1

XXI BOMBER COMMAND

MONTHLY

ACTIVITY REPORT··
1 MARCH 1945
 This is an attempt to sm' ;arize some of the more

~portant activities~of the Command as disclosed Qy the

statistical data maintained Qy this Unit, a;d to indicate

the trends that may affect the future activity of the

Command •

•
 XXI BOMBER COMMAMl

MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT

1 March 1~45

Part I. Strength of the Connnarrl

Part II. Use of Aircraft and Crews
Part III. Maintenal~e As It Affects Usc of Aircraft
Part IV. Effectiveness of Aircraft On Mif,siol~S
Part V. Resu:l.t.s
Part YI. Cost .)f '11551005
Part VII • Other Activity

•
Preper,d
By
33rd Statistical Control Unit

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 SCIlEDIJLED FLOW OF VIR AIRCRAFT AND CRE,1S TO THEATF1t
Based on Information Received Up To and Including 1 March 1945

Before Enroute
Jan 31 Feb 1 March March April May June July
Unit AtC Cws Ale cws A/c Cws A/c Cws A/c C:!'s. A/c Cws Alc Cws A/c Cwo ,....
73rd Wing 180 240

313 Wg 504 Gp 20 20 10 10
505 Gp 30 30
6 Gp '27 27 3 3
9 Gp 27 27 3 3
Wg T/R 33 2l 1 38 5 22
TOTAL 104 137 6 27 1 48 15 22

314 Wg 19 Gp 30 30
29 Gp 29 29 1 1 ,
39 Gp 30 .30
330 Gp 30 30
Wg T/R
TOTAL -,----:·-5'''''':-_..§~j-...,1;---;~;-L6o-;:;-~?o*0--,--:-=--=-.,-:,.--;---5~gf-,'---:"-~5~g-
::58 Wg 40 Gp 30 30
444 Gp 30 30
462 Gp 30 30
468 Gp 30 30
Wg T/R 25 55 25 55
TOTAL 65 115 85115

315 Wg 16 Gp 30 30
501 Gp 30 30
331 Gp 30 30
502 G'p 30 30
Wg T/R 30 30 30 30
TOTAL 90 90 90 90
;·.-.l1Photo
UIE & T/R 12 18
Replacement 8 4 1 2 2 1 5 6 2 4 2 4 2 4
TOTAL 20 18 4 1 2 2 1· 5 2 4 2 4 2 4
XXI BCiIB COMD
REPLACI'loIOOS 65 21 55 50 14 3 7!U.!,2 60 149 79 130 82 213 90 127
GRAND TOTALJ69 416 124 161 17 13 223348 150270. _
-=-:=....:..:.:.::~-=--...::_-=-_--'---'----"~--O_
219 239226 307122JGl

Scheduled deliveries are based on l:lformation from 20 AF. However, replacements

beginning in May are based on rate of 16% UIE per month for aircraft and 15% for
crews during 1st five months of operations and 30% per month thereufter.
Aircraft and crews of the 5C9th Composite Group are not included in the above.
 P.\i\T 1. STREll;T;l OF THE COWlAND

