TOP
usaflag.gif
39th Bomb Group (VH)

[Search Tip: Use " " for better search results ex. "John Q. Doe"; "City of ..."]

4
5

While it is not known when this crew was formed, it is known that at least two of its members were crewed together at Lincoln in October 1944 - 2nd Lt Hammond D. Sadler and S/Sgt Charles E. Jackson.

The crew had 13 missions from June - August that included Osaka, Shizuoka, Kofu, Tokyo and a POW supply drop (Kanagawa Camp), in addition a 30 September mission to Korea was flown.

Crew 40 ditching using Google Earth
Courtesy of George Savidis

On 03 October 1945, during a transition and flight training mission, which are flown to keep the crews and airplanes in a state of readiness for whatever situation may occur, 9 members of Crew 40, Capt Devine, 2nd Lt Sadler, 1st Lt Bowman, M/Sgt Courtney, S/Sgt Jackson, S/Sgt Venturelli, S/Sgt Hero, S/Sgt Martinez, Sgt Russell and 1 member of Crew 36, 1st Lt Hickey, the aircraft they were flying (B-29 SN 44-69792) developed engine trouble and ditched at sea. Of the 10 men aboard S/Sgt Charles E. Jackson, Radio Operator, was the only survivor and one body that of M/Sgt John W. Courtney, FE, was recovered.

In a letter to the family of 2nd Lt Hammond Sadler's family dated 12 October 1945, S/Sgt Jackson describes the account.

"On the last fight it was a routine training flight in which we was to first fly some instrument time and then start some landings. We had been airborne for approximately one hour and half when we developed the trouble. Our altitude was around 2000 ft and our position was eight miles east of Aguijan, a small island almost due south of Tinian.

The first trouble we had occurred a minute or two after twelve. That caused us to feather # 2 engine, almost immediately afterwards # 1 engine developed a bad oil leak and caught on fire. That left us with almost a full load of gas, a very bad fire, and two engines out on the same side. The ship then lost attitude quite rapidly and we attempted to ditch it at sea. Instead of having a successful ditching we flew right into the water, went straight over on our back, and the fire spread everywhere. Also by the time I managed to clear it had sunk from sight minimizing anyone's chance for escape. The accident occurred at nine minutes after twelve so you can see how fast we developed the trouble and crashed.

The area was well searched after the crash and I can assure you that if he had of been able to get out of the plane that he would have been picked up"

1st Lt Roland E. Cedarholm was unable to fly because of stomach virus didn't fly this mission. In his place, 1st Lt Robert L. Hickey was flying as Radar Officer on this flight. Also from a letter sent to the Sadler Family, by a friend of Lt Sadler's who was a Marine station on Guam at Agana at the time, his letter related a similar account.

In a letter from USMC Cpl Robert Mathers to 2nd Lt Hammond Sadler's family dated 7 October 1945, it mentioned that Crew 40's bombardier, 1st Lt Edward L. Cox, was not on this flight as he was headed stateside for discharge. The current status of Cox is unknown.

In December 2001, Christine Prince, Granddaughter of S/Sgt Jackson, provided the names of the enlisted men. She also related "I recall my grandfather stating that after he had escaped from the wreckage and was in the water, he saw Courtney trying to jump off the other end of the plane only to, sadly, be consumed by fire. The same ship that picked my grandfather up also picked up the body of Courtney. He was apparently so badly burned that my grandfather was only able to identify him by his feet".

Bernie Greene, Bombardier, recalls Crew 31 was on same training mission, after VJ-Day as P-40 and saw Devine's wreckage burning in the water. Bob Hickey, P-36, was flying with Devine's crew as was Sgt.Courtney, who he believes both lost their lives. Some one may have survived though, he remembers a NCO coming to their quonset hut that they shared with P-36, and talking to P-31's AC, Hank Snow, thanking him for the part his crew played in sending a distress call with the position of the crash. He also notes that 2nd Lt Hammond Sadler was the pilot on P-40.


Note: records indicate that B-29 # 44-69792 was assigned to Crew 33 during combat and nicknamed "Fifty-Second Seabees"

Click on the appropriate name to view the letters received by the Sadler Family regarding their son:

1st Lt Roland E. Cedarholm, Radar Officer, P-40 (was not on 03 Oct 45 flight)
S/Sgt Charles E. Jackson, Radio Operator, P-40 and only survivor of ditching
USMC Cpl Robert Mathers, close friend of Hammond Sadler

The letters sent by
Col. Storrie & The War Department are in PDF format only to view use:


There were eight crews with only 4 men listed, the Airplane Commander, Navigator, Bombardier and Radar. They were Crew 26 (replacement), Crew 38, Crew 39, Crew 40, Crew 55, Crew 59 and Crew 61.

The original information on Crew 36, Crew 38, Crew 39 and Crew 40 came from a list compiled by Lt. Robert Woodard, P-33. The list of officers submitted were of the 61 crews of the 39th Bomb Group. A list of enlisted men for these crews was hard to locate. Can you help fill in the blanks? If so please email updates@39th.org

61st Squadron Crew Index
Source: Bernie Greene, P-31 and "History of the 39th BG" by Robert Laird and David Smiith;
Christine Prince, granddaughter of S/Sgt Jackson; Suzanne Sadler Stone; Jeff Cedarholm, son of Radar Observer