B-29 bomber, number Z-28 Hog Wild on August 29, 1945. Part I Diary

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator from original post.

August 29, 1945 - there were four days to go before Japan signed its surrender and the end of World War II. The day before, on the 28th, the occupation of Japan by American troops began.

August 29 is the day the first Soviet atomic bomb was tested in 1949. Four years have passed.

"Hog Wild" was the name of one of the bombers: the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, number Z-28, 500th Bombardment Group (500th BG), 882nd Squadron of the United States Air Force. On August 29, 1945, the Hog Wild was sent on a mission to drop cargo for a prisoner-of-war camp near the North Korean city of Hamhung (Jap. Kanko). The city of Kanko was occupied by Soviet forces at the time. "The Hog Wild never returned from the mission. It was intercepted over Hamhung, fired upon and forced to land by two Soviet Yak-9 fighters.

The incident was the subject of strong U.S. protests against the Soviet Union from General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters.
The Soviets expressed regret and called the shooting down of the plane a mistake. In the end no one was killed, none of the pilots were seriously injured, and the POW supplies needed by the prisoners of war were successfully delivered, albeit by truck, and the case was closed. American journalists made it up that Hog Wild was the last Boeing B-29 to be shot down in World War II, (page 196).

Douglas MacArthur and K.N. Derevyanko.

Synopsis. General Douglas MacArthur was a U.S. Army General, Supreme Allied Commander in Asia. For the Soviet Union Kuzma Nikolayevich Derevyanko interacted with him, who at that time was the representative of the Soviet Supreme Command at the Allied Forces Headquarters in the Pacific; from August 30, 1945, until Japan's capitulation was signed on August 2, 1945, he was with Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo.

Explanation of the markings on B-29-s

During the war with Japan, beginning in late 1944, the U.S. Air Force used Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers to bomb Japan.

Exterior view of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber during

a bombing run. Two turrets with machine guns on the top

and bottom of the hull.

These bombers had a clear marking system on their hulls and tails. One of the bomber groups, the 500th, which included three squadrons of 15-16 planes, had a large letter Z (from April 1945) on the tails of the planes. On the hull and on the nose they drew the serial number of the plane. The planes of the 500th Bomber Group were designated as Z-1, Z-2, Z-3, etc. The 500th Bomber Group consisted, as already mentioned, of three squadrons. Squadron numbers: 881st, 882nd, and 883rd. Squadron-by-squadron numbers (may not go consecutively): 881st - 1 to 20, 882nd - 21 to 40, 883rd - 41 to 60; numbers could go out of order - losses, breakdowns. Total 45-46 B-29 bombers with a big letter Z on the tail.

Until April 1945 the tails of these planes had: the letter Z, the square symbol and the plane number.

Tail marking "Z square 7" on a Boeing B-29
of the 500th BG until April 1945.

Tail marking Z-28 on a Boeing B-29 500th
BG Hog Wild - after April 2945.

The B-29 with the number Z-28, Superfortress, produced on 11 May 1945; this is the second B-29 with the number Z-28, the first was produced in 1942 and was called Old Ironsides. Its inventory number is 70136, the factory number on the tail is 470136 . It had two names 'Buckin' Bronc' [17 June-2 July45] and 'Hog Wild' [3 July45].

Synopsis. The revival with the Hog Wild patch was the Boeing B-29A with the name "It's Hawg Wild". It was also released in 1944, operated in the Korean War since 1952, made 105 combat sorties. It is in a museum in Duxford, USA.

In American English, "hawg" is a misspelling of "hog" - pig. Both "HOG" and "HAWG" are pronounced the same way in English. Also, hawg: big fish, in the sense of "real hog." The HAWG WILD motorcycle movement arose in the U.S.; first among Harley-Davidson enthusiasts. In Welsh, hawg means "bullshit," pronounced "hauug".

Diary of the flight of the B-29 bomber of the 500th BG, number Z-28, "Wild Boar" to Korea, 29 August 1945.

