“Mixing It Up With the Tojos”
Captain Mark T. Seacrest was the pilot of an H-model B-25, A/C #719, accompanied by a second 3rd Bomb Squadron plane with an all-Chinese crew. Together they participated in a joint mission with three 4th Bomb Squadron B-25s, as well as eight 3rd Fighter Group P-40s as close escort and eight 312th Fighter Wing P-47s providing top cover, to bomb and strafe the Yellow River Bridge.
Forced to evacuate the big airbase at Kweilin (now Guilin) in Kwangsi (Guangxi) Province the previous week—the result of Japan’s Operation ICHIGO--air and ground personnel of the 3rd and 4th Bomb Squadrons settled into quarters at Peishiy (Baishiyi). The base was, at that time, headquarters of the Chinese-American Composite Wing. It is now the site of the Chongqing Baishiyi Airport, located about thirteen miles northwest of the city center.
To relieve some of the overcrowding that resulted from the unexpected influx of personnel, Wing issued orders for planes and personnel of the 1st Bomb Squadron to move to Hanchung (Hanzhong), about 250 miles to the north. They packed up and planes began to leave immediately, although remaining personnel and equipment completed the move later. Delayed by foul weather and the need to use the transports to evacuate other bases in the path of the relentless Japanese advance, squadron personnel did not complete the move until the end of October.
Capt. Raymond L. Hodges was transferred to the 1st squadron and made the move with its personnel. Since his arrival aboard USS Mission Bay in late March, Hodges had flown thirty-one missions with Maj. Chester M. Conrad's squadron and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for his missions over Burma. Hodges was promoted to major and placed in command of the 1st Bomb Squadron in December. He completed thirty additional missions with the 1st squadron and was awarded two more DFCs and another Air Medal, as well as the Chinese Silver Star.
As the 1st squadron was moving to Hanchung in Shensi (Shaanxi) Province, a mission that involved detachments of the 3rd and 4th squadrons was being planned from the airfield to the north. Six B-25s were prepared to depart Peishiyi for Hanchung at 1600 on September 20, 1944, on a joint mission by the two squadrons, but one 3rd squadron plane "bogged down" in the sand and could not take off with the others. Maj. William H. ("Bill") Dick, the 4th squadron's commanding officer, led three B-25s in takeoff from Hanchung at 0840. With him aboard A/C #705 were Capt. Wilbraham A. Hoffson, Sgt. Rex A. Farris, S.Sgt. Edward F. Zeitler, and Capt. Arza D. Judd, photographer; #706 and #700 (both with Chinese crews) took wing positions. Following the 4th squadron element, Capt. Mark T. Seacrest piloted A/C #719, with Capt. Louis F. Graves Jr., S/Sgt. James E. McCann, and T/Sgt. John P. Hanrahan as his crew, and A/C #713 (2nd Lts. Chang Y. H. and Chen Y. K., and Sgts. Hsu S. S. and Chang C. H.) flew on his wing. All participating planes were H models. This was the "biggest" mission of the month, according to 2/Lt. Paul L. Young, 3rd squadron intelligence officer. The Mitchells proceeded to Hsian, where they picked up eight P-40s of the 7th and 32nd Fighter Squadrons, 3rd Fighter Group, to fly close escort and eight P-47s of the 312th Fighter Wing, usually assigned to protection of the B-29 bases at Chengtu (Chengdu), as top cover.
Each B-25 carried three 1,000-lb. demolition bombs. Their objective was to cut the Yellow River Bridge (34⁰57'N, 113⁰32'E). This heavily-defended, two-mile-long railroad bridge, crossing the Yellow River about 150 miles east of the ninety-degree bend that redirects the river's course eastward toward Shanghai, was an important supply route used by the Japanese that carried 3,000 tons of war materiel every day on the Peiping-Hankow (“Ping-Han”) line.
Reports later stated that the P-47s repeatedly broke radio silence on the way to the target and revealed the fact that they were escorting bombers. In addition, the formation inadvertently passed over the enemy-held Loyang (Luoyang) Airdrome on the approach. The bombers flew over the bridge at two hundred feet in line abreast. The aircraft encountered automatic weapons fire reported as intense but ineffective, especially from the south bank near the railroad yards and from two batteries west of the north end of the bridge. Over the target, Maj. Dick’s bomb release jammed on the first run, but he fired one round of 75 mm HE and strafed heavily, silencing fire from the flak boxes. At least two bombs struck the piling piers and skipped through on the other side stripped of fins. One may have been a direct hit on the north end of the bridge, but observations by aircrews were inconclusive.
Appearing out of nowhere, ten Tojos jumped the formation. The P-40s did their job well and attacked the enemy fighters, preventing them from reaching the bombers, but the P-47s "dived to the deck" and abandoned the formation. After "mixing it up with the Tojos,” the P-40s again took up position of close escort. The fighters returned to Hsian and the bombers made their way back to Hanchung and then on to Peishiyi, on the ground at 1815. The B-25s flew in “V” formation, javelined down to the right, on both the approach and return to base.
The infamous Yellow River Bridge, located ten miles north of Chenghsien (Chengchow), was targeted repeatedly throughout the war and soon became the 1st Bomb Squadron's primary target. Although there were other bridges in the vicinity that crossed the Yellow River (China’s second-longest river after the Yangtze), this one was always known by US airmen as the Yellow River Bridge. In reaction to repeated strikes, the Japanese made continuing modifications to strengthen the bridge's defenses, including the installation of cannons in caves cut into the high bluffs above the river. Despite frequent bombings, the bridge's construction made it simple to repair by teams of coolies who were pressed into service, allowing rail traffic to be reopened after only a few days. A proposed strike against the bridge later became the objective of what proved to be the CACW’s final planned combat mission.
Want to know more of the story? Find it in The Spray and Pray Squadron: 3rd Bomb Squadron, 1st Bomb Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing in World War II.