All units assigned or attached to Headquarters XXI Bomber

Command, and all units of the 73rd Bomb Wing are now in place.
313th Bomb Wing units have all arrived with the exceptions of the
592nd AAF Band and the 680th Bomb Squadron, due to reach Tinian
in April'and May, respectively, and the 509th'Composite Group,
which is scheduled to arr:"re during May and June. The last unit
of the 314th Bomb Wing is scheduled to reach Gtmm in March. Move-
ment of the 58th Bomb Wing into this theater is scheduled to take
place during Ap"·:.l, May and June. Arrivai of the 315th Bomb Wing
will be approxll ~'~ely cOfl.current with arrJ.val of the 58th Boob
Wing, and will be completed 'lith arrival of the flight and air
echelons of the 331st a!Xl 502nd Bomb Group" in early July.
.. During February the tot.~.1. strength in "the theater of
units assigned or attached to the AXI Bomber Cr)nrrnarrl increased
~0.6~ over January to a total of }4.00' officers and enlisted men.
The ultimate strength of the Command on a five-wing basis is over
63,000.
It should be noted that the lower loss rates (see Part VI)
coupled with the flow of replacement aircraft at a rate greater.
than losses has made possible a speedier build-up to authorized.
strength than was antic':' mted. Replacements in FebrlE.rY were 17
aircraft over losses, al~ to date are 25 aircraft over losses.
Crew replacements to date, hOTIever, are )0 crews less than losses
suffered. The ~~ aircraft and 145 c~eus scheduled to arrive in
March as replacements are further indication that the COmm£nd may
accelerate the builu-up to present authorizeo strength .
•
The estimated growth of the strength of this Command in
the theater is shown below:
J~entative Estimates
28 FEB (ON HAND) 31 MAR -30 APR 31 ~IAY 30 JUNE 31 JUL
OFF EX TOTPL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL
Hq XXI Be & Hq Units 487 2054 2541 2550 2650 2750 2800 2800
73rd Bomb Wing 1887 10028 11915 11915 11915 11915 11915 11915
313th Bomb Wing 11;48 9232 10680 10900 11400 13000 13400 13400
314th Bomb Wing leoo 7867 8867 11100 11700 11700 11700 11700
315th Bomb Wing 3'100 7300 9500 11700
58th Bomb lUng 6900 8500 11600 11600
TOTAL 4822 29181 34003 36465 48265 55165 60915 63115

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_______~_Ij
 Ave. HOURS Ave. HOURS
NO. PER NO. PER
TOT!!.. COMBAT TRNe OTHER WL Alc CREWS CREI'1
NOVEmlER
73rd Wing nnd Command Tote.1 1524 3239 128 157 93.2 37.8 124.6 28.3
nEl:JEMBER
73rd Bomb Wing 7403 6742 165 496 133.1 55.4 197.6 37.4 ......
313th Bomb Wing 58 58 1.7 1.9 38.5 1.5
Command Total 7461 6742 223 496 134.8 55.3 236.1 31.6
JANUARY
73rd Bomb Wing 8484 7464 598 422 136.5 62.2 212 40
313th Bomb fling 3930 415 1529 1986 77.6 50.6 80.1 49.1
Comm!Uld Total 12414 7879 2127 2408 214.1 58 292.1·42.5
FEBRUARY
73rd Bomb Wing 10249 7878 1943 428 158.3 64.7 214.3 47.8
313th Bomb Wing 6585 4669 1212 704 129.4 50.9 152.2 43.3
314th Bomb Wing 1821 353 ·1053 415 25.5 71.4 28.3 64.5
COIlllllE'.nd Total 18655 12900 4208 1547 313.2 59.6 394.8 47.3
SORTIES FLOVIN
SORTIES SORTIES
BO!IBIM:l I< \'lEATHER pm PER
TOTAL SHAKEDOWN STRIKE OTHm* Alc CREf;
N01rnolBm
73rd lill and Command Total· 303 303 3.3 2.4
DECJi1,!Brn
73rd 1Vg and Command Total 595 526 69 4.5 3
JANUARY
73m Bomb Wing 543 469 74 4 2.6
31Jth Bomb Wing 219 94 125 2.8 2.7
COlllJllBlld Total 762 563 74 125 3.6 2.6
fEIlRUARI
73rd Bomb rling 558 466 83 9 3.5 2.6
313th Bomb Wing 424 363 61 3.3 2.7
314th Bomb Wing 22 22 .9 .8
Command Total 1004 851 83 70 3.3 2·5
* Includes Training, Sea Cearch and Photo Sorties.

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PART II. USE OF B-29 ~.IRCRAFr AND CP.E1IS

An average of 60 hours per aircraft and 47 hours per crew

was flown by the Commarrl during February, the best record to date.