Synopsis. B-29 bombers flew to Japan from the Mariana Islands group of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian. The 500th BG was stationed on Saipan. At the very end of the war with Japan in anticipation of surrender from the second half of August 1945 the bombing of Japan ceased.

The B-29 takes off from an airfield on Saipan.

August 27, 1945. The 500th BG was tasked to begin dropping food, medicine and other supplies to Allied POWs and civilians in Japanese POW camps located throughout Japan and in its former occupied territories; the former territories were Taiwan (Formosa) and Korea; the records referred to the flights to Korea were called as Chosen.

A map of U.S. combat operations against Japan in 1945. You can see the vast territories belonging to Japan.

August 28, 1945. At 9 p.m. Joseph Queen and his crew of 882nd Squadron were called into the S-2 Squadron office for POW supplies at Hamhung, also known as Kanko, also known as Korea's Chosen First Divisional Camp. According to Queen, "Our instructions were to land at Iwo Jima and refuel, then continue on to the PW camp, drop our supplies and return to Saipan by way of Iwo Jima." The Queen crew may have been assigned to this mission only because Z-11, which had been assigned the same target on the previous day, had aborted. If so, it was their bad luck.

This shows the route taken by the B-29,
number Z-28, August 29, 1945.

Reference. Distances: from Saipan to Iwo Jima 1160 km, from there to Hamheung 2120 km, a total of 3280 km, which is more than the range of a loaded B-29 flight of 2900 km (with one to return).

On August 29, 1945, Queen's crew departed Saipan at about 0300 hours in the Z-28, the Hog Wild. The crew was not full on board for this mission, right gunner Clifford McGee was replaced by squadron artillery officer Lt. Lucius Weeks, who obviously wanted to fly a bit and see a bit of Asia. Also aboard were two passengers, Squadron flight engineer Captain Robert Campbell and Squadron engineer officer 1/Lieutenant John Grant. There were 13 men in all.

The crew of the B-29, Z-28 "Hog Wild" at Saipan Air Base.

Pictured. (Standing left to right) 1st Lt. Joseph Queen, 2nd Lt. Robert S. Rainey, 2nd Lt. Eugene R. Harwood, Marion J. Sherrill.
(Kneeling from left to right) SSgt Jose Rinaldo, SSgt Jesse Owens, SSgt Arthur Strilky, Cpl Clifford McGee, Sgt Cyril Bernacki, Richard H. Turner, Sgt Douglas E. Arthur.

As instructed, the plane stopped at Iwo Jima for refueling. While this was going on, the crew had a snack, and then at about 08:10 they flew to Korea. When they arrived at what was supposed to be the POW camp area at about 2:30 p.m., they had trouble locating it. After circling around for a few minutes, two Russian YAK-9 fighters appeared on the bomber's tail. The Russians seemed friendly, waving and gesturing for the B-29 to follow them. Deciding that they might be leading the Americans to a POW camp, Quinn followed them. However, the fighters led the B-29s to an airfield off the coast, about ten miles away, and hand gestured to the crew that they should land. Quinn surveyed the field and estimated that it was about 3,500 feet (about 1 km) long, which was small for a B-29. Even if he could land successfully, it would be quite difficult to take off, especially with a full load of supplies. So Quinn turned around and headed to the proposed POW camp area to try again to locate the camp and drop his supplies.

The interception of the Z-28 "Hog Wild" by two Yak-9s 16 km. from the Kanko airfield. The Hog Wild flew over the Soviet airfield - it was impossible not to notice it. The red dushed line is how it was supposed to fly, the blue dushed line is the arc 16 km from the airfield.

Synopsis. Kanko airfield was built by the Japanese, was occupied by Soviet troops in 1945. In 1950 during the Korean War was captured by the Americans for two months - in November and December 1950. It was then used by North Korea as a military airbase. The Korean name is Yonpo or "Yonpo Airfield" (Yonpo Airfield) or K-27 air base. Now there are planes there - by the looks of corn planes for agriculture; according to the map, it is Ryonpho farming facility. According to U.S. data it is "Wong Yo Ri Highway 38°35'47''N., 126°31'38''E; KN07, BV87, NJ52-05.

