''Dauntless Dotty'' is the nickname of a
Boeing B-29-40-BW Superfortress during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
that led the first B-29 raid on
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
on 24 November 1944, the first bombing attack of the Japanese capital since the
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japan ...
on 18 April 1942.
Combat history
The B-29 that became ''Dauntless Dotty'' is a block 40 airframe, manufactured by Boeing at the
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
plant which was built specifically for Superfortress production, and was the twenty-second of a hundred block 40-BWs constructed. It was assigned Army Air Forces serial number ''42-24592'', and Boeing-Wichita constructors number (c/n) 4253.
The future ''Dotty'' was assigned to the
497th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), with three assigned squadrons, at
Pratt Army Air Field
Pratt Army Air Field is a closed United States Army Air Forces base. It is located north-northwest of Pratt, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Pratt Regional Airport.
Pratt Army Air Field (AAF) is significantly historic a ...
,
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
, in the spring of 1944. The 497th was deployed to the
Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) in September 1944, being assigned to the
XXI Bomber Command
The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II.
The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization an ...
73d Bombardment Wing
__NOTOC__
AD 73 ( LXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Domitian and Messalinus (or, less frequently, year 826 '' ...
in the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
, and stationed at
Isely Field
Saipan International Airport , also known as Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, is a public airport located on Saipan Island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The airport is owned by Commonwealth Port ...
,
Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
. The first 497th Superfort arrived there on 17 September. The group began operations in October 1944 with preliminary attacks against
Iwo Jima and the
Truk Islands
Chuuk Lagoon, previously Truk Atoll, is an atoll in the central Pacific. It lies about northeast of New Guinea, and is part of Chuuk State within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). A protective reef, around, encloses a natural harbo ...
.
Robert Morgan
Major
Robert K. Morgan
Robert Knight Morgan (July 31, 1918 – May 15, 2004) was a colonel and a Command Pilot in the United States Air Force from Asheville, North Carolina. During World War II, while a captain in the United States Army Air Forces, Morgan was a bo ...
(31 July 1918 – 15 May 2004), was the assigned airplane commander of ''Dauntless Dotty''. From
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
, Morgan had been the pilot on the majority of the missions flown by the
B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...
''
Memphis Belle'', which was officially designated the "first" bomber to complete 25 operations in the
European Theatre of Operations
The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...
, while flying out of England with the
91st Bomb Group,
VIII Bomber Command
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
. (''Hell's Angels'', of the
303d Bomb Group, actually beat the ''Belle'' by one week.) ''Memphis Belle'' was the first combat-veteran bomber to return to the United States as part of a publicity campaign to sell
war bonds
War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are a ...
. Morgan flew the plane all over the United States for bond rallies.
Return to Tokyo
Promoted to
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
, Morgan flew a second combat tour in the
Pacific Theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
commanding the
869th Bomb Squadron, 497th Bomb Group. He was assigned
B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...
''42-24592'', tail code 'A1', named ''Dauntless Dotty'' after his third wife, Dorothy Johnson Morgan. Completing 26 missions over
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, he would return home on 24 April 1945.
On 24 November 1944, Morgan had led 111 aircraft of the 73rd Bomb Wing to
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
for XXI Bomber Command's first strike against the Japanese mainland. He flew with wing commander
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Emmett O'Donnell, Jr. in the right seat as mission commander and Vince Evans as lead bombardier. Evans had previously served as Morgan's bombardier aboard the ''Memphis Belle'' in England.
"The city was 1,500 miles from the Marianas. Brigadier-General Emmett O’Donnell flying the ''Dauntless Dotty'' led 111 B-29s against the
Musashima 'sic''engine factory. The planes dropped their bombs from 30,000 feet and came across the first of a number of problems – accuracy. The B-29’s were fitted with an excellent bomb aimer – the Norden – but it could not make out its target through low cloud. Also flying at 30,000 feet meant that the planes frequently flew in a jet stream wind that was between 100 and 200 mph which further complicated bomb aiming. Of the 111 planes on the raid, only 24 found the target."
''Dotty'' also participated in another significant Tokyo raid on 9/10 March 1945, when it flew the first night, low level altitude,
fire bombing
Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs.
In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary d ...
(''Operation Meetinghouse'') raid. This was the single deadliest air raid of World War II;
greater than
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
,
Hiroshima, or Nagasaki as single events.
Demise
''Dauntless Dotty'' departed
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...
at 0306 hrs. on 7 June 1945 for the second leg of a ferry flight back to the United States, commanded by Capt. William A. Kelley, of
Tifton, Georgia
Tifton is a city in Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Tift County.
The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Ag ...
. Forty seconds after takeoff, the aircraft struck the Pacific Ocean and sank, killing 10 of 13 on board instantly. (MACR 14530) Co-pilot 1st Lt. John Neville, of
Bradley, Illinois
Bradley (formerly North Kankakee) is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of the city of Kankakee. The population was 15,895 at the 2010 census, up from 12,784 at the 2000 census.
Bradley is a principal city of ...
, tail gunner S/Sgt. Glenn F. Gregory, of
Waldron, Indiana
Waldron is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Liberty Township, Shelby County, Indiana, Liberty Township, Shelby County, Indiana, Shelby County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.
History
Waldron was origin ...
, and left gunner S/Sgt. Charles McMurray (also spelt McMurry in one source), of
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, were thrown from the wreckage and were recovered by a rescue boat after some 45 minutes in the water.
The wreckage of ''Dotty'' and the remains of the ten men who were trapped inside her when she sank have never been located. The wreckage is believed to be at a depth of approximately 6,000 feet. A search for the lost airframe by the
National Underwater and Marine Agency
The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a private non-profit organization in the United States founded in 1979. Originally it was a fictional US government organization in the novels of author Clive Cussler. Cussler later created and, ...
Australia has been proposed.
References
{{B-29 family
Individual aircraft of World War II
Boeing B-29 Superfortress