SSGT William B Jackson (1920-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial

CFC Gunner: 11072514William B Jackson SSgt CT 7-12-1944 B-29 #42-6389

Central Fire Control "Ring" Gunner, B-29-15-BW (Boeing-Wichita) Superfortress serial #42-6389 nicknamed "PARTY GIRL" tail code Two-White-Diagonal-Rudder-Stripes assigned to the 792nd Bomber Squadron, 468th Bombardment Group (VH), 58th Bomb Wing, XX Bomber Command, 20th Air Force deployed to Kharagpur, West Bengal, India in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre of Operations.

Historical Note: the 468th Bomb Group was at Kharagpur Airfield, India; as part of "Operation Matterhorn" to bombard Japan, his B-29 aircraft would fly over the Himalaya Mountain Range and logistically stage bombing missions through Pengshan Airfield (A-7) at the Chengdu Aerodrome in China.

Around Chengdu, four runways were built as bases for the B-29 Superfortress bombers. The four runways were named A-1 (40th BG), A-3 (444th BG), A-5 (462nd BG), and A-7 (468th BG).

Runway A-7, located at Pengshan, was the forward base for the 468th Bombardment Group (VH).

Using their B-29 Superforts, the four Bomb Groups would haul bombs, fuel, ammunition, and spare parts 1,200 miles over the "Hump" to the Chengdu Aerodrome in China. After each "Hump" mission, a camel would be painted on the nose of the aircraft. Six round trips were necessary to deliver enough fuel for one bomber to mount a combat mission from China – an impractical logistics concept for an aerial campaign, particularly with an airplane plagued with an unreliable engine that had a tendency to overheat and catch fire.