At that moment, one of the Russian fighters following them fired in front of the B-29 and signaled for landing again. That was enough for Queen. "As our instructions were if we met any trouble whatever to forget about dropping the supplies and return to Iwo, I decided to return to base and took up a heading for Iwo." He hoped that once the Russians saw they were leaving the area, they would let the American plane go. But the Russians had other ideas. Queen got only about 10-15 miles out to sea when one of the fighters suddenly dropped back and made a firing pass from the rear. Machine gun bullets tore through the fuselage and left wing and a 20mm shell exploded in the №1 engine(far left of the pilot), which immediately burst into flame.

Yak-9 aircraft, two such planes landed
the B-29 flying fortress in Korea.

Queen ordered his crew not to return fire and turned back
toward the airfield. He was able to feather №1, but efforts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful and it began to burn more intensely. Soon flames extended all the way back past the tail. At only 2,000 feet(600m) above the sea, Queen wasn't sure he could make the airfield and he was afraid the engine might explode and take the wing with it, so he ordered the crew to bail out while they still had sufficient altitude. Six men did bail out -- Harwood,
Campbell(passenger), Sherrill and Owen from the nose wheel hatch and Weeks and Arthur from the rear door.

Six men did bail out...

The radioman, Strilky, was preparing to follow the others out through the nose wheel hatch when Queen noticed that the fire in the engine had died down, so he canceled the bail-out order over the interphone. Strilky of course no longer had his earphones on, but Rainey was able to catch his attention and stop him before he jumped, then motioned to Strilky to sit in the vacant flight engineer's seat and prepare for a crash landing. At the same time,
back in the rear, Grant(passenger) was on the verge of jumping from the rear door when someone shouted "Brace for ditching!"

Reference. The Yak-9 has a maximum speed of 577 km/h and an altitude ceiling of 9,500 m; the B-29 has a maximum speed of 605 km/h and an altitude ceiling of 9,700 m. The characteristics are about the same, but the B-29 is slower to gain speed. Therefore, if Queen tried to escape, the Soviet pilots had very little time to think about it.

The B-29 had made the airfield and Queen had been able to set the big bomber down, even though the left aileron(roll wing on wing) was shot out, the left tire was punctured and the №1 engine was still burning. It was a rough landing, with the tail skid dragging and the №4 propeller hitting the runway, but they made it, and as soon as the plane came to a stop, the seven men remaining on board tumbled out to put distance between the burning plane and themselves.
The B-29 crewmen were soon surrounded by armed Russians, who frisked them for weapons -- they had none -- put them under guard and escorted them to a nearby building. In the meantime, some Russian soldiers put out the fire in №1 engine by the simple expedient of throwing sand on it.
Queen was very concerned for his men who had bailed out over the water and tried to communicate this to the Russians but none of them spoke English and none of the Americans spoke Russian. After about two hours a Col Barteslav(Makar Vlasovich Bartashov), the airfield commander, showed up with an interpreter, a Maj Kruglov(Mikhail Mikhailovich Kruglov).

On the left, Makar Vlasovich Bartashov;
on the right, Mikhail Mikhailovich Kruglov.

Synopsis. Colonel Makar Vlasovich Bartashov. Commander of the 12th Attack Aviation Division of the Pacific Fleet Air Force. Senior engineer Mikhail Kruglov. Subsequently, Lieutenant General of the Engineering Service.
Explanation. Mikhail Mikhailovich Kruglov, flight engineer, electrical and special equipment engineer; participated in the study of B-29 bombers; the Soviet Air Force Pacific Fleet already had three damaged B-29s in its hands by that time.

Queen was told that boats were out looking for his men, although this was apparently not true. [From the report of pilot Feofanov L.F. "I returned to the sea and guided schooners to the parachutists"]. The Russians seemed more concerned with finding out what the B-29 was doing in the area and why the crew did not land as directed. Queen explained about the PW supplies and that the field was too small for a B-29. The Russians seemed to become less hostile when they were told about the PW mission but were still skeptical about the field being too small.
The Russians promised to deliver the supplies to the POW camp, so Queen and one other man were allowed to go to the plane to release the heavy metal drums containing the supplies from the bomb bay. However, Queen was denied permission to use the radio to inform Saipan about their situation. When the airplane commander got inside the plane, he noticed that all manuals, documents and briefcases, as well as the K-20 camera, had been removed. He was unable to release the supply drums, but he did retrieve some personal equipment such as clothing and canteens.