As shown in the following table, the 73rd Wing attained 65 hours

•
per aircraft for the ·:1(' •• ·'1 despite a substantial increase in the

number of aircraft assigned end fewer days in the month. In

addition, with this increase of aircraft on hand, the Command was

still able to fly over 60% of aseigned aircraft on combat missions.

65% were ready for combat on mission days during February, the

additional aircraft being utilized chiefly for training flights

and weather strike missions.

Both the 73rd and 3l3th Wings showed increases ill combst

hours, and the 73rd Wing also tripled its flying training time.

The 4,208 hours used for tralning time, or 13.4 training hours

per aircraft was the chief factor in the slight ~ecrease of total

sorties per aircraft. (See table on preceding page)

These factors for February highlight two things: First, the

increasing training time, am second, the ability of the Commend

to absorb more aircraft and still fly each aircraft n greater

• n\lilber of hours.

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 PART III. MAINI'ENAtllE AS IT AFFECTS USE OF AIRCRAFT

The mere fact of greater hours flown per aircr~ft despite

an increased number of aircraft on hand is S~~e indication of
increased mainttnance efficiency <:.s He:l as grer.tBr utiJ.ization
of operation.'ll airer" ft. In addition, only 12% of airborne
aircraft failed to bo~b the primary target because of mechanical
reasons in Febrt:rl"'Y compared to 22% in January and 23% in December.
This February r • ...:o.:.'d compares favorably with the December-Jenuary
figure of 14% and November figure of 20% for the XX Bomber cormnand.

It must be pointed out, h0\7cver, that these trems took place

durIng a period when battle damage substantially decreased (See
Part v9 and bombing altitude was lowered.

Aircraft grounded for parts during February were 4.5%

of assigned aircraft compared to 4.6% in Jantm"Y_ Although the
figure for the 73rd Wing was 2.4% for February, the 313th Wing
had 6.9% and the 314th Wing, 5.6%. The number of aircraft reedy
for combat on mission day varied from 73% of as~igned for the
73rd Wing to 58% for the 313th.

Performance of R-3350 engines still remained the largest

maintenance problem, 53% of mechanical failures to bomb the primary
target caused by this reason. As of 28 Feb these engines averaged
162 hours before removal ("laS required. The nl'rf"'ber of hours
required before removal has ris~l steadily and the ultimate figure
can not yet be deteIT.lined.

Engines were also the chief cause for Unsatisfactory Reports,

270 of the 491 submitted to date being for thi.. reason. Cylinders
and valve mechanisms were the largest categories in this class
of URe.

In connection uith ""1fn1uating the effect of mainten:.nce on

use of aircraft, it f'.r.~li:..j be noted that production control report-
ing now being establi~~~Q uill enable a more complete analysis
on this factor, especially as concerns hOUTS used in various classes
of mD.intenance, ·~,:.ddogs, ani effect of battle damage.

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 PART IV. EFFEC1'IVEllESS OF AIRCRAF'i' Oli ',:I58IONS

During FoorUD.I'Y 49% of uirm.'(~ft airborne on Honshu missions

bombed the pl·ima.;-:.r target, \':cather bel%. the c: .Lei' cause of

fc.ilur~s to bomb thu. prinary. Only 19% of tht: c.irborne l1.ircre.ft

,
bomaed the prink~· tcrget visually. Hieher for th~ ro~yth suc-

cessive month, in FEib:." . l"y 8?j-J of' airoorne aircraft bombed c.ll

turgets.
Thus it is s~en that ~hile ~he Con~nnd is steacily incr~as-

ing both the nunber and perc~ntl\gEJ of t:ircra.ft bombing the. Jllpcn-

ese r.m.inland, br.Ci m~u.ther has permitted <;>nly a sm~ll J-crcent to·

borno vis~lly. The follouine tnbles shan the effoctiveness of

uircr~ft sinc~ November .

