it entered in your service record. On discharge day you will be paid the full amount plus 4% interest.
PERSONAL TRANSFER ACCOUNT --- Turn in any amount of money to your personnel officer and designate to whom or to what bank you want your money sent. This is simialar to a money order but costs you nothing.

HON. RADIO SAY B-29 WEIGHTY PROBLEM

The Air Force takes care of its own.
Join the AAF Aid Society.

*(Brig. Gen. Kenneth B. Wolfe, former commanding general of the XX Bomber Command, now commanding geneal material command, has written an article entitled "The Men of the B-29s," which appears in the September issue of Air Force. It tells the story of how the AAF put the Superfortress into combat, and is well worth reading.)

CAPT. JOYCE MAKES •••••
INCREDIBLE LANDING

STUCK TO THEIR POSTS....
Scared? Damn right! But these crew members stuck to their posts and rode their powerless ship safely to the ground. They are, ledt to right, S/Sgt. Kenneth F. Bentz, S/Sgt. Robert Bogart, S/Sgt. George W. Kristoff, S/Sgt. Tom O. Fergerson, 1st Lt. John B. Jett and F/O Charles L. Possieu. The other four members of the crew heard the order "Bail Out" and chuted to safety.,

4 CREW MEMBERS
CHUTE TO SAFETY
   A XX BOMBER COMMAND BASE, INDIA -- "Raidin' Maiden," returning from Singapore, was on the last leg of the longest daylight mission in history. She was only 75 miles from home . . . a Superfortress base somewhere in India.
   With their parachutes on and carefully adjusted, the crewmen sat quietly and sweated it out. The gasoline indicator was bouncing around the zero marker. Twenty-five miles remained when the No. 1 engine began sputtering.
   The pilot called the flight engineer. "How much gas left, Charlie?"
   "About enough to fill your lighter, Doc!"
   The crewmen had heard enough. Up came the rear exit door....out came the emergency door in the tail....down came the front wheel well. Everybody was standing by. The altitude was about 10,000 feet. Suddenly, No. 1 quit, and even before it could be feathered, No. 3 went out. The pilot, Capt. Charles Joyce, Jr., of Winchester, Mass., called the tower...."Two-six-five to tower, two-six-five to tower! No gas! Crew bailing out....coming in on straight approach landing from north."

"BAIL OUT"
   Joyce then gave the signal to those in front of the plane and simulatenously rang the bail-out alarm bell for those in the rear. One by one, four men slipped through the front wheel well....first, Navigator Lt. Howard Fauth....then Radioman Sgt. Vernon egertson....then Co-pilot Lt. William Greewald. Four chutes popped open below, each man swinging in almost a 180-degree arc.
LANDED B-29....
Capt. Charles Joyce safely landed the "Raidin' Maiden," which is "no more unpredictable than any other woman."

   It was the flight engineer's turn. Flight Officer Charles Passieu looked down at the ground which seemed miles and miles below....gulped....whistled softly....and then asked meekly of Capt. Joyce, "You gonna ride it down, Doc?"
   "Oh, hell yes."
   "Well I think I'll go right along with you." And with that he climbed into the co-pilot's seat.
   To Joyce's knowledge, everyone else was then out of the plane. He didn't know the alarm bell had failed to ring in the rear and that five men nervoudly stood by awaiting the signal.
   The field was in view when the two remaining engines fizzled, sending "Raidin' Maiden" into a complete glide. The giant plane was losing altitude rapidly, and to add to the complicationjs, the No. 3 prop, refusing to feather, was windmilling around and cutting down the air speed.

