DRAFT S-2 AND THE END OF THE WAR By Herbert Kurz My original intention for these memoirs was

to only record stories from my flying experience that I thought would have a particular interest for a reader. However, in the course of writing the earlier material, I related other stories and explained subse uent events as re uested by !eorge while he was assisting in transcription, and inserting pictures and illustrations. I thin" that the role of the #ir $orce in the %entral and &outhwest 'acific has received little recognition in comparison to the other military branches. (et, some historians have noted that losses experienced by the air crews in those theatres were actually more severe than those experienced by ground forces such as the Marines. )ecent programs on *+ have included restored and color enhanced film and photos from ,,II. However, I have not seen anything about missions conducted by the B-./s to attac" locations such as 0auru, *arawa, the Marshall Islands, and other island groups in the 1Island Hopping2 %ampaign. *here are detailed documentaries about the B-.3 raids against the 4apanese home islands and the attac"s on Hiroshima and 0agasa"i near the end of the war. 5nly relying on those documentaries, a young person today might conclude that the war in the 'acific was a naval operation and that the wor" of the ##$ simply concluded with two atomic bombs. In my experience, I thin" that that this misperception 6at least the lac" of recognition of the role of the #ir $orce in the 'acific7 was due to poor documentation of events and incomplete preservation of records by #ir $orce personnel during the war. By 83//, the 0ational #rchives was concerned about this situation. #dditionally, I observed it personally in the next chapter of my service. #fter the crash of 9.. on .: 0ovember 83/: 6described in The Last Flight of #0227, I flew more missions. *his period included the 8;</; hour mission to bomb Maloelap. *his was the longest duration mission for me. However, I had increasing concerns and lac" of confidence in my crew. $or me, this crew was no longer a team = >ust a group of passengers. #t this time, there were only three of us left of the original crew< $ran"
HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT ,ashburn, 1'ac"y2 Mac$arlane, and me 6see %rew History for casualties and transfers7. #dditionally, the replacement co-pilot 6&herman )eed7 never had training in a multi-engine aircraft. ,e were assigned a 1>un"er2 plane - an old B-./? that had been passed from one s uadron to another = no one wanted it. I did not "now the people who served as %', 0, or )adio 5perator. $inally, I re uested to be relieved from flying. I flew my last mission 6recorded as a mission by 3@th B& 5perations7 on 8@ ?ecember 83/:. By that time, I had accumulated 8,..;<8; hours as a pilot 68,993<:; hours as $irst 'ilot7. #fter that date, I flew mostly in the Marshalls and !ilberts, and sometimes mail and other routine matters to 4ohnston Island and ,a"e. *hese flights were not recorded by 5perations. I started wor"ing in the &-. 6Intelligence section7 under AAA 4ohn !artland. 'art of the function of the &-. was to debrief the flying crews when they returned from a mission. ,e wanted to collect information about enemy aircraft, their flying tactics, and any problems with our own e uipment and procedures. &ince I was an experienced pilot, I understood these matters when tal"ing with crews during debriefings. My experience was a big selling point for getting into &-.. *his way I would still be contributing. I was not out of the war, I thought, 1IBm still here.2 5ther duties included security and postal censorship. *he ground elements of our & uadron moved to *arawa during the period of C-.9 4anuary 83// by D&*. #fter the airfield on Betio was secured in late 0ovember 83/: by Marines, I read that the airfield on Betio was renamed Haw"ins $ield and briefly was the HE for the +II ##$ Bomber
Figure 1 LST to Tarawa (HTK photo)

%ommand. Fven with extensions

constructed by G& forces, the length of the airfield was marginal for heavy bombers. #
HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT new, longer airfield was built in ?ecember 83/: on Flla Island 6now Bonri"i Island7 >ust north of the south-eastern 1elbow2 of the atoll and was named Mullinix $ield. *herefore, Bomber %ommand was moved to Mullinix $ield which could better accommodate B-./s, and that is where I was stationed with the &-. office.

HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT

Figure " Tarawa toll (#i$ipedia % open cop&right)

Figure ' Tarawa toll (Ella Island or (onri$i Island) % )ullini* Field % "+ ug 1,--! .iew loo$ing #/#, 0aci1ic 2cean on right, lagoon on le1t! The 3elbow4 turn o1 the island is hidden where the island bends west towards (etio 5 not 6isible! (7S F)

,e lived in tents on Flla 6*arawa #toll7. I shared a tent 6$ig. /7 on the beach with three other officers. *he other people were< #aron Inglefinger 6in charge of the 0orden bombsights7, ?ic" Dau 6personnel supplyH transport officer7, and possibly Ken %ochran 6 7. ?uring that time, I contracted ?engue fever. ,e also called this disease 1brea"bone2 due to the feeling in your body. ,hile recuperating at our tent, one evening we saw a B-./ crash into the sea off the beach during a training mission. *his was supposed to be a training flight for six men who were co-pilots to be ualified as $irst 'ilots. However, all were lost. # memorial service was conducted later. I do not recall the date.
Figure 1 HT Kurz Tent on beach on Ella Island, Tarawa toll! (HTK)

HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT .

Figure < #ater =istallation 7nit % =a6is Figure 9 )ullini* Field (%"- :19; (Li1e )agazine) Engineering (HTK)

Figure > Tarawa ,;th (S (11th (8) H? area, S%" o11ice on right! 0hoto @osaic on pl&wood to right o1 S%" door! SAuadron Boll o1 Honor C 3scoreboard4 in center! (HTK)

Figure ; 8ilbertese 6illage on Tarawa (HTK)

Figure , 8ilbertese people on Tarawa (HTK)

HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT

$ollowing the capture of Kwa>alein in 4anuary and $ebruary 83//, the +II ##$ HE, the 88th B!, and :9th B! were moved there in early #pril. ,e left *arawa by D&* on .I March 83// and arrived at Kwa>alein on : #pril. #s shown in the pictures, the ship was well loaded with all our ground e uipment and vehicles.

Figure 1+ LST loaded with ,;th (S eAuip@ent and 6ehicles 1ro@ Tarawa to KwaDalein )arch 1,--! (HTK)

Figure 11 KwaDelein EJan 1944 (the date @ust be an error since (%"-s were not there until pril) (7S

F)

HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT *he ,ar ?iary of the #toll %ommander 60avy, #pril 83//7 notes that the 88th B! HE arrived on C #pril. Dater he noted that the s uadrons of the 88th B! stationed on the island were< 3@th B&, .Cth B&, and /:8st B& 6also the :9th B! was stationed with us7. 5n Kwa>alein, I continued wor"ing in the &-. 5ffice. *he &-. officer 64ohn !artland7 left later to go with a B-.3 unit, and I wor"ed under the assistant &-., AAAAA $innegan.

HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT

,;th Fo@@ander #oods gi6ing crews brie1ing 1or attac$ on Eniweto$ (s@all @ap)! Large @ap is Tru$! (7S F)

?uring this time our s uadron made attac"s on Fniweto", *ru", 'onape, and Kusaie 6now called Kosrae = part of Micronesia7. # typical briefing is shown above. ?uring one of the early briefings, I recall that there was a horrible odor. 'eople hunted for the source. $inally, it was found. *he source was a dismembered 4apanese hand. *he )oll of Honor at Kwa>alein shows the personnel lost from the 3@th. *he last nine names are the crew from SEXY SUE 4,
HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School

DRAFT piloted by %harles Hop"ins and including my former bombardier, $ran" ,ashburn. It was during the stay on Kwa>elein that we received the letter from the mother of one of the crew about her dream 6described in The Washburn Story7. #lso, the photo reconnaissance of Dae on 89 4une 83// was conducted from Kwa>elein. 5ur s uadron adopted a dog we found wandering in our area. He must have been a pet of the 4apanese and somehow survived the terrific bombing and shelling experienced by the 4apanese garrison on Kwa>alein. %onsidering his origin, we named him 1*o>o2. ?uring this time, the 0ational #rchives sent teams out from ,ashington, ?% into the various theatres of operation. *he archivists and historians were concerned that ade uate records were being created and maintained to document the progress of this war. *hey conducted training for field people for this purpose. *his was noted in the #ir $orce archives of this period. I also thought that the story of the activities of our s uadron could be better documented, and for several months, I wrote a monthly summary of activities for the &-. records. 5ne month, I included some remar"s about *o>o and our other pet, 1'or"y2 which were appropriately disguised but would be appreciated by those of us 1in the "now.2 I lived in one of many two-story barrac"s while on Kwa>alein. 5n one occasion, our ad>utant, '.'. *urner received an unexpected shower while standing under the .nd story landing = from one of the guys on the .nd floor. It fit his initials.

HT Kurz, S-2 & Intelligence School