• NOV DEC .rAN

73RD '/3:lD '73RD 7.:aD
~';"BRW,RY
3l3'fH 31iSH TOTAL

% llirborne Bombing Primary <1.3 67.7 43.7 47.0 51.0 8L8 49.4

%Airborne Bombing Prim~"y,Visu>lly'10.9 45.3 .3~L4 ,0.1 18.4 0 18.9

%Airborne Bombing All Targets 79 .,.~ 82.9 81.9 6&.8 83.7 95.5 87.3

• % Airbor"" Foiling to Bo~b ~imary T~rgot Becc.use Of:

UGchanical F~ilure 19.5 22.7 21.7 13.8 10.2 0 12.2

Pcrsonpel Error 1·4 2.9 6.2 5.9 5.7 4.5 5.8

h'en.ther 56'.1 0.7 23.7 29.3 29.8 9.0 28.9

.
Other aM Unkno\fn 1.8 6.,0 4·7 3.9 3.3 4.5 3.7
"

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 pART V RES U L T S

1. Bombing Accurs£X

Bombing accuracy information was available on only one of the five

Japanese mainland missi,,:,.-!'J conducted during the month. No figures were avail-
able on the first tno missions in uhich 89 aircraft bombed the primary target
visually, nor on the 2.ast t'",e missions in which none of the aircraft bombed
the primary target visually. On 15 February, hmlever, 17% of the bombs released
on the Mit~ubishi Engine plant in Nagoya fell uithin 3000 feet of the aimjng
point, and 18 hits uere identified in the target area. Photo coverage HaS also
incanplete for this mission~ It should be noted that these figures are based
on photo coverage during the mission and do not reflect later damage assessment
studies, which are not available in this office. In vie17 of the fact, as stated
in a recent Operations Analysis report on bombing, that probably less than four
days a month 'iTill be suitable for visual bombing during the next eight months,
it seems evident that even less bombing accuracy inforn:etion \iill be available
in the future, especially as to \Ting and group comparisons.

2. Bomb, Weig~t and FUel Data

As of 28 February. 6793 tons of bombs have been dropped by "the c""""nd

OIl J'ailanc.ae targ0ttb 30%
of these tons ,\Gre incendiariss. 1494 tons have been
released on five major aircraft and engine factoies. Of the urban areas, Tokyo
received the greatest tonnage, 1016 tans being dropped on this city to date.

Greater tonnaga has been made possible by measures increasing the bomb
load. In February the 7Jrd \"ling carried an average of 6739 pounds cCl:!J98red
to 5646 in January. At tho same time average graBS ·,r;-e:.ght decreased to 133,600
pounds from 135.700 in January, and the average fuel 1'3tnrned decreased to
923' gallons from 987. Even the ;'ebruary averages tiere not indica tive of the
actual progress in substantiB'..2y in~reasing the bomb load on missions to the ,
Japanese mainland. Individual aircraft carried about 7500 pounds of banbs in \.
scme cases and returned 1-::ss fuel. Increased experience and the emphasis on t
this problem point to c. 5 i.eady upoard trend in bomb tannago carried during March.

3. l~p.9...Aircraft Deatroyed

During the month, 71 Japanese aircraft nerc destroyed, 59 probably des-

troyed, ond 126 damaged. To date, 267 enemy aircraft have been destroyed.
This is eqUivalent to a ratio of 6i Japenese aircraft destroyed per each B-29
lost to enemy action in combat missions I or on aVC3rage of 14 Japaneso aircraft
destroyed per 100 B-29 sorties. B3.sod on information from 20th Air Force, this
rate of fi~ter destruction is by far the greatest averago achieved by eitncr
t1&htcrs or bombers in the U.S. Jirmy Air Force.

'!be number of enemy attacks per B-29 over t!1o targot dropped in February
to 2.1 from tho January figure of 7.6 and December figure of 4.4. Hon much
or 'tills ClocJ.1ne is clue to bacl tnrget ond Japanese base \7cother ond to Navy
strikes is Dot yet dotcrminoblo.