FALLS SHORT
   Joyce clung tensely to the wheel as the situation began to wax melodramatic---would "Raidin' Maiden" make the field or not? It soon became obvious that "Raidin' Maiden" was going to fall short of the field. She did....some 40 or 50 yards short. The big wheels smacked against the ground, enveloping the entire area in clouds of dust and flying rocks. Then out of the dust the long, silver nose of "Raidin' Maiden" appeared as she rolled onto the runway, her four engines out and the No.3 prop still windmilling.
   It wasn't until the ship had come to a complete stop that Joyce discovered there were other men aboard. He heard noises in the rear, and scrambling out and running to the rear-exit door, he found the other crewmen, their parachutes ready, still awaiting the bail-out bell. They agreed they had thought of jumping on their own sccord, but by the time they had made up their minds, it was too late....the plane had lost too much altitude.
   After the unprecedented landing, another pilot hollered st Joyce, "Say, Doc, why don't you get yourself a new airplane?"
   "Doc" merely waved his arm and laughed, and when the heckler had disappeared, he mumbled, "There's nothing wrong with 'Raidin' Maiden.' She's no more unpredictable than any other woman."

REAL AMERICAN COKES
Real Cokes !
In the nesar future the identical Coca-Cola that is served in the states will be available to American forces in this theatre.
Charles Ayers, technical observer for the Coca-Cola company, saoid Monday that siz plants would be constructed in Eastern India, two in this immediate area. Equipment, including a "water treatment" machine, is on its way to this theatre now, he remarked, and production should begin within a short time.
All plants will be operated by veteran employees of the Coca-Cola company, according to Ayers, who added that the beverage will not be served in worn-out beer containers, but the regular "coke" bottle.

SO SOLLY, CAPT., SINCE B-29'S VISITED OMURA TUES-
DAY, HON. AIRCRAFT FACTORY NEEDS PARTS NO MORE.

By Lt. D. B. Bischoff

Everything the Army undertakes is done on a large scale; and its educational facilities are no exception.
It sponsors the largest Correspondence School in the world, the U.S. Armed Forces Institute, which has a branch office at APO 465 for the exclusive use of American soldiers in the India-Burma and China Theatres of operations.
Whether you're interested in knowing more about logarithms, whether you want college credits for a course in soil erosion or, more important, if you are "hep" to the fact that now is the time to prepare for your return to civilian life, the Institute is there to help you.
U.S.A.F.I. courses are exceedingly cheap, costing but $2.00 for an enlisted man -- irregardless of the number opf courses he might wish to take. Officers must pay the actual cost of each course.
Courses now offered by the Institute and cooperating universities cover practically every subject on high school and college curriculum. This column which will appear in each issue of SUPER-FORT will offer random suggested courses to stimulate more interest in what we regard as the best way to spend "off duty" hours. (See your Information & Education officer or Special Services officer for applications and full details.)
Suggestions for U.S.A.F.I. courses at $2.00: Cost Accounting, 12 lessons; Inorganic Chemistry, 12 lessons; Diesel Engineering, 12 lessons; Industrial Electricity, 9 lessons; Mechanical Drawing, 18 lessons.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Though we in the XX Bomber Command had nothing to do with the selection, a "Miss B-29" has been named . . . Dorothy Lasso, a shapely brunette, possesses the pround title, which was won in some kind of a beauty contest at Chicago.
Deanna Durbin's last movie, Christmas Holiday, was poor, but she still is one of the most poular pinups in the command . . . It's that photo in Life, the one with the low-cut blouse and partially bared expansions that the serial boys are excited about . . . A stream-lined lass, Gloria DeHaven, also is being glued to many a locker top.
For me, my favorite pinup isn't of a Hollywood starlet. It's of a New Yorker, a Powers' model by the name of Gloria Gale. Her particular picture, which displayes an unexcelled figure, is tops. It's a torso shot, revealing her charm in a fish-net bra . . . Lovely, exhilarating . . . In ensuing issues of SUPER-FORT, professional models from Powers, Conover's and other fashion studios will replace the regular Hollywood handouts.
SUPER-FORT'S special feature this week is an "off record" party given by Sonja Henie in Omaha before Pearl Harbor.
Immediately after her prevue performance of Ice Follies, Sonja sponsored a "drink-fest" for Press amd Radiomen. It was just that, enveloped in an expensive atmosphere . . . an entire hotel flooe, band, beautiful iced foods, etc.
Champagne, a singlr glass, was exchanged for an invitation card. The glass was a mysterious affair. No matter how long, or such a person drank, it never emptied. Colored waiters saw to that.
Sonja's party was lively. Liquored reporters gained "champagne courage" and told their managinf eds. to "go to hell"; then sneaked back to their loved ones. (Some of the Follies' girls were gorgeous, tall and curvesome.)
Miss Henie was the target of a verbal bombardment. An Iowa editor opened up against her for refusing and interview to one of his sob-sisters. Another champagne refill patchred up any differences of opinion. As the moon changed into sun, the younger and more excitable newshaounds disappeared -- with a glamorous doll in tow. The older rummies stayed until cleaned out.
Though thousands of dollars went for champagne, Sonja was very conserative in her drinking. She explained:
"I prefer my ice under my feet."

