RADAR: 36271155Neuman Alexander Bodart SSgt WISC

Sgt Neuman A. Bodart (1921-1944) - Find A Grave Memorial

RADAR Operator: 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..

Ref: Lyons aircrew - MACR 10100

On December 7, 1944 B-29 serial #42-6389 took part in a mission to bombard the Japanese occupied aircraft factory at Mukden (now named Shenyang), from their forward staging base at Pengshan Airfield A-7, China.

B-29 "Party Girl" made a successful bomb-run, but while returning from the raid, weather at A-7 was wretchedly undercast, and described as "10/10 soup" (minus zero-visibility).

Aircraft #389 flying in a 4-ship formation peeled off and began a normal 360-degree turn to the left for let-down, but tragically crashed and burned into the north steep vertical side of Mt. Hawo, about 20 kilometers from the village of Chow Jashen. The crash site was later reported as having latitude-longitude coordinates of: 32 degrees 10'N, 108 degrees 37'E.

Neuman A Bodart