My grandfather, Edward Kukla, passed away a few weeks ago.  In looking through some of his old photographs and papers at my grandmother's house I found out the following information.  He was a tailgunner with the 314th and 73rd Bomb Wings of the 20th Air Force.  His B-29 while in the 73rd was "Beats Me II" (V Square 16) from the 499th Bomb Group, based upon a phtograph I found.  Can anyone help me find out any more information on his plane, crew or missions, I don't seem to be able to find anything?  Did you know him, fly with him or have any photographs that he may be in?  Thanks for your help.  Kenneth Proctor.

Ken -
B - 29 Site http://b-29.org
Lot of Info on Left Menu
Mike
 

I found out some more information from one of the photographs he had if this helps jog anyone's memory.
 
The A/C on his B-29 was 1st Lt. Bruce Butts, from Mass; and the C.P. was Jimmy Murcklek, from Mich.
 
Again, please let me know if you have any more information; so far I can't find mention of his crew in "The unofficial history of the 499th BOMB GROUP (VH)".
 
Ken
 

Ken...Take note of Shooshoobaby's advice to access http://b-29.org 

Beats Me Too was B-29 42-93954 of the 330th BG according to Bob Mann's The B-29 Superfortress Story...(probably the reason you can't find any information in the 499th BG).

42-93954   Blk Sq K-34   Reclaimed Seattle 3/31/50...also named City of Portsmouth VA.

Jim :-)

James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt
B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions
99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF
Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy
My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45
M/Sgt USAF (Retired)

Thank you, both, very much for that info.  I know from his discharge papers that he flew with the 73rd and 314th Bomb wings, so the information on the 330th may be correct as well.  The picture that I have is of a B-29, labeled "Beats Me II" (V16), Crew #333; and a crew listing different from that listed in the 330th website for "Beats Me Too".  I obviously have some more digging to do, but thanks again for your help.  Here is the crew list that I found:
 
2nd Lt. Ted Pomycala, Mass. - Bombadier
1st Lt. Bruce Butts, Mass. - Pilot
1st Lt. Jimmy Murckler, Mich. - Co-Pilot
1st Lt. Dan Rehms, Ohio - Engineer
F.O. Nat. Chase, Rhode Island - Navigator
Sgt. Fred Kwalton, Mich. - Radio Man
Sgt. Lou Levy, Brooklyn - Left Gunner
Sgt. Bob Owens, Rhode Island - C.F.C. Gunner
Sgt. Cy. Chafe, Mass. - Right Gunner
1st Lt. Moe. Moeselle, Calif. - Radar Man
Sgt. Ed. Kukla, New York - Tail Gunner

I have a question...Can you make out the Serial Number of the aircraft in your photo ?

If the photo is of the left side...somewhere close to the left pilot's window is the DATA information..
example is :

U.S.ARMY B-29 -------
AIR FORCE SER NO. ------

If the name is from the RIGHT side, it will NOT help, as the data information is ALWAYS on the LEFT side.

This will help to ID the aircraft in your photo.

Jim :-)

James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt
B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions
99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF
Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy
My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45
M/Sgt USAF (Retired)

Both pictures are from the same side and no other markings can be seen.

I found out a little more information including the serial number.  Based upon what I found on B-29.org it seems that his plane was part of the 877th Squadron, S/N 44-70096.  I still can't find out much else, even the insignia patch that I found wasn't a very good picture, see attached.

[image]local://15900/DB81AE9E4D5440C4B7849F922E2610EE.gif[/image]

Attached Image(s)

Jim-
 
I know it's been a while since your last post on this thread, but if I have the plane's designation (V16), nickname (Beats Me II) and s/n (44-70096), how would I go about finding out about the "City of ..." name?
 
Ken

Ken...Unfortunately, sometimes crews named thier aircraft, but did not register them, or photograph them with the name...also there were many duplicate names given to different aircraft in different groups.
 
In your example, you do have a photo of the B-29 named Beats Me Two, apparently in the 499th BG.
 
As I mentioned, the only OFFICIAL name that is recognized, will have the data information showing in the photo of the name/nose art. Your photo apparently shows the RIGHT side of the B-29 and the data information is on the LEFT side.
If there is no verification of the data information, there is no way to determine the OFFICIAL name as it is apparently only on the RIGHT side.
 
Many aircraft had two names...a different one on each side....and only the one that includes the data information will be recognized as the official name...in those events, any right side name will be lost to history. I am sorry, but I did not make the rules.
 
In the European Theater, both 8th and 15th aircraft, had as many as 10-15 identical names, try that for size..and also in those cases, there were quite a few, with different names on opposite sides of the same aircraft...again, only the name or nose art that showed along with the data information will be recognized.
 
A friend of mine has over 200 nose art/names where the pboto is on the left side, but the data information is not shown, or the photo is of the right side, which precludes the official recognition....it is a fairly common occurance.
 
Jim :-)

James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt
B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions
99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF
Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy
My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45
M/Sgt USAF (Retired)

Jim-
 
I have some pictures showing the tail of a plane with it's letter (like a V, Z, M, etc) and four numbers.  What do those numbers reference?  I know the plane S/N is quite a bit longer.
 
Ken

Ken...What are the numbers? 
 
As a further explanation, keep in mind that there were only so many aircraft in a squadron, and most had a letter designation of A-through however many aircraft there were assigned. The first aircraft assigned would be given the letter A the second would be B and so on....there were never two aircraft with the same letter...as one aircraft was lost, the repalcement aircraft would be given the same latter as the lost aircraft...with the B-29s the sequence was somewhat different....as the tail markings were V-XX...and the next aircraft would be V-XX -II and so on.
 
Each Bomb Group was different...and each had thier own designation.
 
In the ETO and MTO, there were as many as 10-12 aircraft with the same name, both B-17; and B-24, with additional Medium aircraft... all with the same name.
 
Bob Mann's book has all or most all of the B-29s with names and squadron and group designations. He put a lot of work into the
book with chapters cross referenced with the names and even the KB-29 tankers.
 
The numbers on the tail might designate an aircraft within the bomb group, but also if the aircraft flew as a traiinng aircraft in the US, then the numbers might designate a particular airfield or training command.
 
Jim :-)
 
 
 
 

James S. Peters Sr. T/Sgt
B-17 Flt Engr, 27 missions
99 BG, 348BS, 5th Wing, 15th AAF
Tortorella, (Foggia#2), Italy
My Tour was from 12/03/44-06/19/45
M/Sgt USAF (Retired)

At some point in 1945, the V-Square-number designations were removed from the tail and replaced with a large V. The call sign numbers were placed on the rear fuselage and nose in large format. This happened around the same time the USAAF required B-29 nose art to be removed and replaced with a standardized design.

Mark Milliken, Associate Member, 305th BGMA

Ken et al,
 
Full credit for photpgraph at attachment given to http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ny330bg/aircraft458.htm
 
Andy


[image]local://10103/032F80D8C79C4E3192D04B09CC48631E.JPG[/image]

Attached Image(s)

Andy-
 
His plane was actually V16 "Beats Me II".  I have a picture of that from one of his albums, but I couldn't find the "City of" designation anywhere.
 
Thank you-
Ken