Explanation: The K-20 camera was used to film the results of the load drop, which was handled by the tail gunner, Sergeant Richard Turner. The transcript of Sgt. Richard Turner's interrogation, upon his return to Saipan base, is believed to have been lost.
In this way the Russians obtained very valuable technical documentation for the entire aircraft.

When Queen returned to the building, he asked Grant, the Squadron Engineering Officer, to see if he could get the supplies out, so Grant went to the plane with Cpl Turner, the tail gunner, and Maj Kruglov, the Russian interpreter. After entering the plane, it became obvious to Grant from Maj Kruglov's actions and comments that
the Russian was already very familiar with the internal layout and systems of the B-29. Grant found out later that Kruglov had been involved in the study of some B-29's which had landed in Russian territory during the war and had been interned(war booty). There was no power in the plane, so Grant went to the rear unpressurized compartment to try to start the putt-putt. He found the compartment "covered with all sorts of equipment from the big kit and the life rafts, and parachutes. The plane was a shambles as if torn into by someone looking in desperation for something."
Finally, Grant was able to get the bomb bay doors open and release the supply drums the hard way by borrowing a screwdriver and "turning the trip screw on each release." While this was going on, Grant saw that the Russians were draining the fuel out of the plane's tanks into a couple of fuel trucks. A large amount of
fuel from this transfer had leaked onto the ground underneath the plane, and Grant was concerned that the metal supply drums might strike against one another as they dropped from the bomb bay, create a spark and set the whole plane on fire. But all the drums dropped safely. Their task accomplished, Grant and Turner rejoined the rest of the crew back in the building.
By this time, about 2000, the Russians had become more friendly, but the Americans were still kept under guard. The Russian commander apologized for the shootdown and invited the Americans to supper. The meal was a simple one of "greasy pork and dry rice" but in typical Russian fashion it was accompanied by ample supplies of alcohol, in this case a full bottle of captured Japanese whiskey per man. Many toasts to Truman, Stalin, etc., were made, and things were going along quite merrily when two British officers and two Australian enlisted men from the nearby PW camp unexpectedly showed up. Queen learned that Lt Weeks, one of the men who had bailed out, had somehow made it to the camp and had asked the senior officers there to see if they could find out anything about the fate of the B-29 and the rest of the crew. The Russians did not seem
happy with the intrusion and the party broke up at this point. The Americans were told that they would be transferred to the PW camp tomorrow. They spent the night at the airfield, still under guard.

Friendly Encounter. Queen's crew and
the Soviets at the Kanko airfield.

Meanwhile, the six men who had bailed out over the sea had not been having as pleasant a time. Luckily, all six men were rescued, though by Korean fishing boats and not by any boats sent out by the Russians. In fact, the Russians seemed not to want the men to be saved. Sgt Arthur reported being strafed in the water, and Lt Weeks not far away confirmed the firing. This of course made the men very wary of the Russians.
After some time in the water, Weeks was picked up by a fishing boat and was brought directly to local police headquarters, where he was put in telephone contact with the PW camp about seven miles away. Transportation was provided by the local authorities and Weeks was soon at the PW camp, where he was checked out by a doctor, fed, shaved and given fresh clothing. It was Weeks who asked Capt Kinlock, the British camp commander, to check with the Russians about the rest of the crew, which he did, as related above.
Arthur, Harwood, Owens and Campbell, cold and exhausted from being in the water, were all picked up by another boat and brought to a fishing village, where they were treated with great hospitality. After about four hours, three Russian officers led by a Colonel appeared and took them to the PW camp, where they were reunited with Weeks.
Still unaccounted for at this time was the bombardier, Sherrill. They could only hope that he would show up.
So ended a very long and trying day for the Queen crew. They all felt lucky to be alive, especially the men who had bailed out, because none of them had a life raft, and if not picked up by those fishing boats before dark, it is unlikely they would have survived the night in the cold water. But while literally out of the water, they were
figuratively not out of the woods yet, and no one knew what the morrow would bring.