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PART VI. COST OF MISSIONS

1. Losses

... 8-29 aircrrrI t, losses in February were only 12% of tmit equip-
ment compared to 22% in December em January. At the same .time
B-29 crew lossE.';o in February r.tere only ll% ~of unit equipment compar-
ed to 15% in December am 23% in January. On bombing missions,
, 3.2% of 'airborne aircraft -and 3.0% of airborne crews were lost
during the month. 3.8% of airborne aircraft were lost in December
, am 5.5% in January. It should be stated that February figures
do not yet form sound lx>.sis for prediction of trems because of
the T",kyo mission ot 25 FobiuC.ry :7bon 229 aircraft were
,u...1'oorne with.only two losses . . Further stu::ly must be made to deter-
mine the effect of radar bombing days as relates to enemy fighter
reaction and aircraft losses. It may be thnt the bad \leather for
Japanese missions will substantially decrease previous sortie loss
. rates.

As shOtln in the table belo'il; enemy action continues to be

the major cause of losses and enemy fighters have been the biggest
single factor •. It must be noted here that TIhilc actual cost of
missions can effectively be a68esued in relation to number of losses
per bomb tonnage dropped uithin the target area, this type of
assessment awaits more detailed bombing accuracy figures.
 2. !ia.ttle Damage

21% of aircraft airborne on Japanese mainland missions incurred batUe

damage during February. Th:is decrease from the 31% figure of January ""s in
great part due to the last mdssion of the ~iod end hence is not yet sound
eVidence of a reversal of tho previously increasing trend. The effect of
radar bombing days must be studied in this connection, too. The percent of
bnttle-~ged aircraft uhich required over 6 days to repair has slightly
decreased each month, the February figure being 14% as compared to 16,% far
January and 21% for December. The causes and effect of battle damage uill
be the subject of more detailed analysis uhen the nan reporting and analysis
procedures nou in process of being formulated, became effective. A brief
I swm:oary of the general ceuses of aircraft lost and bettIe dmne.ged fo11005:

CAUSES OF J,lRCRJJT LOST J.ND Bt.TTLE-DJJ,MlED

\ Percon"- of TotoJ. Loat and DamElged

Decem.b':lr Janttary February

EnCII\Y .li.ircraft 27.&10 5l.6r. 34-€>%

En6II\Y Flak 40.1% 12./% '42.6%
.En6II\Y Ale ClDd Flak 15.2% 15·9% 8,1%
Accidents & Malfunctions 7.&10 2·5% 4-8%
self lllflicted 5·itZ 7.1% 4·3%
Other ond un.knOTlIl 3·8% 10.2% 5·&10

3. Air-Sea. Rescue
ODly 22% of thoso failing to return from combat missions or .50.% of
thOse knoon to have ditched TIare rescued during February." This represents
Q. substantial incroase over Jonuary figures of 71% and 9%, ond \o-d.o.te
figures of 19% and 33%. 258 crei'1 members failed to return from missions
during the month. Of those, 113 uere kno"" to have ditched ClDd 56 uere
rescued.

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 PfJ'T VII, OTHER ACTIVITY

• 1. Weather Strike Mis~ions

During FebrU<.l.rY, 83 eircraft were airborne on '7eather strike

missions compared to 74 in January. 90% of the February missions

were effective as against only 93% in January, und two aircraft

were lost during the month compared to none in Ja.nnary. 184 tons

of bombs were dropped j n t"::;brl~l"Y to make a total of 514 tons to

date. In addition. the 655th Bomb Squadron (Weather Reconnaissance)

began flying at the last'of the month.

:2. :'.noto Reconnaissance Missions

A total of 42 aircraft, 33 from the 3rd Photo Reconnaissance

• Squadron and 9 from the ~13rd Wing, were airborne I on photo recon-

naissance missions during the month. 71% of these sorties were

effective as compared with 61% in January. However, only 38% of
airborne aircraft obtained good to excellerrt photo results: F-13
aircraft averaged only 28 hours per c.ircrllft during the month, or

2.2 sorties per aircrsft •

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