The purple shaft
Dedicated to: Irving Anthony Des Roches Prepared by: Timothy Des Roches Patty Des Roches Broullire
The Purple Shaft On December 21, 1944, the long awaited B-29 Superfortress bombers landed on the Northern Marianas island of Tinian. Bombers and crews were welcomed by a flood of jubilant Seabees who had arrived months earlier to construct the largest air base the world had ever known. The landing of the B-29s opened the final chapter of the war in the Pacific, a war that started with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The very first B-29 to land on Tinian was The Purple Shaft.
Irving Des Roches Irving “Stoney” Des Roches volunteered to serve after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Irv and his brother-in-law, Jim MacDougall, were going to be pilots. Jim failed the medical exam, but Irving was accepted into the United States Army Air Forces. Irving would not be called up for active duty until 1944, and he reported for duty at Fort Devens, MA on February 9. Irving was shipped off to gunnery school. A Purple Shaft crew mate, Don Fendler, recalls: “It all started when 3 of us came together at gunnery school in Florida. Charlie ‘Chuck’ Edwards, Irving ‘Stoney’ Des Roches, and Don Fendler. After two gunnery schools we were sent to Harvard, Nebraska to get a crew. This is where your Dad stepped in and said he would get the best pilot and crew, and so he did. As there was only a need for 2 gunners he said he would be the Radar operator. Chuck and I were left and right blister gunners.”
The crew formed at Harvard Airfield in Nebraska. The name, The Purple Shaft, would come later as would their combat designation, Skyblue 2. “That was our call sign when coming into land on Tinian. ‘Skyblue 2 to Lotus Tower.’ Used on every mission when coming home.” Replied Don Fendler to an email in September, 2015.
The months of August through November were filled with flight and classroom training. Irv and the rest of the crew trained in B-29s, B-17s, B-24s and a C-47. They would all get used to their equipment, take-offs and landings, and they would get their first taste of in-flight engine trouble.
Training completed, the commander and crew were assigned their aircraft and headed off towards Tinian and the war by jumps both small and big. They lost a commander to Army Air Forces Command and found a name for their aircraft. Claude Fields, WWII historian, tells the story well in his biography of Warren Aylsworth, commander of The Purple Shaft.
The Shaft’s point wouldn’t be painted on until Tinian.
“On December 9, 1944, a flight of three B-29’s, one being flown by Lt. Aylsworth left California’s Mather Field in Sacramento and flew first to Oahu, Hawaii. It was here the crew named their brand new B-29 Purple Shaft. The crew was formed at Harvard AAF, Nebraska. Before arriving at Harvard AAF from Pensacola gunnery school the older NCO’s assured their young 19 year old buddies not to worry. They would make sure they got an older, experienced Aircraft Commander. Somehow they pulled it off and the crew was assigned to fly with Major Blauw as their pilot and Lt. Aylsworth as their copilot. They spent time flying practice missions from Harvard AAF to Cuba and back. Just before leaving for Sacramento,
California, Major Blauw left the crew to become a Staff Officer. Lt. Aylsworth was promoted to Aircraft Commander. Their young pilot loved to fly fighters as well as the B-29 and they felt he sometimes flew their large bomber as if it were a P-40 fighter. The crew felt they got the “purple shaft” by being assigned on his crew. They would comment later on his skills that saved their lives numerous times on bombing missions over Japan. From Hawaii they flew to Saipan but had to land on the island of Guam because of air raids. The following day they would fly the 200 miles from Guam to Saipan because there were no lights at Tinian.”
Historic landing. Look close enough and you’ll see the point has yet to be painted on the arrow.
From a narrative of George Larson’s (135th Seabees) memories of Tinian: “On December 21, 1944, the first B-29 landed at North Field, while construction continued. Larson was operating a road grader on an adjacent runway. He stopped the road grader and stared at the landing B-29. Sirens began to blow while jeeps and command cars burst onto the finished runway next to the one Larson was working on, clearing construction equipment and personnel off the runway. This B-29, aircraft number 224802, named “Purple Shaft,” carried Army Air Forces Brigadier General F.V.H. Kimble (Twentieth Air Force commander assigned to coordinate Tinian, North Field operations).”
The first three B-29s buzz the field before landing. The Purple Shaft, Deaner Boy, and Indian Maid. Deaner Boy, serial # 42-24815, was lost over Japan on February 10, 1945. Indian Maid, serial # 42-24809, was shot down on June 5, 1945.
From Irv’s Flight Log: First 29 to land on Tinian - Large crowds gather about plane, everyone Happy to see us.
The Purple Shaft and its crew were lucky enough to be adopted for Christmas by the 13th Seabee Batallion whose insignia was the Black Cat 13. They painted the Black Cat on the left side of the aircraft’s nose and swarmed the bomber for photos. To be adopted by the Seabees meant better quarters, better food, beer, and many other comforts.