Under the damaged left wing and landing gear
of the Z28 B-29 Hog Wild.

Ten members of Queen's crew and three observers are pictured. Officers include aircraft commander/pilot Joe Queen (standing without hat), pilot/co-pilot Bob Rainey (standing with baseball cap), navigator Gene Harwood (standing second right) and bombardier Marion Sherrill (standing second left.) ) (Photo provided: frame from 16mm film from Robert Rainey's collection).

From the 500th Bomb Group Operations Journal:
"29 Aug. Queen piloting Z-28 on POW mission to Chosen. For reasons unknown the ship landed in Korea."
So the 500th Group knew on the same day that the Queen crew in Z-28 had landed in Korea, although they had no details. How did they know? In their later debriefing statements, neither airplane commander Queen nor radio operator Strilky nor any other crew member mentions anything about sending a distress call prior to
the emergency landing. Furthermore, Queen says they weren't able to notify Saipan of their status until 1 September, when the Russians finally allowed them to use their plane radio. So did the Russians send a brief, perhaps deliberately vague message to the US embassy or military attache in Vladivostok, or to some other American station? Cold War researcher and author Bill Streifer has information that the Allied prisoners at the PW camp had access to the radio in the Japanese commandant's office and that they may have sent a message
about Z-28. We don't know for sure.
30 Aug 45 Eighteen hundred miles north of Saipan near Hamhung, Korea, the Queen crew weren't thinking about the West
Coast. They'd have been quite happy just getting back to Saipan. But it looked like that wasn't going to happen for a while. This morning there were no guards around the building in which Queen and his men had stayed the night, but when he and some of the other men started walking toward the plane, a Russian officer stopped them
and made clear by tapping the pistol on his hip that this was not allowed.
At about 09:00 a truck carrying PW supplies came by to pick the men up and take them to the nearby PW camp. A Russian captain was in the cab with the driver and an armed guard was in the back. The Americans climbed aboard and after some time spent driving to various points in Hamhung, they arrived at the PW camp at about
1300. Here the supplies were unloaded and Queen and his group were reunited with the five men of the crew already at the camp. The Americans were welcomed effusively by the British and Australians in the camp. The only damper on the enthusiasm was the fact that F/O Sherrill was still missing.
31 Aug 45 Far to the north in Korea, the Queen crew had a joyous moment this morning when their missing bombardier, F/O Marion Sherrill, showed up at the PW camp near Hamhung. When the shouts and back-slapping had died down, Sherrill told his story.
Like the other men who bailed out, Sherrill had been rescued from the water on the 29th by a Korean fishing boat but had been brought to a different village about 30 miles away. There he had been taken in for the night and treated kindly by a Korean doctor. The next day at about 1730 he and the doctor managed to get on a
Russian troop train going to Hamhung. However, the presence of a lone American raised suspicions, and at the station in Hamhung he was taken aside for interrogation. The Russian questioners did not appear to know about the B-29 incident of the day before, and Sherrill was reluctant to provide too much detail, not wanting to say that Russians shot them down. Finally, the Russians told Sherrill that he must wait overnight and take the next train to Seoul, which was in the American occupation zone. They then assigned a guard to stay with him and his friend the Korean doctor.
But Sherrill did not want to go to Seoul. He wanted to go to the airfield and try to find the rest of his crew. So he and the good doctor, presumably with the guard in tow, went to the local Communist Party Headquarters to see if they knew anything about the whereabouts of his crew. The officials there did know about the B-29 but erroneously told Sherrill that the crew was staying at a hotel in town. Eventually, Sherrill was taken to see Col Barteslav(Bartashov), the airfield commander, with his interpreter Maj Kruglov, and General of Aviation Preobrazhensky, who all seemed very happy to see him.

