JIM & JANE'S GREAT B-29 ADVENTURE

It was a good opportunity. After I retired from federal service in 2008, one of the first items on my to-do list was to research my father's WW2 service. This led to joining the 73rd Bomb Wing Association, dedicated to his old outfit, and it turned out the 73rd was holding its 2009 reunion in Oklahoma City, OK, in late May. As far as I know, Dad had never been stationed in Oklahoma, but he had spent most of 1944 in Kansas training on B-29's at Walker Army Air Field near Hays, KS, as part of the 882nd Bomb Squadron, 500th Bomb Group, 73rd Bomb Wing. Walker was one of four fields on the Kansas prairie where the units of the 73rd trained in 1944. So why not combine a trip to Oklahoma City to meet some of Dad's old buddies with a visit to the old Kansas air fields where he and they had trained?

It didn't take much arm-twisting to convince my sister to come along (after all, somebody's gotta watch me), so on the morning of Friday 22 May 2009 I was off from my home in Laurel, MD, to my old hometown of Monroe, MI, to pick up Jane. (I still call her Janie and she still calls me Jimmy, but for the purposes of this narrative I'll use our grown-up names.) After an uneventful drive, I spent the night at Jane's house, and on Saturday morning 23 May we were off on our great adventure.

* * *

Our first overnight was scheduled for St Louis, but there was one stop to make along the way. One of the best friends I had made on Sallyann Wagoner's wonderful B-29 discussion group was Bill Royster. Bill had served in the 499th Bomb Group, which was right next door to the 500th on Saipan, and he had been a tail gunner like my father, so I had turned to him frequently for information on what life had been like in training and combat for B-29 crewmen in 1944-45. And Bill did not disappoint. His body may have its aches and pains but his mind, memory and sense of humor are all still vigorous and healthy.



Here I am with the irrepressible Bill Royster in Salem, IL

Bill was regrettably not going to be able to attend the 73rd BWA reunion due to physical limitations (severe arthritis of the lower back and legs). However, I very much wanted to meet Bill and had learned that he lived in Salem, IL, which was only a few miles off our planned route, so I emailed Bill and arranged a visit. And so it was that Jim and Jane had a wonderful hour or so together with Bill and his daughter Darla.

I brought Bill a small gift, something I'd found on line, a copy of his orders returning him from Saipan to the States at the end of the war. (Bill said he didn't remember any of the trip back, probably because he was still medicated from his back wound.) And Bill showed us his memorabilia, including his Purple Heart and the bullet the doctors removed from close to his spine in 1945. Bill also graciously gave us copies of some books he had written over the years, including one of poetry. (Did you know Bill is a published poet?) Jane and I spent much of the rest of the trip reading parts of Bill's charming, entertaining and often humorous books to each other.

Visiting with this accomplished and remarkable man got our adventure off to a very positive start. We would have tarried longer but our long road beckoned, so we gave Bill a big hug and went on our way.

* * *

After an overnight near St Louis, we were off to Kansas on the morning of 24 May. Once you get past Topeka, Kansas is pretty flat. Good country for airfields. The government made good use of that topography in WW2. The four groups of the first B-29 wing, the 58th, trained in Kansas in early 1944. When they left for India and China in April, the four groups of the 73rd Bomb Wing moved into the 58th's old bases – the 497th Group to Pratt, the 498th to Great Bend, the 499th to Salina and the 500th to Walker near Hays. Understandably, we were most interested in Walker because our father trained there, but the other bases were on our way too, so why not visit them as well?

The first one we came to was Salina, about 80 miles east of Walker. This was where the 499th Bomb Group, including Bill Royster, trained. As we would find at Great Bend and Pratt, the old airfield at Salina was long ago turned into a municipal airport.

There isn't anything left of the old WW2 buildings at Salina. Inside the new terminal are some passing references to the field's history (see above), but nothing about the B-29 training that took place there.

The only monument left is the old concrete runways.

* * *

We reached Hays, Kansas, on the evening of 24 May. Unlike the other three B-29 fields, Walker AAF had reverted to private hands after WW2. (I believe the city of Hays passed on a chance to buy the land for $1.) It is now used mostly as grazing land for cattle, with a little oil drilling on the side.

Thanks to Phillip Schulz, a Kansas historian and the driving force behind the Bombers on the Prairie Museum in Pratt, I had the name and phone number of the ranch owner at Walker, so I called him up and explained that we were on a quest to walk some of the same ground our father had walked as a young man 65 years before. He heard me out politely, then told me to go ahead and ignore the “No trespassing” signs. Even gave me directions on how to get there. Nice fellow.

By that time it was late in the day and the shadows were getting long, but Jane and I decided to go have a look at the place anyway.

Walker is about 10 miles east of Hays, and the last 3 miles are on dirt roads. Fittingly, the one leading to the front gate at Walker is called Airbase Road.

As you approach the base, the first thing you notice is the old water tower and a few chimneys which haven't fallen over yet.

The front gate of Walker. I am told that except for the guard shack missing it looks much the same as in 1944. The concrete footing of the guard shack is still there. The message written on the old tire reads “Trespassers will be prosecuted”.

But of course we had permission. Here's my sister going over the gate.

Some concrete portions of buildings still stand...

And of course the runways and apron are still there...

And the pole and frame for a wind sock.

This is what is left of the second hangar from the north, I believe Hangar B. The main part of the hangar has mostly fallen in. The brick-faced concrete door supports still stand but the doors themselves are in the process of collapsing. It was too dangerous to go inside.

This is the only hangar still standing, the northernmost one (Hangar A?). I am told that the hangars at the southern end, which had been used to store grain, burned down many years ago.

The northern hangar from the other side, with my sister providing perspective. As you can see, it's still standing but the roof is in bad shape. I did venture inside this hangar but only found a couple of pieces of rusty old farm equipment and a colony of owls.

By the way, Jane's standing not too far from where we came across two rattlesnakes busy making little rattlesnakes. She spotted them first. (See, I told you somebody needs to watch out for me.) The snakes didn't bother us and we didn't bother them. But seeing them definitely dampened our enthusiasm for poking around in the undergrowth near some of the old building foundations.

On the evening of 24 May the lighting had been bad for pictures so we stopped by Walker briefly again on the morning of 25 May, Memorial Day, to get better pictures of the hangars, etc. After that we headed south for our next destination, Great Bend.

* * *

Great Bend, about 50 miles southeast of Walker, is where the 498th Bomb Group trained in 1944. There is a very nice B-29 memorial at the airport (see above and below).


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Jim Bowman
SIGINT Soldier