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bombs that were eventually used. They were never, of course, loaded with fissionable material. Most of our ballistic testing was conducted in a range in the Salton Sea area. Out of these tests came the information we needed to aim the final bombs accurately.

At the same time, a long series of tests on the three bomb models were being conducted at Los Alamos under the supervision of Commander F.L. Ashworth, Parson's assistant. These tests were designed to obtain ballistic data to determine the best procedure for dropping the bomb. they also provided valuable experience in designing and assembling some of the weapons' subunits.

The Ballistic Group of the Los Alamos Ordnance Division did the research on the problem of aircraft safety in delivery. This group was concerned with such matters as the shock pressure that the B-29 could safely withstand, the flight maneuver that would carry the plane the greatest distance away from the burst in the least time, and special shock-bracing for the crew. Throughout the fall and winter of 1944-45, the Delivery Group at Los Alamos, which later would bear the primary responsibility for developing facilities and equipment for assembling the atomic bomb at the overseas base, continued its program of design and production of mock bombs."

I had dropped many dummy bombs over the Salton Sea, but one day I had an assignment to drop 10,000 lb. dummy bombs. I assigned Jim Price's crew to make the drop. We had to make our own ballistic tests for dropping 10,000 lbs. bombs (pumpkins). The Air Force had no tests for bombs that big. Jim Price reported back that his co-pilot was on leave, so I piloted the plane with Jim as co-pilot. His bombardier was on leave, so Tom Ferebee took his place. We took off from the Wendover to Southern California and dropped the 10,000 lb. bomb in the Salton Sea. Everything went off all right.

[[1 Groves, "Now It Can Be Told" p. 61]]

On our return to Wendover, the #2 engine was running too hot. As we got close to Wendover, it was still overheating. After requesting landing information, we put the wheels down. The green light would not come on. We flew around to check it, and we found that the light had burned out. We put power back up on the engines and the control tower advised us that the #2 engine was on fire. We made a tight turn, and I hollered at Jim Price, "Feather the #2 engine. Hope the engine doesn't blow." My whole life went in front of me. I was praying to myself that the engine would not blow. We also hoped that the engine would not fall off. We successfully landed the plane, and I immediately turned on the alarm and told everybody on the intercom to get ready to get out.

There's a four-foot hole behind the pilot's seat, and everyone used that exit. The plane was still in motion when we got the door open. Everyone got out, and the plane, on fire, proceeded down the runway. Some of the crew were skinned up. The fire truck was there as soon as the plane stopped. A large crowd gathered, with Paul Tibbets among them. I told him, "Colonel, I'm sorry I burned up one of your airplanes." He replied, "Glad you're all out safe and no one hurt. Don't worry about the plane. New ones are coming in next month."

Because B-29's were in very short supply, the AAF's lower echelons displayed some reluctance to satisfy the Manhattan Project (code name for the secret atomic bomb project) request for replacement of the inadequate planes. In December, shortly after the 393rd Squadron was detailed to Batista Field, Cuba, for two months of special navigational training, Groves decided to appeal directly to General Arnold about the B-29 problem. Without hesitation, the AAF chief responded emphatically that the 509th Composite Group would get as many new planes as it required. "In view of the vast national effort that had gone into the Manhattan Project," as Groves later recalled Arnold's words,

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"no slip-up on the part of the Air Force was going to be responsible for a failure." After the 393rd returned to Wendover, the fliers continued to gain experience during tests with dummy bombs of various types. Finally, in the spring of 1945, the second lot of fifteen greatly improvised versions of the B-29 reached the air base. They were specifically modified Martin-built B-29's with fuel injection engines and reversible pitch propellers. After the new planed arrived, training and ballistic tests intensified.

Deak Parsons, a commander in the Navy, came to Wendover. I received a call to meet someone at the tower at 11:00. When I arrived there, it was Parsons. He wanted to run checks on fuses. I later found out these were proximity fuses that armed the bomb and would explode at certain altitudes. Parsons and two other engineers got in the airplane with me. He said, "We are going to bomb Wendover." They gave me instructions how they wanted me to fly. We made several runs over Wendover. When I hit about 6,000 feet, these fuses would go off, a few at the same time. They sounded like a cap gun. I would fly at different altitudes with the same results. Parsons, a very unassuming man, was the only one who knew and could arm the bomb. General Groves, in his book, said: "Don't let Parsons get killed. We need him."

When Major Hopkins was advanced to group operations officer, Col. Thomas Classen, CO of the 393rd, called me in and asked if I could handle the job of squadron operations officer. I assured him I could. After our meeting, Buck Eatherly came to me and said he was supposed to get the job. He accused me of sucking up to Col. Classen and said I couldn't handle the job. I told Buck he hadn't had any experience. We had been close friends - but that dampened it a bit.

Capt. Cecil King was in charge of all maintenance of the B-29's. Each plane had five maintenance men. Cecil made all the assignments. My crew chief's name was Gulick, and he did not like to fly. He could fix anything on the airplane, however. When he did the repairs, I would make him get in the airplane and fly with me just to make sure things were OK. He would protest, "But, captain, I'm sure everything is OK." But I would make him fly with me anyway.

I had the utmost respect for Classen and Tibbets. I, in turn, was respected by my crew. The airplane commanders cared about each other. At the end of the war, the men of the 393rd had been flying together for two years with no fatalities. I attribute this to good pilots, good crews, good training, excellent maintenance, and double checking!

In May of 1945, we received our orders to go to the island of Tinian. Tinian is part of the Northern Marianas Island chain north of Guam and next to the island of Saipan. Knowing that I would be leaving soon, Bernece and I were married May 31st, 1945 in the Presidential Suite of the Newhouse Hotel. We spent a couple of days in Salt Lake and then went to Wendover to await my departure. I couldn't tell her anything about our mission except that I knew it would help to make the war with Japan end soon and that I could return home quickly. Our plane left Wendover for Tinian on June 6, 1945.

The code name for the 509th Composite Group was "Silverplate". Col. Tibbets used this name to get anything he needed for the group. He writes about this in his book "The Enola Gay". The 509th had five C-54's, four engine transports, which made up the 320th Troop Carrier Squadron.

Jim Roberts, who had been my CO in Del Rio, TX two years before, called me while I was on Tinian. He was now a Brigadier General, and he invited me to dinner and sent a car to pick me up. His headquarters were about three miles from ours to the south of Tinian. He had a house, very small and