B29-#44-69742 Crash time May 24, 1945 Crash position Tokyo Bay Affiliation 73rd bombing team 500th bombing G of 20th air force 882 bombing party Attack target Tokyo city area Cause of crash Anti-aircraft gun Body nickname Sting Shift Crew Arrangement inside the plane Name Class Recognition number Life and death Captain HUGHES Leonard L. first lieutenant 0-683454 X copilot McCLURE William H. Second lieutenant 0-832175 Navigater O'HARA Edwin R. first lieutenant 0-747136 X Bombing GROW Lynn W. first lieutenant 0-2043781 X Engineer RYALLS, William L. first lieutenant 0-868664 X radar operation member BLAKELY, Alton E. 2 grade staff sergeant 392519151 X radio operator FRANKLIN, Loyd W. technical staff sergeant 14026560 X Gunner WALLACE Floyd C. sergeant 37685303 X Gunner JOHNSON Richard C. 2 grade staff sergeant 39562254 X Gunner MORRE, Thomas J. Staff sergeant 38347848 X Gunner SALAZ Clyde B. 2 grade staff sergeant 39532530 X A directly hit bomb is received in a cockpit over Tokyo, and it lands at Tokyo Bay in emergency. Following First Lieutenant Raylls (death from drowning), only escape and Second Lieutenant McClure were restrained and Second Lieutenant McClure was released by eastern part military-police headquarters sending to the prosecutor and after the war. TETSUYA from JAPAN [signature]

Hi Tetsuya,
Very interesting message. I have not seen this information before, Lt Leonard Hughes was my Uncle.
 
regards
Wayne Rizor
Kalamazoo, MI USA
wrizor@charter.net
www.garden-sundial.com

WRizor


Hi Tetsuya,
Very interesting message. I have not seen this information before, Lt Leonard Hughes was my Uncle.

regards
Wayne Rizor
Kalamazoo, MI USA
wrizor@charter.net
www.garden-sundial.com

Wayne,

Just found your message above on the armyairforces site.  Your uncle, Leonard I. Hughes, was the original co-pilot on my father's plane, "Pacific Queen", Z Square 35, Serial # 42-63429.  He must have been a good pilot as he was later assigned as Aircraft Commander on "Sting Shift", Z Square 30, Serial # 44-69742.  We never know what fate has in store for us, and unfortunately it did not favor your uncle on May 24, 1945.

I know from research and correspondence with other group members and relatives that your uncle was nicknamed "Shorty".  (You can see why when you see photographs of him standing with the rest of the crew.)  I also know that he was well liked and his loss was felt keenly by the remaining crew of the "Pacific Queen", and also by the officers of "Ramblin Roscoe", Z Square 23, with whom the officers of "Pacific Queen", including Lt Hughes, shared a quonset hut on Saipan.

Do you have wartime photographs of your uncle?  I have one which shows him with the rest of the "Pacific Queen" crew on Saipan.  I also have one of the crew apparently taken during training in the States.  Any interest?

Do you happen to have any wartime correspondence or photographs of your uncle which might shed light on the "Pacific Queen" or its crew, or life on Saipan in general?  I'm always eager to learn more about my father's wartime service and that of members of his crew.

Thanks.

Jim Bowman, son of James E. Bowman, tail gunner on "Pacific Queen"
JEB538@aol.com