Crew 46

Airplane Commander Grear and his crew of P-46 joined up with the other units of the XXI Bomber Command to burn out the great industrial area of Tokyo. It was May 29 and Yokohama was the target. Only twenty-five of the thirty-one planes sent out hit the primary target, but they aided in creating plenty of destruction. On this single mission, about 7 square miles of the city was burned out, some 35 percent of Yokohama. It was a great hit for the 39th but tough on the crew of P-46. Immediately after bombs away over the target, the plane received direct flak hits in No. 3 and No. 4 engines, bomb bay, radio room, and vertical stabilizer. The fuel transfer system was shot out and the co-pilot's throttle cables were severed. No. 3 engine was feathered due to loss of oil while No. 4 was losing oil rapidly. The Radio Operator, Elias Schutzman, was wounded in the right foot by flak. Shortly after leaving the coast, the Flight Engineer called for No. 4 to be feathered, as it was about to seize up from loss of oil. The bomb bay doors jammed open creating excessive drag caused the aircraft to lose altitude rapidly. It was time to make plans to ditch. Ditching took place at 1230 on the 29th about 120 miles northeast of Tori-Shima. Details of the ditching are sketchy but four men of the crew were missing by the time of rescue. At approximately 1705, May 30, the submarine U.S.S. Tigrone, SS419, picked up the remaining men. They returned to North Field June 2, 1945. Missing were M/Sgt. Clare Lovelace, Sgt. Lawrence Toeppe, Sgt. William Davenport and Sgt. Charles Markowitz. The wounded Radio Operator, Schutzman, was saved. According to Christ-Janer, most of the survivors went on to other crews and continued to fly missions. Christ-Janer became a member of P-36.

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