Plane Name?

[david]

Does anyone know the plane name of 42-6309? Crashed on 9/2/44. Robert Spellmann, Captain?
David Calkin

[gran]

Mann shows no name for No. 42-6309. This is not unusual, as many B-29's were not named. 42-6309 was assigned to the 468th Bomb Group, which was based at Kharagpur (Salua), India.
Gran

[gran]

This was the plane two of my AACS friends hitched a ride on, because they wanted to see China, and the news that they were missing on the hump saddened me. In late October I learned that the Air Force had officially gien up the search for 309. I never heard any more about it.
gran

[david]

gran
The information I have shows that 42-6309 was assigned to 444th BG, 676th Sqdn. I'm sorry that you lost friends in the crash. My wife's uncle was the Navigator. I contacted the Captain's brother in Tyler, TX and he e-mailed photos of the crew, plane and names. I requested a copy of the MACR 11296 and it list 7 crewman, 3 passengers. The plane was discovered in 1949 a top a 16,500 ft cliff. They are buried in mass grave at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis.
David Calkin

[gran]

I really appreciate learning about what happended to my friends and crew members of 309, and am glad they received a decent burial in the U.S. I have thoought about them many times over the years.
Guido Ransleben

[gran]

David
My friends were named Cruise and Oeberlein (sp?) I don"t recall their first names. Acording to my diary, they were reported missing on Aug 27. I may have mistaken the date when I wrote it down because I did not actually hear about it until several days later.
Incidentally, my records do not show 309 was with the 444th BG, but it may have gone before I had a chance to see it (I had just arrived at Dudhkundi on Aug 19,1944.