Lieutenant General of Aviation
E.N. Preobrazhensky.

Synopsis. Yevgeny Nikolayevich Preobrazhensky - First Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Pacific Fleet, Lieutenant General of Aviation (in August 1941 he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the first air raids on Berlin).

By this time it was the morning of the 31st. The general told Sherrill he would be taken to the PW camp to his crew, but he first invited the American flyer to breakfast. While eating, Sherrill noticed a K-20 camera in the room with "500th Bomb Group" clearly stenciled on it. He asked the general if it was from the B-29. The Russian lied and said it had come from lend-lease. Sherrill did not pursue the matter, but after breakfast he asked to be
allowed to enter the B-29, which was still on the runway. The Russians seemed reluctant, but finally Maj Kruglov took him out to the plane. Once inside, Sherrill could see that everything he had left behind was gone. He asked Kruglov about his belongings but got no answer. Eventually, some of the bombing equipment was returned, but Sherrill never did get back his winter flying jacket or stop watch. Sherrill also discovered that in the radar compartment "they had tore [sic] open every life raft and emergency kit." In addition, the Russians were still, two days later, draining fuel from the plane.
When finished in the plane, Sherrill returned to the headquarters building and Gen Preobrazhensky and Col Barteslav(Bartashov) took him in an old Japanese car to the PW camp, where they arrived at about 10:30.
At this time the Russian general had a long talk with Lt Queen, apologizing for the shootdown and offering to do anything to help. He was even willing to fly the crew to Vladivostok, where there was an American embassy. Most importantly, he finally gave Queen permission to use the radio in the plane to contact Saipan. The general promised that a truck would come in the morning to take the Americans to the airfield.
Things were looking up for the Queen crew.

The photo shows cameraman Alexander Borzunin, 1945,
against the background of the Z-28 aircraft, 500th BG
intercepted by the Russians at the Kanko airfield
in North Korea in August-September 1945.

1 Sep 45 On the other side of the world in Korea, the Queen crew had a much shorter distance to travel today. A Russian truck showed up at the PW camp this morning as promised and took Queen, Campbell, Grant, Strilky and possibly others of the crew to the plane at the airfield. After getting the putt-putt started and repairing shorts in the wiring, the men were finally able to power up the radio and contact Saipan. After being informed of the crew's situation, Saipan told them that a C-46 would be sent with spare parts and a team to repair the plane and pick them up. Estimated date of arrival was 4 September. The Russians offered to let the American crew stay at the airfield, but they preferred to stay at the POW camp, where they were getting along famously with the Brits and Aussies.

2 Sep 45 On this day the formal surrender of Japan took place on board the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. A mass flyover of B-29's was part of the ceremony but strangely there is no mention of this in any of the 500th Bomb Group documents.

4 Sep 45 Meanwhile, back in Hamhung, Korea, the Queen crew had been in daily contact via the radio in their damaged B-29 with their headquarters at Saipan since 1 Sep. Today was the day the C-46 with repair parts was supposed to show up, so the whole crew went out to the field from the PW camp where they had been staying. However, when they contacted Saipan, they learned that the flight had been delayed and was rescheduled for the 6th, weather permitting.

6 Sep 45 In Hamhung, Korea, it rained all day and the C-46 from Saipan failed to show up. Saipan told the Queen crew to call again tomorrow.

7 Sep 45 In Hamhung, Korea, the stranded Queen crew was informed today by Saipan that they were in the process of clearing a plane through MacArthur's headquarters. Check again tomorrow.

8 Sep 45 The POW camp near Hamhung, Korea, where the Queen crew of the 882nd Squadron was staying must have begun running low on supplies and put out a call for help, because today the crew was informed by Saipan that if the weather cooperated two planes would be over tomorrow to drop supplies. Also today the Russians chipped in by delivering some "Japanese crackers, flour and canned sardines."

9 Sep 45 Those two planes sent to Korea must have been the same ones that showed up today over Hamhung and dropped supplies for the Queen crew and the British and Australian POW's in the camp there.

