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Crew of the Rosalia Rocket
20th AirForce
500th Bombardment Group
881st Squadron
on Saipan, Marianas Islands
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Aircraft No. 42-24656, commanded by Major Robert F. Goldsworthy,
touched down on Isley Field , Saipan on November 2, 1944. On board was Colonel
Richard T. King, commanding officer of the 500th Bomb Group.
Major Goldsworthy and crew flew a shake down mission to Truk in the
Dublin Islands to bomb the submarine pens. They went to Tokyo for the first
time on November 24, 1944, target 357. They completed a total of four missions
but their fifth was not to be completed.
On December 3, 1944, their target was the Nakajima Aircraft Factory
at Ota, Japan. Col. Richard T. King was flying as flight commander of a
twelve plane formation with Maj. Goldsworthy and crew. Col. Byron Brugge,
intelligence officer from 73rd. Wing Headquarters, was along as an observer.
They were flying at 32000 ft. when the bombardier, Lt. Walter Patykuls,
dropped the bombs. At this time they were attacked by fighters. The gunners
worked them over pretty well, destroying two of them, but in return they were
hit in the left inboard fuel tank. The slugs ruptured the fuel tank and
gasoline sprayed over the entire aircraft and it started to burn. Bullets
destroyed the electrical system and the intercom. The nose wheel dropped
to the down position. By this time, they had dropped to 29000 ft. and the
crew bailed out. Just how many crew members got out is not known for sure.
Col. King reported after the war that he counted eight , or nine chutes on
his way down.
Col. King, Maj. Goldsworthy and Cpl. Schroeder spent the rest of
the war as POWs and were released after the war. They were all in very sorry
condition. Col. Brugge was beaten to death by his captors and the rest
of the crew were never accounted for.
A total of five B-29s were lost on Dec. 3, 1944. One went down over the
target, three ditchings were confirmed and one was reported missing. To date,
the 73rd. Wing had lost nine B-29s.
Maj. Goldsworthy and his crew had picked the name "ROSALIA ROCKET"
for their aircraft but time ran out before it could be painted on.
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| Goldsworthy's Crew #101, 881st Squad
of the ROSALIA ROCKET
Crew Picture taken 10/9/44 |
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Pictured Left to Right
Standing
1/Lt. Walter J. PATYKULS-Bombardier
1/Lt. Benjamin F. EDWARDS-Navigator
Maj. Robert F. GOLDSWORTHY-Commander
2/Lt. Robert E. SOLLOCK (replaced by Col. Richard T. KING on that
fateful flight)-Pilot
1/Lt. Henry W. WARDE-Flight Engineer
Knelling
Sgt. Thomas M. GOFFERY-Rt. Gun.
S/Sgt. James P. CORRIGAN-Tail Gun
S/Sgt. Carl T. WELLS-Radar
Cpl. Harold J. SCHROEDER-Lft. Gun.
Cpl. Robert E. ABEL-Ring Gun. W
Sgt. John A. WRIGHT-Radio
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Click on their individual picture to read more about them (links will open into a new browser window.)
Although Robert Sollock (he was a part of the original crew) is pictured above, click his picture to read about Richard King, who replaced him that fateful flight.
Not pictured but present on flight that went down on 12/3/1944 were Col. Byron Brugge, as Observer.
More details about the flight is reported in the Missing Air Crew Report below, however, I felt this was a
good place to include some additional facts from the other military documents I have received:
Four plane crews went down on 3 December 1944 while flying a bombing mission, primarily to the
"Nakajima" aircraft factory at Tokyo dock.
There were 12 crewmen on board the Rosalia Rocket, the same plane that my Uncle was Navigator
on.
- Goffrey was the first observed bailing out (per Schroeder)
- Schroeder bailed out second and was captured
- Schroeder observed Abel, who had been shot in the leg, preparing to bail out (climbing down from the turret)
- Schroeder indicated that he and Wright, who he observed had been burnt, were put into a truck
- Schroeder indicated that they were all then transferred to another truck where Ward and
Wells were present. Schroeder observed that Ward said nothing other than answering roll call
and Wells said his arm was hurt
- Schroeder indicated that after the Japanese took roll call in the truck they asked each of them if they
were wounded. Schroeder stated he was not injured and was removed from the truck.
