On April 2, 1945, a B-29 with the 869th Squadron, 497th Bomb Group, AAF Serial No. 42-93883, took off from Saipan at 2100 hours as part of a large bombing mission over Tokyo. It was apparently never seen or heard from again. No trace of the plane or the crew of 11, which included Sgt. Willis Jennings Comer (he went by "Jennings") of Buena Vista, Va., was ever found, according to records. I am the nephew of Jennings Comer and am posting this in the hope that someone can offer some suggestions on trying to find information about the missing plane, or at the very least that one of the veterans who visit this site can offer up a remembrance of my uncle.
The only information ever received by my mother (Jennings' oldest sister, who still survives and still grieves) was in the form of letters from his CO, Lt. Col. Robert K. Morgan, and other Army officials, in the months and year after his disappearance and before he was officially declared KIA. Those letters state that the plane took off, as mentioned above, at 2100 hours from Saipan on 4/2/45 but was never seen again by any other crews (they were not flying in formation) and was not heard from over Tokyo (no radio contact during the mission). It was the 9th mission for the crew, captained by Lt. Edwin F. Dietzel. In one letter it is mentioned that there was a report of a plane that crashed 30 miles NW of Tokyo on that night and that a common grave containing bodies of an undertermined number of men was found, but that no ID could be made of the remains and the investigation went no further. I did request, and receive, a Missing Air Crew Report from the National Archives a couple of years ago, but it offered no further clues. I've searched many online sites but have had no luck. If anyone can offer any suggestions or tips I'd be most grateful. Does anyone have any suggestions, for instance, on following up on the report of the grave site mentioned in the report, near Tokyo? Are there any online sources of Japanese records?
By the way, when I received the MACR from the National Archives it included details from two other planes shot down over Tokyo that night. I guess they were part of the microfilm file. One was of a plane with the 874th Squadron, 498th Bomb Group, captained by Lt. Carl G. Smith. Some of the crew of that flight reportedly bailed out and were taken prisoner. The other report was on a plane with the 877th Squadron, 499th Bomb Group, and the pilot was Kenneth H. Dustin. The aircraft nickname was Jug Haid II. As with my uncle's flight, there is no information at all as to what happened to that plane.
Thanks for anything anyone can offer or suggest. I have posted more info, including a photo of my uncle, at the following web site. It includes a list of the 11 crew members on that flight and excerpts from letters that Jennings wrote home from Saipan. They may be of interest to the vets from that campaign. The web site is
http://www.radford.edu/~rrogers/wjcomer.html. Warmest regards to all veterans and others associated with the 20th AAF.