USAAF
20th AF
313 BW
505th BG
482nd BS
1945
Pilot Commander Captain Edward Fishkin, O-383237 (KIA) Verona, NJ
Co-Pilot F/O Alfred V. Boulton, T-65112 (KIA) Brooklyn, NY
Bombardier 2nd Lt Gerald J. McIntosh, O-2075437 (KIA) Brooklyn, NY
Navigator 1st Lt John Meehan, O-2079058 (POW, dis) Long Island, NY
Engineer S/Sgt John Driapsa, 15018513 (KIA) Bainbridge, OH
Radar F/O William H. Moore, T-137750 (KIA) Tipton, IN
Radio Sgt Henry W. Sutherland, 39041587 (POW, dis) Berkley, CA
CFC Gunner Sgt Osmond J. Hannigan, 17118454 (POW, dis) Minn
R Gunner Sgt James N. Fitzegerald, 31323581 (POW, ex) Gardiner, Maine
L Gunner Sgt Harvey B. Kennedy, Jr., 34540097 (POW, ex) Sarasota, FL
Tail Gun Sgt Joseph G. Kanzler, 42034646 (POW, dis) Richmond Hill, NY
Shot Down June 5, 1945
MACR 14603
Mission History
Took off from Tinian. Part of 473 B-29s on a mission to bomb the city of Kobe with incendiaries. Shot down by anti-aircraft fire at the start of the attack and crashed near Kobe at the Hyogo Prefecture Kobe City Mitsubishi shipyard. Five were KIA in the bomber.
Six bailed out and were taken POW by and turned over to the Kobe Kempei-tai. Two were executed (Fitzegerald and Kennedy) at Shinodayama Military Parade Ground near Osaka on or about July 20, 1945. The other POWs died of disease durng the war.
Wreckage
Bryan Cox, POW in Osaka writes in "Too Young To Die" page 248-249:
"...we passed the mangled wreckage of an American B-29 Superfortress bomber lying wher it had been shot down adjacent to the footpath. It was easily identifiable by its 2200 hp Weight Cyclone engines, berft of the cowling which had been torn off in the impact, and by the distinctive twin-bogie undercarriage lying forlorly alongside. Post war investigations that iwas probably the wreckage of Indian Maid, a B-29 Superfortress which was shot down by Japanese 'Tony' fighters over Osaka."
Relatives
Diana Bouille (nephew of Driapsa)
"My uncle was John Driapsa. I have a picture of my uncle and a different plane with his original crew. He was on his first mission and was taking the place of another person (replacing Sgt W. O'Marrah of Chicago). John’s hometown was Bainbridge, Ohio in the south central part of Ohio."
References
JA2TKO & B-29 by Kunio Okada
Too Young To Die by Bryan Cox, pages 248 - 249
B-29
POW