- At Kempei Tai Station, Schroeder indicated he saw King, Brugge,
Goldsworthy, and Goffrey all during his first week (this being in December)
- Goffrey was removed to another camp in January
- 2 months later, Schroeder and Goldsworthy were moved to another camp
- Schroeder reports seeing King sometime in April
This gives visual account of 9 out of the 13 crew members all still alive when they reached the ground
(Abel was last seen on the plane.)
Now, according to the Appendix for Case History #064, signed by John A. Reitze 2nd Lt., QMC, the
Japanese reported seeing a B-29 crash on 3 December 1944 near Omigzwa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan:
- Three men were seen jumping from the plane. These three men all landed near the Jindai-Muri village
home office. One man was reported to be dead when he landed; another was seriously burnt; and the
third landed safely. Japanese military authorities took all these men away. No one in the village knew
where they were taken.
- Japanese military authorities while investigating the crash on 4 December discovered the remains of another
airman. His body was removed but no one in the area knew what was done with the remains.
- On 5 December 1944 another body was taken from the wreckage and buried in the cemetery at Jindai-Muri.
- This body was re-interred in USAF Cemetery Yokohama #1 as Unknown X-376
- Three cremated remains were interred at the Military Mausoleum in Sakura-machi on 5 December 1944.
These boxes were inscribed, "3 December 1944 - Plane Type B-29 - Spirit of Unknown American Flyers".
These three men were said to have been removed from the plane which crashed at Omigawa.
- These three cremated remains were re-interred in USAF Cemetery Yokohama#1 as Unknown X-161,
X-162, and X-163.
- The remains of three men who were supposed to have died in a B-29 crash on 3 December 1944 were
disinterred at Chiba, Chiba Prefecture on 1 April 1946 by this Unit. These men's names, according to
Japanese records were Wright, Wells and Wall (there was no Wall in this crew.)
According to the Appendix of T4J9-072:
Recovery Team #4 went to the City Cemetery in Chiba City, Chiba, Central Japan to investigate and
disinter remains of Sgt. Wells, Sgt. Wright, and Cpl. Wall reported in case history #072.
The team contacted Mr. Toopzuka, clerk of the Chiba city hall, and learned the following information:
- Three bodies were taken to the Japanese Army hospital in Chiba near the first of December 1944 by Military Police
- No one knew where they came from
- On 6 December 1944, the three bodies were brought to city hall by the military police for
burial in the city cemetery
- Col. Isao Fukazawa was in charge of the hospital at that time who stated the following:
- He was home when the three fliers were brought to the hospital. 1st Lt. Ishii, Japanese Army
doctor who was in charge telephoned him about the 3 fliers
- Ishii stated the condition of the men, but said nothing about operations or future plans
- One man was badly burnt; one was missing a head; and the third had machine gun bullets in his
arms and legs
- The first two men were dead when they entered the hospital
- The third man died in two hours
- Fukazawa indicated that each man had a tag with a name and rank put on their clothes by the military
police but no records were kept on dead men entering hospital
- The three bodies were disinterred from a common grave in the city cemetery
- Each was in a separate box
- The first man had the top of his head sawed off or otherwise removed; believed to have had a cranial
autopsy performed
- The second man had the skull cut in 4 equal pieces and they fit together perfectly; believed to have had
a cranial autopsy performed. This man's bones were slightly charred
- The third man had bits of khaki clothing on his body; skull was intact.
- Partial tooth charts (upper) were obtained on the first two men
- The third had a complete tooth chart.
- All remains were in an advanced stage of decomposition
- No identification discovered
Click to read the
DETAILS OF FLIGHT AND LOSS
Click to read
FRAGMENT OF ROBERT GOLDSWORTHY'S DIARY
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