The 6th Bomb Group

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.

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]

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.

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 left side 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.

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.
 

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.

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

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.