RBGun: 18189695Leon I McCutcheon Sgt TX 14-12-1944 B-29A #42-93831

Sgt Leon Irwin McCutcheon (1924-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial

MACR 10377

Right Blister Gunner: B-29A-1-BN (Boeing Renton) Superfortress serial #42-93831, tail fin marking: four yellow horizontal rudder stripes, assigned to the 45th Bomber Squadron, 40th Bombardment Group (VH), 58th Bomb Wing, XX Bomber Command, 20th Air Force, USAAF, stationed at Chakulia airfield, India in the CBI Theatre of Operations.

Note: 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 Hsinching Airfield (A-1) at the Chengdu Aerodrome in China.

Around Chengdu, four runways were built, using 350,000 thousand Chinese laborers, as bases for 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-1, located at Hsin Ching, was the forward base for the 40th Bombardment Group (VH).