11 Sep 45 Near Hamhung, Korea, this morning, the Queen crew made their daily call to Saipan and were told there was no further information about when the C-46 would arrive. So the crew went back to the PW camp where they were staying, thinking they would have to wait another day. However, that afternoon what appeared to be a C-46 was spotted overhead, and later the crew of the C-46, having landed at the airfield, came over to the camp. A Col Martin from Guam was in charge. The Colonel had already examined Z-28 and determined that it was not worth repairing. Instead, they would remove all critical items and leave the rest to the Russians. But it was too late in the day to start stripping the plane now.

Curtiss C-46 X144 375th BG, 1945.

Reference. The C-46 was the largest twin-engine bomber. It could carry a load of 7,300 kg. Queen's crew flew one of these to Saipan.

13 Sep 45 And up in Korea, the Queen crew and the men who had arrived in the C-46 with Col Martin spent today stripping Z-28 of all salvageable equipment. "All flight instruments, gun sights, radio, radar, bomb sights, APP [?], AFCE [Automatic Flight Control Equipment], and various other equipment was removed from the B-29 and loaded onto the C-46."; including engines, propellers, and artillery units. The stripped-out hulk was left to the Russians. The plan had been to leave late today but the weather closed in, so Col Martin decided to wait until tomorrow. The Queen crew would have to spend one more night in Hamhung.

14 Sep 45 This morning, after 16 days in Russian-occupied Korea, the Queen crew was finally ready to leave Hamhung in the C-46 which had come from Guam. Before the Americans took off, the Russians returned most of the items they had taken from Z-28 in the first days after it crash landed. According to 1/Lt Queen, "they gave us back two clocks, navigator's kit (minus watches), form 1 and 1A, [airplane commander's] handbook, engineer's brief case, G-file and flight control manual. The Bombardier did not get his brief case back, neither did we get the K-20 camera." Also, some of the crew did not get back personal items such as flying jackets and knives. Ring gunner
S/Sgt Rinaldo philosophically chalked that up to Russian souvenir hunters.
Then they took off. But they weren't headed back to Saipan quite yet. The plane flew only 150 miles and landed in Seoul (Keijo), which was in the American occupation zone. There 1/Lt Queen was interviewed by Col Cecil Nist, G-2 of the Army's XXIV Corps. The crew were also interviewed by some American war correspondents they ran into in one of the hotels in the city. Later, Capt Campbell, the 882nd Squadron Flight Engineer and one of the passengers on Z-28(John Grant), regretted speaking with the newsmen. "We told them our story, but realized later that we should have waited until an official report had been made of the incident."
Then they had an unfortunate encounter with one of those petty bureaucrats which abound in the military, a lieutenant who was in charge of liberated prisoners of war and who insisted that the members of the Queen crew fell under his purview. They tried to explain their situation but it didn't do any good, and they had to fill out several forms before they could get away. The crew spent the night in Seoul.

15 Sep 45 This morning the Queen crew of the 882nd departed Seoul and flew to Kanoya, Kyushu island, Japan, where they overnighted. At this location most of the B-29 parts they had taken off Z-28 were unloaded from the C-46.

16 Sep 45 Today the C-46 with the Queen crew left Kanoya, Japan, flew to Iwo Jima, and then on to Saipan, arriving at 2030. It was a relief to be back. They'd left 19 days ago and had had more of an adventure than they'd ever expected. There remained only the task of giving statements to the 882nd Squadron S-2, which they would do
over the next few days.

Team Queen's return to Saipan,

Synopsis

Feofanov Lev Feodorovich, 13.12.1918 - dd.mm.yyyy, 14th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Navy Air Force. Lieutenant. Senior pilot. Order of the Red Banner, the order of November 15, 1945. Vladivostok. It was he who gave three turns on the wing of the B-29.

Zizevsky Victor Grigorievich, dd.mm.1920 - dd.mm.yyyy, 14th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Navy Air Force. Lieutenant. Deputy squadron commander. Order of the Red Banner, the order of November 15, 1945. Vladivostok. He gave a line in front of the nose of the B-29 Z-28.