The Purple Shaft Crew: 1. Ernie Laudenback, Crew Chief 2. 2nd Lt. Francis E. Williamson, Bombadier 3.1st Lt. Albert M. Skea, Navigator 4.1st Lt. Warren R. Aylsforth, Pilot/Aircraft Commander 5. 2nd Lt. Harry H. Kutner, Pilot 6. Irving Des Roches, Radar Operator Front row left to right 1. James K. Christensen, Top Gunner 2. John E. Shoemaker, Radio Operator 3. James R. Cox Jr., Tail Gunner 4. Don Fendler, Right Blister Gunner 5. 2nd Lt. Llewellyn J. Evans, Flight Engineer 6. Charles J. Edwards, Left Blister Gunner
Naval Seabees officers pose in front of “their� B-29.
For the Seabees, welcoming the B-29s was getting to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Everyone also knew the arrival of the Super Fortresses marked the beginning of the end for the Japanese. The Purple Shaft had Brigadier General F.V.H. Kimble and another high ranking officer on board. Although they had landed first with Lt. Warren Aylsworth flying, the General went over to Julian Dendy on the crew of Indian Maid and congratulated him first because he was a major while Aylsworth was only a lieutenant.
Navy Seabees officers and Lt. Aysworth (shaking hands, right).
Specification of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Powerplant: Four Wright R-3350-23 Duplex Cyclone eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial engines each with two General Electric turbosuperchargers, delivering 2,200 hp for takeoff and having a war emergency rating of 2,300 hp at 25,000 feet.
Performance: Maximum speed 357 mph at 30,000 feet, 306 mph at sea level. Maximum continuous cruising speed 342 mph at 30,000 feet. Economical cruising speed 220 mph at 25,000 feet. Initial climb rate 900 feet per minute at combat weight. An altitude of 20,000 feet could be attained in 38 minutes. Service ceiling 33,600 feet. Maximum range was 3250 miles at 25,000 feet with 5,000 pound bomb load. Practical operational radius was 1,600-1,800 miles. Maximum ferry range was 5,600 miles, rising to 6,000 miles with the extra fuel.
Weights: 74,500 pounds empty, normal loaded 120,000 pounds, maximum overload 135,000 pounds.
Dimensions: Wingspan 141 feet 3 inches, length 99 feet 0 inches, height 27 feet 9 inches, wing area 1,736 square feet.
Armament: Twelve 0.50-inch machine guns in four remotely-controlled turrets (two above and two below the fuselage) and in the tail, each with 1000 rounds of ammunition. In addition, early production blocks had a single rearward-firing 20-mm M2 Type B cannon with 100 rounds in the tail position. Later, two more guns were provided for the forward top turret. Maximum internal short-range, low-altitude bomb load was 20,000 pounds. A load of 5000 pounds of bombs could be carried over a 1600-mile radius at high altitude. A load of 12,000 pounds of bombs could be carried over a 1600-mile radius at medium altitude.
Combat Missions The end of 1944 and most of January, 1945 was devoted to practice missions and working the bugs out of The Purple Shaft. The crew’s first combat mission on January 26, 1945 would see them bombing a Japanese airstrip on Iwo Jima. Irv’s log entry for the mission states that flak was light and inaccurate, that there were no fighter planes assailing them, and that three out of four of The Purple Shaft’s engines went bad. They received an order to ditch the aircraft but got safely home thanks to flight engineer Lew Evans. Lt. Llewellyn Evans would later enjoy civilian life as President and CEO of Grumman Aircraft and be deeply involved in the Apollo Progam with NASA. The Purple Shaft’s second combat mission (Feb.10) had the Ota Aircraft Plant near Tokyo as a target. CoPilot Lt. Harry Kutner was hit in the shoulder by a 20 mm round, and B-29 Deaner Boy (one of the first three to land on Tinian) collided with another B-29 in mid air and went down in flames. “I hate combat!” and “Lots of fighters” are the last lines of the log entry for the mission. Besides the threat of Japanese fighter planes and anti-aircraft guns, the crews of the B-29 Superfortresses felt the additional pressure and worry brought on by the aircraft itself. During takeoff the huge planes were weighted down with bombs and fuel. Many planes crashed during takeoff and a few unlucky ones turned into a fireball with more than 9,000 gallons of fuel and up to 12,000 pounds of explosive or incindiary bombs on board. Everyone breathed easier once the giant aircraft were airborne. The Purple Shaft’s third combat mission targeted Tokyo on February 19, 1945. A day mission, the crew flew at 25,000 feet and The Shaft carried a payload of 5,000 pounds: one 500 pound general purpose bomb and nine 500 pound incindiary bombs. Flak was heavy and accurate and the bombers had to deal with attacks from Japanese fighter planes. The aircraft would return to Tinian with a hole in its tail. “Still hate combat,” was radar operator Des Roches’ log entry.
