Lost B-29 in Korea

[kaki3152]

While re-reading James Brady’s excellent book on the USMC in Korea, “The Coldest War’. I came across an interesting story of an B-29 casualty. The date is unclear though it seems it happened in November 1952?
This is the story:” [O]n the last night, a flight of bombers [B-29] … passed over on their way home from a mission in the far north. It was after midnight, but the roar brought us out of our bunkers to look up. When the planes had gone, I turned to go back inside. Then, off to the north, quite far and faint, came the sound of another plane, trailing home after the rest. I scanned the sky, and then I saw it, a brilliant spark of light in the distance, just over the gook lines, coming slowly, the sound not right. We knew then it was in trouble. Everyone was out now, watching the sky, rooting home the wounded bird. But it wasn’t going to make it. As the plane neared our lines, we could see it was aflame and gliding , rather than flying, silent now and wobbling. Then there was an explosion that canceled out the moon. When we could see it again, the big plane was wheeling over and over, tumbling to earth like a leaf aflame, no longer a plane but only bits of fire in the night sky. It hit somewhere off to the left, on the forward slope. Everyone along a ten mile stretch… had seen the B-29 go down… We heard later one of the flyers had parachuted down, landing safe and gotten up the slope to within a hundred yards of the first battalion’s wire. But a gook ambush was out in the snow and they caught him there and shot him just before he reached the wire. Marines chased the gooks off and went out to bring in the body. Of the nine others from the plane nothing was heard.”
Looked through KORWALD but nothing seems to stand out. Any ideas?

[Buckeye30]

If date of Nov. 1952 is right, possibly 44-62073 (307BG) lost on night mission Nov. 8. Heading south to base on Okinawa.
(98BG lost one on Nov.19 over S. Korea but they were based in Japan (east)).


https://thekwe.org/topics/b29s/p_b29s_losses_damage.htm


Nick

[kaki3152]

Thanks Nick.

[Laurent Rizzotti]

You can find details of the loss of 44-62073 at https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/86071, it was lost in North Korea, not close to the front.

Just wondering one thing, in the text you copy you write "bombers [B-29]". Is this addition yours or in the book ?

Because I think that B-29s probably will fly a high altitude over North Korea and so their engine sound will be unlikely to wake up Marines on the frontline, while tactical bombers (A-26? B-26?) may have flown at lower altitudes.

From the narrative, the body of the crew killed in an amnush close to the US positions was recovered, so this man should be listed as KIA. I searched the Korea lost airmen database for October, November and December 1952 with no obvious candidate (see https://aircrewremembered.com/Korean...rch_type=exact), maybe searching other months will help.