The 6th Bomb Group: Tinian Island

The Planes

The 6th Bomb Group flew B-29s, including B-29As and one B-29B. Most crews gave their aircraft nicknames, which were painted on the side of the aircraft.

Ground crewman pulling the props through on "Reamatroid" prior to the start of a mission.

Aircraft Markings

Rudder and General Markings

Feb - Mar 1945

When the 6th Bomb Group aircraft first entered service in February, they did not have a lot of decoration. A name might be stenciled on the side and the rudder might have the old rudder markings. [See, e.g., 14] By the end of the war, all of the aircraft had the "Circle R" on the rudder. Lead aircraft had vertical stripes on the rudder. [See, e.g.,16]

Apr - Aug 1945

The aircraft group number (e.g. "33") appears on the front bottom and the sides of rear fuselage. The aircraft serial number is sometimes shown on the tail [See, e.g., 03, 33].

Later in the war, the aircraft were painted red on the tip of the tail and on the engine cowlings. [See, e.g., 16, 33, 35, 51, 60] This was presumably done to help the groups form up after takeoff.

Aircraft used to drop supplies to POWs after the war had POW SUPPLIES written on the bottom of the wings. [See, e.g., 33]

Nicknames and Pictures

	Almost all crews gave nicknames to their airplanes. Initially, the nicknames were just painted on the side. [See, e.g., 14, 15a] Later, the crews began to also decorate their aircraft with artwork, often of scantily-clad women. In response to complaints from the home front, many Group commanders censored the pictures. The 6th Bomb Group avoided the problem by issuing an order (below) requiring that all aircraft bear the pirate insignia.
The decoration around the pirate insignia evolved over time. Some early examples, such as the example above, are plain. Others show a black circle behind the insignia. [See, e.g., 28II] Later aircraft show a white circle behind the insignia. [See, e.g., 15a] Initially, the aircraft nickname was simply painted to the rear of the insignia. [See, e.g.,33 and 53] Other planes inserted the insignia in trailing red and white flames. [See, e.g., 28II] The final version of the insignia was fairly standardized. [See, e.g., 06, 11, 33, 40, 51, 60, 65]. However, the script used to write the names could vary. [Compare 06, 33, 65] Artwork was improved as time permitted. The older paint jobs were not always updated immediately. Some crews did not get around to painting the names on the aircraft. On any given mission, the planes could have different styles of markings.

Almost all crews gave nicknames to their airplanes. Initially, the nicknames were just painted on the side. [See, e.g., 14, 15a] Later, the crews began to also decorate their aircraft with artwork, often of scantily-clad women. In response to complaints from the home front, many Group commanders censored the pictures. The 6th Bomb Group avoided the problem by issuing an order (below) requiring that all aircraft bear the pirate insignia.

The decoration around the pirate insignia evolved over time. Some early examples, such as the example above, are plain. Others show a black circle behind the insignia. [See, e.g., 28II] Later aircraft show a white circle behind the insignia. [See, e.g., 15a]

Initially, the aircraft nickname was simply painted to the rear of the insignia. [See, e.g.,33 and 53] Other planes inserted the insignia in trailing red and white flames. [See, e.g., 28II] The final version of the insignia was fairly standardized. [See, e.g., 06, 11, 33, 40, 51, 60, 65]. However, the script used to write the names could vary. [Compare 06, 33, 65]

Artwork was improved as time permitted. The older paint jobs were not always updated immediately. Some crews did not get around to painting the names on the aircraft. On any given mission, the planes could have different styles of markings.

A Sad Day

Mission Markings and Names

Mission markings were painted on the same side, with a bomb for each bombing mission flown by the aircraft. [See, e.g., 57, 65] Kill markings were noted with a Japanese flag. [See, e.g., 57] On "Irish Lullaby", shamrocks were used in place of bombs. On some aircraft, "milk runs" were noted with milk bottles.

The names of the current aircraft commander and crew chief were normally painted on the left side below the aircraft commander's window. The names of the pilot and assistant(?) crew chief might be painted below the pilot's right side window. The navigators name might be painted below the navigator's left side window.

See B-29s in Color.

Aircraft Listing

Below is a tentative list of the airplanes, their nicknames and commanders along with a link to a webpage showing pictures of the aircraft and the men who flew them and the men who worked on them.

The total number of planes per squadron appears to have varied from 16 to 18 planes.

Caution: This is not an official listing. Over the course of the war, the aircraft nicknames changed, aircraft commanders changed, crew chiefs changed, crews changed and crewmembers changed. The names of some of the aircraft commanders were from the listing on the mission board for the final mission - so there is a good chance that they were not the regular aircraft commanders for the aircraft. Also, when an aircraft was destroyed, another aircraft would take over that squadron number. I have found some duplicates, but probably not all.

Also, the ranks of the aircrew may not be entirely correct. Most are the ranks shown on the 2 Feb 1946 award of the "China Offensive Battle Star". These ranks may reflect post-war promotions.