The first bombing missions over Japan did not yield the amount of destruction that the Army Air Forces required. Concerned about the relative failure of the B-29 offensive to deal any crippling blows to Japan, General Curtis LeMay issued a new directive on February 19. General LeMay had analyzed the structure of the Japanese economy, which depended heavily on cottage industries housed in cities close to major industrial areas. By destroying these feeder industries, the flow of vital components to the central plants could be slowed, disorganizing production of weapons vital to Japan. He decided to do this by using incendiary bombs rather than purely high-explosive bombs, which would, it was hoped, cause general conflagrations in large cities like Tokyo or Nagoya, spreading to some of the priority targets. In addition, LeMay had concluded that the effects of the jet stream, cloud cover, and high operating altitudes were to blame for the failure of the B-29 raids to do any significant damage to the Japanese war industry. The initial raids against Japan had taken place at high altitudes in order to stay above anti-aircraft fire and the effective altitude of defending fighters. LeMay suggested that high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime. The aircraft would attack individually, which meant that no assembly over the base at the start of the mission or along the way would be needed. Consequently, aircraft could go directly from the base to the target and return, maximizing the bomb load and saving substantially on fuel. He ordered that all the B-29s be stripped of their General Electric defensive gun systems, leaving only the tail gun. The weight of extra crew members, armament, and ammunition would go into bombs, each B-29 being loaded down with six to eight tons of M69 incendiary bombs. These bombs would be dropped from altitudes of only 5 to 6 thousand feet. This strategy would enable the B-29s to escape the effects of the jet stream and would get the bombers below most of the cloud cover. In addition, the B-29s would no longer have to struggle up to 30,000 feet and this would save on fuel and on wear and tear to the engines. It was believed that Japanese night fighter forces were relatively weak, but flak losses were expected to be substantial. The new LeMay strategy was not the only Air Forces asset being put to the test, the very nerves of the bomber crews would be pushed to the extreme.
The first raid to use the new techniques was on the night of March 9-10 against Tokyo. A total of 302 B-29s participated in the raid, with 279 arriving over the target. The raid was led by special pathfinder crews (also known as firestarters) who marked central aiming points. It lasted for two hours. The raid was a success beyond General LeMay's wildest expectations. The individual fires caused by the bombs joined to create a general conflagration known as a firestorm. When it was over, sixteen square miles of the center of Tokyo had gone up in flames and nearly 84,000 people had been killed. Fourteen B-29s were lost. The B-29 was finally beginning to have an effect. The Purple Shaft would be assigned a pathfiner role several times, and radar was crucial to navagation during night raids.
3/19/45, Pathfinder crew (Path.) for Nagoya raid and a radar component was struck by flak that had pierced the aircraft. Irv carried the piece of flak with him for luck on future missions.
“War is Hell.” So many have said it and Staff Sergeant Irving Des Roches knew it to be true. An attentive reader will notice that Irv seemed to have taken a break from bombing missions from mid April to May 23, 1945. Irv’s wings were clipped by a rogue kidney stone, and he was treated with the finest medical technology of the day. May 24 would find him back at the radar console for his 13th mission Once again the target was Tokyo, flak was plentiful, and The Purple Shaft returned to base with a new hole.
14 missions completed (count the bomb icons on the aircraft). Left to right, standing: 2nd Lt. Llewellyn J. Evans, engineer; 2nd Lt. Francis E. Williamson, bombadier; 2nd Lt. Harry H. Kutner, pilot; 1st Lt. Warren R. Aylsworth, Commander; 1st Lt. Albert M. Skea, navigator; Charles J. Edwards, left blister gunner. Front row, left to right: Don Fendler, right blister gunner; Irving Des Roches, radar operator; James R. Cox, Jr., tail gunner; John E. Shoemaker, radio operator; James K. Christensen, top gunner.
The emblem was painted on the bomber by the 13TH battalion's ace painter, Peter J. Pietraszek. To denote bombing missions on The Black Cat, Pietraszek painted not the customary bombs, but black kittens.
