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Introduction

Milt Martin

01/29/2008 01:54 pm

In the spring of 1943, the Pratt Army Air Field became operational as a primary Base in the development of the new B-29 long-range bomber program. It was located in south central Kansas, four (4) miles directly north of the city of Pratt.

Until World War II ended in 1945, training flights were being conducted at this facility on a continuous basis. This mostly involved the four (4) engine B-29 “Superfortress” Bomber, which was being used in the Pacific War Theater. The twin-engine B-26 “Marauder” and the four (4) engine B-17 “Flying Fortress” also assisted in the training at this Air Field.

Col. Paul Tibbets Jr. used this Air Field for some B-29 flight tests before his plane, the “Enola Gay,” eventually dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan; thereafter, World War II ended. Col. Robert Morgan of the legendary B-17 Bomber, “Memphis Belle,” was stationed here before leading the first raid on Tokyo in his B-29, the “Dauntless Dotty.”

Some of the first B-29s to come off the assembly line at the Boeing Aircraft Factory near Wichita, Kansas, were put into service at the Pratt Army Air Field. The 40th Bomb Group, mostly comprised of Veteran Airmen, was the initial outfit assigned to this Base. As such, the 40th BG was the Air Force's first unit to leave for overseas duty with the new “Superfortress” B-29s. The Pratt Army Airfield was on the “leading edge” of the B-29 program.

During this period, there were eleven (11) major air crashes (see Article Three) involving the following aircraft from this Air Field, while on training flights:

  • B-29 off the coast of Florida
  • B-29 in the Caribbean Sea
  • B-29 on an oil refinery near Dallas, Texas
  • B-26 in the Rocky Mountains above Aspen, Colorado
  • B-25 near the Hutchinson (KS) Naval Air Station
  • B-29 north of the Air Field near towns of Stafford and St. John
  • Five (5) in Pratt County, Kansas

 

  • B-29 on the Air Field (see Article Two)
  • B-26 near the Air Field (see Article One)
  • B-17 near the town of Preston
  • B-26 near the town of Cunningham
  • B-26 near the city of Pratt


These crashes resulted in the total loss of fifty-eight (58) Pratt Airmen.
This book is dedicated to these fifty-eight (58) Pratt Airmen, as well as to all the hundreds of Airmen who were sent overseas form the Pratt Army Air Field, and thus made the supreme sacrifice in the performance of their duties while in the service of their country.