This was a target. It Isn't anymore, for our B-29s have obliterated the area -- and the Japs are missing a few more steel mills and assembling plants. Acrual destruction is credited to the flying crews, the pilots, bombardiers, navigators and gunners.
But behind the lines, on the ground, are a group of men second to none in the AAF. They comprise the GROUND MAINTENANCE crews. Those "grease monkeys," as they are sometimes called, not only make a successful bombing mission possible, but also insure the lives of the flight crews.
How? Well, the ground boys keep the B-29s in perfect condition -- condition which will enable them to hobble some 700 or 800 miles home on two engines after the other two have konked out. Recently, one of the big planes made an incredible landing without any functioning engines.
If you are still in doubt about their importance, ask one of the flyers. We did. He emphasized their worth in one sentence: "They are the unsung heroes if the Air Force."

Flying above the clouds, this Superfortress is on its way to blast a vital Japanese installation. To keep it in A-1 condition and prepare it for a raid is a tough job.

It requires a complete checkup, such as the overhauling of an engine.

Final engine check,

checking of the tail assembly and escape hatch.

The large plane is then filled with gasoline

loads with bombs and

undergoes a final machine-gun examination.

It takes off, bombs its target and

lands safely at a XX Bober Command base.

The weary crew is fed, later interogated.

DEDICATES NEW BASEBALL DIAMOND.....
Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, commanding general of the XX Bomber Command, pitched the opening ball at the recent dedication of the new Recreational Centrer at APO 215 . . . then retired to the sideline bench with Col. Alva L. Harvey to enjopy a fast game of baseball between crack nines representing the Engineering and Material Squadrons. The Enginners won, 6 to 1.

KIDS AT HEART.....
Three Notre Dame players, all backs, who share a large part of the credit for their team's 21-0 win over Northwestern last Saturday refresh themselves with lollipops in the dressing room after the game. Left to right: Frank Dancewicz of Lynn, Mass.; Bob Kelley of Chicago, Ill., and J. R. Gasparella of Vandergrift, Pa.

ARMY-NAVY GAME
LOOMS AS CLASSIC

   Army versus Navy.
   That alone spells "Classic" as far as this year's gridiron world is concerned. Everything will be at stake in the coming battle. Supremacy among military elevens will be will be a primary factor with nationwide prestige secondary.
   The Cadets are still undefeated. Paced by Glenn Davis, Nation's top scorer, they crushed Penn. U. under an avalanche of touchdowns last week, rolling up a lop-sided score of 62 to 7.
   Navy's powerhouse was far too great for the Purdue Boilermakers and the Middies rambled to a 32 to 0 victory.
   Humiliated by Army the week before, Notre Dame bounced back into the limelighjt, whitewashing the Northwestern Wildcats 21 to 0.
   Ohio State's title-minded Buckeyes, leading Big Ten and one of the strongest grid teams in the nation, displayed too much power, speed and versatility to the extent of a 26 to 12 victory over the 'Fighting Illinois."

Ensuing issues of SUPER-FORT will carry complete coverage on all sports within XX Bomber Command.

NEWS PUBLICATION OF THE XX BOMBER COMMAND

"Not just the best trained soldier in the world, not just the best equipped
soldier in the world, but the BEST INFORMED soldier in the world."