Missions 14, 15, 16 Missions 14, 15, and 16 were day raids on Yokohama, Osaka, and Kobe, respectively. Each mission saw The Purple Shaft’s bomb bay loaded with one hundred and eighty-three one hundred pound incindiary bombs. The skies over Yokohama were filled with flak, and the Osaka mission featured such bad weather that thirty of the fighter escort planes were lost in the largest single weather related loss of the war. A crew member of another bomber recalls Osaka:
“The mission wasn’t too bad but it was sort of nerve wracking. We had to fly a long ways through an overcast and if you can imagine doing that in formation! There was lots of smoke over the target, more than I have ever seen, and they were pouring the flak into the smoke, so we flew right through it. Luckily it wasn’t very accurate but it really was thick. And right in the middle of it all a B-29 came hurtling at us. I swear his tail scraped us. Well, it’s another mission. And we were lucky, the way we have been right along. And maybe it isn’t all luck.” During the Kobe mission The Purple Shaft endured three fighter attacks and Irv saw a plane “go down tumbling.” Indian Maid, one of the first three bombers to land on Tinian, was lost to flak over Kobe harbor.
Search lights on a night bombing run were hair-raising to say the least. Flying in total darkness on a night bombing run and being caught by a searchlight meant you were tagged not only by the ground anti-aircraft guns but the enemy fighters as well. You go from total darkness around you, to the bright of day in a flash. To survive the flack and enemy fighters, pilots had to take evasive action immediately and perform drastic flying maneuvers to avoid the tracking searchlights. Gunner, Sgt. Donald Fendler, crew member of The Purple Shaft, recalls that Lt. Warren Aylsworth was really good at making evasive maneuvers. The Japanese searchlights would lose their tracking ability on the Purple Shaft because of Lt. Aylsworth’s flying skills.
With the cities and industrial centers that fed the Japanese war machine being pretty much reduced to ashes and rubble at the beginning of June 1945, the B-29 crews began to target shipping lanes with mine laying missions. The missions took place at night and relied on radar for mine placement. On June 21, 1945, The Purple Shaft laid mines in Osaka Harbor with a new navigator on board, Lt. Phil Peterson. Irv’s log entry describes Peterson as a “swell fellow.� The original navigator, Lt. Albert Skea had been reassigned to train more navigators back on the mainland.
The night of July 7, 1945 marked a return to bombing activities. Irv’s flight log entries show that he flew on other planes than The Purple Shaft during the month of July. While Irv was grounded with kidney stone troubles his crew continued with missions - he would have to make up for missed missions. A couple of the other planes Sergeant Des Roches flew on were Dragon Lady and Pacific Playboys, the names of other planes could not be found. Of particular interest is the reconaissance mission of July 21, 1945. On that night mission over the island of Kyushu, radar operator Des Roches took 53 radar scope photos of a new target. The target in question is not specified in the log, but the city of Nagasaki is located on the island of Kyushu. On July 24, 1945, 32nd mission, Irv found himself flying with a new crew to bomb the Nagoya Engine Works. Log entry: “Scared to death with new crew.” Following his 33rd and final mission, Irving’s last combat log entry was “Amen.”
The Purple Shaft and crew at war’s end. Standing left to right: Lou Evans Pete Peterson (navigator) Harry Kutner Warren Aylsworth Frank Wiliamson Chris Christensen Kneeling left to right: John Shoemaker Don Fendler Jim Cox Charles Edwards Irving Des Roches
All would return home safely with medals on their breasts and angels on their shoulders.
Tinian: Home away from Home
Chris Christensen, top gunner.
Top photo left to right: Irving Des Roches, unknown, Ernie Laudenback, Chris Christenson. Bottom photo left to right: Chris Christenson, unknown, Ernie Laudenback, Irving Des Roches.
Left to right: Don Fendler, Jim Cox, Charlie Edwards, Navy friend. This photo was taken sometime 12/21/1944 - 1/25/1945 as there are no bomb icons painted on the aircraft.
Top: Navy friend and James Cox.
Bottom: Don Fendler, James Cox, Navy friend, Charles Edwards.
Top: James Cox and Navy friend.
Bottom: Don Fendler, James Cox, Navy friend.
Don Fendler, James Cox, Charlie Edwards, Navy friend.
Above: Don Fendler suited up for a mission. Bottom Left: Quarters. Top Left: War hero, safe passage, and a very Lucky 13.
Much assistance was provided in piecing together the puzzle provided by Dad’s war diary. Irv never spoke much about his WWII experience, and some very vague memories helped to form questions that shed much light on a dim past. Lon Aysworth, son of The Purple Shaft’s commanding officer, Warren “Smokey” Aysworth, provided much information and important contacts. Nancy Samp, historian for the 505TH Bomber Group, put me in touch with Claude Fields who had written a biography of Warren Aylsworth poviding many facts and even more questions. Claude put me in touch with Don Fendler, one of two surviving crew members. Don helped to ID individuals in photos and provided certainty where before there was only speculation. The balance of the bill of thanks I owe to my sister, Patricia Broullire. She said, “let’s do a book!” Without Patty’s backing (and unwitting pressure) I would still be composing the very first lines.