B-29: JACKSON MAN KEPT BIG BOMBER FLYING; TO ATTEND REUNION

The B-29 Superfortress, a high-flying plane operated during World War II, was designed and built for one reason "to bring the Japanese to their knees," says Alvin Kamp, who spent more than two years keeping some of the big air machines flying during the war.

"The aircraft was designed specifically for use in the Asian Command and Pacific Island Theater," said Kamp, a retired machinist from the former Jackson Hosiery Mill.

"It was used to pound Japanese targets from the China-Burma areas and from islands like Tinian, Guam and Saipan."

It was in India that Kamp was first introduced to the B-29.

"I was stationed at Chakulia, India," said Kamp. "One of my duties there was to keep supply planes flying from Chakulia to a U.S. base at Tsingching, China, near Calcutta a distance of about 1,100 miles."

The run from Chakulia to Calcutta was described as "one of the most dangerous routes in the world," said Kamp. "This was the `Hump Route,' which went over the Himalaya Mountains."

Kamp made the 2,200-mile round trip `Hump Route` five times as an engine mechanic on a B-29.

"During the early years of the war, most planes couldn't go over 25,000 feet in height," said Kamp. "Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the Himalayas, was 29,000 feet high. You had to fly around it.

Adding to the danger of the route was the weather.

"You never knew what type of weather you would encounter on a trip," said Kamp. "Some of the air pockets were extremely dangerous. We heard stories of winds with the force of tornadoes, which would sometimes flip your aircraft. If the plane was high enough, the pilot may have time to flip it back, but a lot of planes were lost on that route."

Kamp and his wife, Roda Lou, will have an opportunity to hear more "Hump Route" and B-29 stories next month when they attend the 50th anniversary reunion of the 40th Bomb Squadron and B-29 pilots, engineers and mechanics who were stationed in China during World War II.

"We have attended a couple of smaller reunions (about 300 to 350 people)," said Kamp. "But the 1992 anniversary will be held at Seattle, Wash., where the first B-29 was built 50 years ago, in August of 1942. They're expecting as many as 6,000 people there. We'll have an opportunity to tour the factory, which made the B-29."

The Jackson resident likes to talk about the four-engine B-29 and discuss the 50 miles of tubing and cables it contains, the 105 functions per engine, the 342 functions for the hydraulic, electrical and control systems, and the great number of tests and inspections that had to be performed between every flight of the aircraft.

"Each engine of the B-29 holds 90 gallons of oil," said Kamp. "The giant plane 99 feet long, 29 feet high, with a wing span of 141 feet burned 400 gallons of gasoline and eight gallons of oil per hour."

"We hauled 8,000 gallons of fuel over the Hump to Calcutta," said Kamp. "We used well over half of the fuel for the round trip, delivering as little as 3,000 gallons to Calcutta."

In many cases, the same B-29 that made the Hump flight would then make a bombing raid to Japan, noted Kamp.

"We usually had a five-man mechanic crew," said Kamp. "We would stay at Calcutta while a second crew made the bombing raids. When the plane returned, we had to completely inspect and test the craft, and change the oil in the engines.

"The planes were usually pretty durable," said Kamp. "But, occasionally one would be damaged by enemy gunfire and would require heavy mechanical work.

"We were proud of our aircraft," said Kamp. "When we received our first B-29, we named it the `20th Century Unlimited.' We became real attached to the plane and took care of it like a baby. We always told the pilot taking it out that we wanted `our plane' to come back.

"If it came back sick, that would be all right," said Kamp. "But, we just wanted it to come back."

The 20th Century Unlimited did make it back from several missions, but it finally "ran out of luck," said Kamp.

During a bombing mission over Japan, the pilot, Jack Ledford, and some of the crew made it back, but the 20th Century went down. The plane was damaged in the attack, and developed a fuel leak. Ledford was wounded, but managed to bail out and was rescued. The mechanics crew chief suffered fatal bullet wounds during the attack. He managed to bail out, but died later.

"The loss of the crew chief and the plane was sad for us," said Kamp. "We had other B-29s during the war, but never got as attached to them as with the 20th Century."

Kamp was stationed at Chakulia about a year, and was then transferred to the Pacific Theater.

"We were wearing out plane engines, and using gallons of gasoline flying the Hump," said Kamp. "When U.S. troops captured the Pacific islands of Tinian, Guam and Saipan, we moved there. The total distance from these islands to Japan was about 1,400 to 1,600 miles, depending on the flight routes. Actually this eliminated the 1,100 miles from Chakulia to Calcutta."

The Pacific route was later improved when the U.S. took the island of Iwo Jima. "This (Iwo Jima) gave us a spot for emergency landing between Tinian and Japan," said Kamp.

It was from the Tinian island that Col. Paul W. Tibbets launched the Enola Gay to deliver the first atom bomb over Hiroshima. Three days later, Superfort left Tinian to drop its nuclear payload on Nagasaki, signaling the end of World War II. Both of the planes were B-29s.

"I was stationed at West Field on the seven-mile long Tinian island," said Kamp. "It was from the North Field, about three miles away that the Enola Gay started its flight to Hiroshima on Aug. 6. We didn't know about that flight until the next day when we heard about it on short-wave radio."

Only one B-29 Superfortress, "Fifi," is still flying. It was refurbished by the Confederate Air Force (CAF), an organization which specializes in preserving aircraft from the period, 1939 to 1945.

"Fifi" was brought to Cape Girardeau in 1983 as part of an air show presented by the Missouri Wing of the CAF.

Kamp, his wife and daughter attended that show.

Kamp, who enlisted in the Air Force in November 1942, returned to Jackson after almost three years of service. He attended airplane mechanic schools at three sites Gulf Port, Miss., Chanute Field, Rantoul, Ill., and Lowery Field in Denver before being sent to Chakulia. He was assigned to the 20th Air Force, with the 40th Bomb Group.

Following discharge in 1945, he rejoined the Jackson Hosiery Mill as a machinist. It closed in 1976 and he joined Lenco Inc. He retired in 1987.

"I considered staying in the aircraft mechanic field after discharge," said Kamp. "I took five tests, and passed them, for civilian mechanic, but decided to return to the hosiery mill."

Kamp and his wife are parents of two children, Debbie Clifton of Jackson and Lee Fronabarger of Carbondale, Ill.