| 216th Army Air Force Base Unit | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Garrison/HQ | Wendover Army Air Field, Utah |
| Engagements | World War II |
The 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit (AAF BU) (Special) provided base services at Wendover Army Airfield, where the 509th Composite Group was stationed during World War II. As such, it became involved in the Manhattan Project's program of testing bombs and aircraft under the codename Project W-47.
By early 1944, the role of the United States Army Air Forces had moved away from defense and preparing new units. Some 90 per cent of the planned units had been activated, and three-quarters of them had already deployed overseas. The Air Forces therefore shifted to the training of replacement aircrew and special projects like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress program. [1]
It was found that the existing system of units with fixed establishments was not sufficiently flexible for the Air Forces new roles, so in February 1944 Army Air Forces Headquarters ordered the units at each installation to be consolidated into Army Air Forces Base Units. [1] The 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit was formed at Wendover Army Airfield in Utah, where it supported the 72d Fighter Wing, a formation responsible for training pilots of P-47 Thunderbolts. The base covered 1,822,000 acres (737,000 ha), and was the largest bombing and gunnery range in the world. [2]
By September 1944, when Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets visited Wendover for the first time, this training program was ending, and there was only one aircraft left. [3] Tibbets had recently been selected to command the 509th Composite Group, although it had not yet been formed, and Wendover was one of three bases offered to him. [4] Tibbets was particularly impressed by Wendover's remoteness. He noted that the runway was long enough to handle the B-29, and the hangars and maintenance facilities were good. The only drawback in his mind was that the base housing was inadequate. Tibbets selected Wendover without examining the other two sites. [3]
Tibbets established his headquarters at Wendover on 8 September, and the 393d Bombardment Squadron followed three days later. The 509th Composite Group was not activated until 17 December. [5] At this point, some 800 personnel were transferred to the new group from the 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit, [6] including Karnes, who became the 509th Composite Group's adjutant. [7] Wendover, codenamed "Kingman", became the Manhattan Project's Site K. [8]
A new commander, Colonel Clifford J. Heflin, arrived in January 1945 to assume command of the 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit, and relieve Tibbets of some of his administrative burden. Like Tibbets, Heflin was a veteran pilot, having commanded the 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) and the 492d Bombardment Group. As part of Operation Carpetbagger, this unit had air dropped agents, weapons and supplies to resistance fighters in German-occupied Europe. [8]
The 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit's special activities in support of the Manhattan Project were codenamed Project W-47. These were carried out by two special elements within the unit. [8]
In February 1945, Heflin created the Flight Test Section to carry out testing with prototype bombs in the shape of the Little Boy and Fat Man bombs. It was originally equipped with five Silverplate B-29s, three flight crews and five maintenance crews. [8] The Flight Test Section was commanded Major Clyde "Stan" Shields, who had piloted the "Pullman" prototype Silverplate B-29 in the initial drop tests at Muroc Army Air Field in February and March 1944. [9] The Flight Test Section received five new Silverplate B-29s in April 1945. It retired three of its aircraft, and kept another three, leaving it with eight test aircraft. [10]
Test drop missions were initially flown by Shields and Heflin.To help out with an increasingly demanding schedule, four crews from the 393d Bombardment Squadron were made available. The Flight Test Section carried out 24 drop tests in June and 30 in July. [8] About two-thirds of the June tests were with Fat Man shapes and the rest with Little Boy ones. In July, all but four of the tests were with Fat Man shapes, some with explosive-filled Pumpkin bombs. [11] Test drops were carried out at Wendover, at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, and at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Salton Sea. Testing continued up to the last minute, with the Fat Man firing unit, known as the X-unit, only being successfully tested at Wendover on 4 August, and a final test of the X-unit was carried out six days later. [10]
One of the three B-29s that carried Fat Man assemblies to Tinian was from the 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit's Flight Test Section. [12]
To assemble bombs for the Flight Test Section, the 1st Ordnance Squadron, Special (Aviation) was activated on 6 March 1945 under the command of Captain Charles F. H. Begg. [13] However, as part of the 509th Composite Group, it was scheduled to accompany the group to the Pacific Theater to assemble atomic and Pumpkin bombs for combat missions. [14] The 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit began forming and training a Special Ordnance Detachment in January 1945 under the command of Captain Henry Roerkohl to take over the role of supporting the Flight Test Section. The two units worked together until the 1st Ordnance Squadron departed for Tinian in May 1945. [8]
In all, the Special Ordnance Detachment assembled 71 bombs between May and August 1945. [15] It moved to Oxnard Field in September, where it was transferred to the Manhattan District's 9812th Technical Services Unit on 17 December 1945. [16] This was later designated Sandia Base. The Special Ordnance Detachment took with it its special tools and equipment, and even some of its buildings. [8] The test program resumed at Sandia in January 1946. [17] For its services, the Special Ordnance Detachment was awarded a Meritorious Service Unit Plaque on 19 December 1945. [18]
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the Enola Gay when it dropped a Little Boy, the first of two atomic bombs used in warfare, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The Great Artiste was a U.S. Army Air Forces Silverplate B-29 bomber, assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group. The aircraft was named for its bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan, in reference to his bombing talents. It flew 12 training and practice missions in which it bombed Japanese-held Pacific islands and dropped pumpkin bombs on targets in Japan. It was the only aircraft to have participated in both the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, albeit as an observation aircraft on each mission.
