Page 34 - Volume 10 Number 8

satisfied with progress and the work week was increased to two, 10-hour shifts, six days a week. Many key workers, such as foremen and lead men, and certain specialists and technicians, often worked consecutive shifts for as many as three days, catching a few minutes of sleep when they could be spared from the production line. Despite the physical and emotional strain imposed by 80-hour work weeks, Boeing-Wichita workers maintained that brutal pace throughout 1944 and into 1945, when the factory downshifted to a 55-hour work week.2
Throughout the critical years of 1943-1945, building the B-29 was a “battle” in itself with its plethora of problems. General Arnold, however, was determined to get the B-29 into combat against the Japanese. Not only was he commander of the Army Air Forces, but he was committed to creating and equipping a new 20th Air Force that he hoped would vindicate the theory of long range strategic bombardment. All he needed was the right bomber – the B-29.
The sole purpose of the new air force was straightforward: bomb Japan into submission. In Europe, both the Eighth Air Force and the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command were paying a high price in a vain attempt to prove that bombing alone could bring the Third Reich to its knees. Meanwhile, a great deal of political wrangling was occurring in London and Washington regarding the overall efficacy of strategic bombing campaigns. Losses of heavy bombers and their aircrews were often unacceptably high for both the Eighth Air Force (daylight missions) and Bomber Command (nighttime missions), but the raids never stopped.
Arnold’s plans were to bomb Japan from bases in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of Operations, and “Hap” had concluded that he needed a minimum of 175 of Boeing’s mighty B-29s to do the job. He possessed a talented staff that had already drawn up plans for striking Japan’s industrial cities, led by General K.B. Wolfe, a veteran of Eighth Air Force operations. On January 11, 1944, Arnold flew to Wichita and paid a visit to J. Earl Schaefer.
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As he was escorted through Plant II, he liked what he saw – dozens and dozens of B-29s moving down the assembly lines. He was, however, looking for one Superfortress in particular, number 175, and he found it entering final assembly. “This is the airplane I want,” he told Schaefer, “and I want it by the first of March.” It was completed on February 28th.
The 20th Air Force was scheduled to depart the United States for China in March, but when Arnold went to Salina, Kansas, where the bombers were being prepared for departure, he received a nasty shock; not one B-29 was ready to go! Arnold was livid. He learned that the bombers still lacked vital parts and the best estimate was that it would be months before the first B-29 would be ready for the long flight to China. President Roosevelt wanted Japan bombed. Arnold assured him that the B-29 was the weapon to do just that. Plans had been approved. Red tape eliminated. Crews had been trained. Bases were waiting in the CBI Theater, but the bombers were going nowhere.
Arnold soon concluded that it was not only parts that were keeping the B-29s on the ground, organization and management of the modifications was poor at best. To correct these problems, Arnold brought in General Bennett Myers, who immediately took steps aimed at getting the bombers on their way to China. In addition to Salina, facilities were established at Walker, Pratt and Great Bend, Kansas. Air Corps technicians, logistics experts and other personnel were sent to Kansas and began unclogging the technical logjam. Boeing in Seattle dispatched 600 technicians, and more help was sent from B-29 manufacturers Martin and Bell. Soon, flight crews were flying bombers from one modification site to another, providing them with valuable flight time in the
Boeing not only built, but rebuilt the B-29. Bombers parked outside of Plant II underwent a myriad of modifications
to wings, engine cowlings, bomb bays, rudders, cockpit glass and electrical wiring. (WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES)
AUGUST 2016