24th SQUADRON

No.	Nickname	Aircraft Commander	Serial #	Comments
01.	Ernie Pyle's Milkwagon Uncle Sam's Milkwagon	Parks	42-93906	Destroyed May 23
01.	Spirit of Sammy	Hume	42-63535
02.	[Unknown]	Ramsey, Moreno	44-61549
03.	Sharon Linn	Jordan	44-70116	Lost July 19 [#66]
04.	El Pajaro de la Guerra	Litchfield	42-24874	aka "The War Bird"
05.	Big Joe	Haki, Johnstone	42-24885
06.	Irish Lullaby	Cooney	42-24830
07.	Incendiary Journey	Holton, Bereznoff	44-61784
08.	Bataan Avenger	Jones	44-61635	Returned to Wichita in June
08.		Fortune
09.	-	Meadows	44-69864
10.	Anonymous IV	Howett	44-61688
11.		Mutoh	42-24889	Destroyed Apr 22
11.	Miss America '62	Alger, Henshaw	42-65281	On display at Travis AFB, SFO
12.	The Wolfpack	Guay	42-94063
13.	Jake's Jernt [Some Punkins]	Schad, Hurd	44-61558 44-27296
14.	Snooky	Preston, Holtzclaw	42-24825	First B-29 on Tinian Many crew lost Apr 7 [#20]
14.	Patty Sue	Lazin	??-?4890
15.	Blind Date/Lady's Delight	Boynton	42-24759	Lost on May 23 [#43]
15.	Shasta	Schwager, Fortune	44-87734	Ditched in ocean
16.	Our Lady	Dawson
16.	Tinny Ann	Berry	44-69865
17.	[Unknown]	Snyder	42-24870	Lost on May 23 [#43]
17.		Wilson	42-24836	Flew in last mission.
18.
18.	Lovely Lois	Rodgers	44-61905
n/a	Fortunes Follies	Preston	42-65347	Lost Apr 7 [#20]
08.	Lucky Leven		42-93951	Involved in accident.
??.	Holton's Hellions	Holton

39th SQUADRON

Note: The planes were originally assigned lower numbers - for example, planes #35 was originally #25.

No.	Nickname	Aircraft Commander	Serial #	Comments
25.			??-?4901
26.	Tokyo Trolley	Fox	42-63553	Lost May 25 [#44]
26.	Tokyo Trolley II	Treeman	44-70150
27.	Lucky Strike	Lemme	42-63552
28.	Trigger Mortis	Booth	42-93911	Scrapped Mar 27
28.	Trigger Mortis II	Frank	44-69744	[see #39]
29.	Look Homeward Angel	Ralph	44-69736
30.	Rip Van Winkle	Smith	42-24868
30.	Son of a B-29	Richards
31.	Lady Jean	Henshaw, Cunningham	42-93898
32.	Snugglebunny	Smith, Jennings	44-69667	34 missions + 78 in Korea
33.	Reamatroid	Russell, Joslin	44-69672
34.	Patrica Lynn	Burwell, Disosway	42-93901
35.	The Cultured Vulture	Richmond, Crumpton	42-24901
36.	Grider Gal	Besore	42-24884
37.	Anne Garry III	Clay	42-63351	Destroyed May 25
	Anne Garry IV	Clay
	Anne Garry V	George	44-87650
38.	Forever Amber II	Sharp	44-61686
39.	Here's Lucky	Ezell, Koser	44-69744	[see #28]
40.	Myas' Dragon	Catts*	42-94042	* from airplane 41
41.	Forever Amber	Catts	44-69839	Destroyed Jun 5 [#45]
41.	[Unknown]	Russell	44-61836
42.	Speagle Eagle	Olive	44-69757
43.	-		4?-?
44.	[Unknown]
??.	Tulsa Barb	Cleverdon
??.	[Unknown]	Casaurang	42-24842	Lost Feb 12 [#04]
??.	Do It Again	Sams	42-65229	Destroyed July ?

40th SQUADRON

Note: The planes were originally assigned lower numbers - for example, planes #53 was originally #33.

No.	Nickname	Aircraft Commander	Serial #	Comments
51.	Earthquake McGoon	Patterson	42-24866
52.	[No Name]	Triplett	44-69831
53.	Flak Alley Sally	Vincent	42-24878
54.	The Peacemaker	Grounds	42-24916	Lost Mar 27 [#16]
54.	Battling Betty	Comerford	44-69847
55.	Little Giant	Schmid	42-93939	Lost Jul 9 [#61]
55.	Rattle N’ Roll	Bunting	44-61803
56.	Jolly Roger	Russow	44-24872
57.	White Mistress	Wilson	42-24776	Damaged POW mission
58.	Virgin Sturgeon	Scurria	44-70006
59.	Dearly Beloved "The Ramp Tramp"	Kubicek	44-70069
60.	Tojo's Nightmare	Christenson	44-70124
61.	Connecticut Yankee	Bierkan	42-24783	Crash landed and destroyed
61.	Wun Wing Lo	Harp
62.	Gravel Gertie	Somonian	42-24880
63.	Lady Annabelle	Tucker	42-93887
64.	Banana Boat	Clay	42-63551	Taxiing accident Mar.
65.	Little Jeff	Christie	44-69855
66.	[Unknown]	Moulton	44-69825	Ditched May 26 off Iwo Jima
67.	Connecticut Yankee II	Bierkan	44-69980
??	Capt. Clay		42-63514
??.	Grand Slam	Neal	42-93902	Crash landed Mar 10 - All OK
??.		Steel	42-63553	Destroyed Mar 13
??.	The Bad Penny	Steel	42-69675	Lost Mar 27 [#16]
??.	The Bad Penny II	Reed	42-69840	Destroyed May 16

SQUADRON UNKNOWN

No.	Nickname	Serial #	Comments
??.	Early Bird	44-86303
??		42-24788	MACR
??.	Kinney Dalle	44-61538	MACR
	[Unknown]		Ditched off Tinian

PLANES USED IN STATESIDE TRAINING

No.	Nickname	Aircraft Commander	Serial #	Comments
	Queen of 'Em All		42-86380
	Take It Off		??-?6371

After the War

Some of the planes flew in the Korean War, including "Some Punkins", "Snugglebunny", "Reamatroid", and "Connecticut Yankee II".

Decals For Modelers

Here are some decals that may help B-29 modelers. These are latter versions of the markings. The pirate design and the "Circle R" were identical for all planes. However, the flames behind the pirate could vary. Many different fonts were used to write the name. Some planes did not have the flames (only a name) and some did not have the circle behind the pirate.