Straight Flush was the name of a B-29 Superfortress that participated in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Project Alberta, also known as Project A, was a section of the Manhattan Project which assisted in delivering the first nuclear weapons in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport. During World War II, it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit that carried out the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The 509th Composite Group was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945.
The 509th Operations Group is the flying component of the United States Air Force 509th Bomb Wing, assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It is equipped with all 20 of the USAF's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, flown by its 393rd Bomb Squadron. Its 13th Bomb Squadron, the training unit for the 509th, provides training in T-38 Talon trainers as well as in the 393rd's B-2 Spirits.
Above and Beyond is a 1952 American World War II film about Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945.
Jabit III was the name of a B-29 Superfortress participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group, Jabit III was used as a weather reconnaissance aircraft and flew to the city of Kokura, designated as the secondary target, before the final bombing to determine if conditions were favorable for an attack.
Necessary Evil, also referred to as Plane #91, was the name of Boeing B-29-45-MO Superfortress 44-86291, participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Up An' Atom was the name of a B-29 Superfortress configured during World War II in the Silverplate project to carry an atomic bomb.
Laggin' Dragon was the name of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress configured to carry the atomic bomb in World War II.
Big Stink – later renamed Dave's Dream – was a United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-29-40-MO Superfortress bomber that participated in the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. Assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group, it was used as a camera plane in support of the bomb-carrying B-29 Bockscar to photograph the explosion and effects of the bomb, and also to carry scientific observers. The mission was flown by crew C-14 but with Group Operations Officer Major James I. Hopkins, Jr., as the aircraft commander.
Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop an atomic weapon, "Silverplate" eventually came to identify the training and operational aspects of the program as well. The original directive for the project had as its subject line "Silver Plated Project" but continued usage of the term shortened it to "Silverplate".
Pumpkin bombs were conventional aerial bombs developed by the Manhattan Project and used by the United States Army Air Forces against Japan during World War II. It was a close replication of the Fat Man plutonium bomb with the same ballistic and handling characteristics, but it used non-nuclear conventional high explosives. It was mainly used for testing and training purposes, which included combat missions flown with pumpkin bombs by the 509th Composite Group. The name "pumpkin bomb" was the term used in official documents from the large, fat ellipsoidal shape of the munition casing instead of the more usual cylindrical shape of other bombs, intended to enclose the Fat Man's spherical "physics package".
Next Objective was the name of a Boeing B-29-36-MO Superfortress, 44-27299, Victor 86, modified to carry the atomic bomb in World War II.
Top Secret was the name of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress modified to carry the atomic bomb in World War II. It served with the Army Air Forces and United States Air Force from 1945 until 1954.
Luke the Spook was the name of a Boeing B-29-50-MO Superfortress configured to carry the atomic bomb in World War II.
Bockscar, sometimes called Bock's Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 bomber that dropped a Fat Man nuclear weapon over the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II in the second – and most recent – nuclear attack in history. One of 15 Silverplate B-29s used by the 509th, Bockscar was built at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Plant at Bellevue, Nebraska, at what is now Offutt Air Force Base, and delivered to the United States Army Air Forces on 19 March 1945. It was assigned to the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, 509th Composite Group to Wendover Army Air Field, Utah in April and was named after captain Frederick C. Bock.
The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was activated on 17 December 1944, and inactivated on 19 August 1946 at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico. The squadron was later consolidated with the 302d Transport Squadron and 302d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. The squadron was a support squadron for the 509th Composite Group during World War II. It was formed as the transport unit for the 509th, and due to the highly secret nature of the group, carried all supplies and equipment for Project Silverplate Atomic Bomb activities. It also functioned as a special air transport squadron for high-ranking officers, nuclear scientists and for the group's commander, Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets to meetings concerning Silverplate. The squadron later served as a transport squadron for atomic tests in the Marshall Islands in 1946.
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