"Nihongun Rokakuki" #9 - Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

According to one Japanese source, the Republic P-47D -28RE S/N 44-229068 was shot down on the outskirts of Fengyuan, Taiwan on February 27, 1945. The aircraft belonged to the 40th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force, and the pilot was identified as Lieutenant Ralph R. Hartley, who went missing that day.

While taking part on an air raid on Taiwan, the Thunderbolt was shot down in an aerial battle with a Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate" (Frank) belonging to the Army's Combined Air Squadron.

Check here for more about the pilot.

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #8 - Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger

These photographs of a Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger torpedo bomber appeared in the September 1944 issue of "Koku Asahi" magazine. Shot down during a raid on Surabaya in what was then the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), it has been placed on public display and, probably for the benefit of the camera, promptly surrounded by local residents.

Steve Alvin commented:

On May 17, 1944, aircraft from the Saratoga and Illustrious attacked the oil refineries at Surabaya as part of Operation Transom. During the attack, one TBM from Sara's VT-3 was lost. This is undoubtedly that plane.

Nippon Goh commented:

In Enemy Hands: a TBF Avenger captured by Japanese. I took this picture from a magazine in Indonesia.

Some said it was captured during Palembang Air raid however the markings might not seen like a British Avenger

(I think it's from a VT-12 Avenger Bomber that ditched near shore during the Surabaya raid, and the crew was seen jumping into a dinghy but was never seen again. I remember reading a book by a POW who said a group of "Palembang Raiders" aircrew was staying next to his cell in Changi Prison but was later executed. The marking is also similar to that of the VT-12 Avenger bombers.)

Najmi Faiz Rabbani sent over this scan, I suppose from a wartime Indonesian publication:

Scoobs added:

That's TBM-1C (BuNo 25429) of VT-12 was lost on 17 May 1944: crew was VT-12 CO LT William E. Rowbotham, AOC Duncan F. Hallock, and ARM1c James A. Holmes.

Also:

Of note, it is questionable if this crew were the "Palembang raiders" that met their fate at Changi - The Brewton Standard (AL) newspaper had an article in the 09 Jan 1947 edition entitled "Local Man Killed Trying to Seize Jap Aircraft: Navy Department Says Andrew Holmes Lost Life As Prisoner" that describes a remarkable incident in which Holmes and another flyer (presumably Hallock) attempted to hijack a transport flight from Java to Japan - the aircraft landed at Davao, Mindanao where the two wounded prisoners were taken to the hospital where they died several days later. The remains of both men were located by American forces after the war and both have known burial sites: Hallock at the ABMC Cemetery in Manila and Holmes in his hometown cemetery in Escambia County, Alabama. What happened to their pilot, LT William E. Rowbotham, is currently a mystery as he has no known resting place.

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #7 - North American P-51 Mustang

According to the clip naration:

"On the same day as the capture of Guilin, 10 November, the elite troops of the Imperial Japanese Army also captured Liuzhou, and on 24 November, they pursued the defeated enemy from Guilin and Liuzhou and successfully captured Nanning. 

In Liuzhou, the enemy had deployed a massive force of 16 divisions, but our troops charged forward with fierce close combat and routed the enemy within 10 days. 

At the southern end of Liuzhou, the Americans were rushing to establish a dedicated runway to turn the airfield into a B-29 base, but it was destroyed before completion. Pursuing the defeated enemy, our elite troops advanced rapidly toward Nanning. Nanning, the last stronghold in Guangxi Province, was the base of the hated American Air Force that had obstructed our maritime transport routes along the southern coast centred on French Indochina. On 24 November, our troops entered the city. Coincidentally, exactly five years later, Nanning returned to our hands. With the capture of Nanning, the enemy's crucial air bases in southwestern China are now completely under our control, and the situation on the mainland is now developing in our absolute favour."

Wartime Japanese propaganda aside, the facts are that "On 24 November, the Japanese captured Nanning, completing the Ichi-Go objective to establish a rail link from French Indo-China to Hankow, Shanghai and Peking." (from here)

I found the attached photo of the same Mustang featured in the clip here. The date of the caption is off but Gary Lai added: It is P-51C-11-NT 44-10789, 26th FS, 51st FG, 14th AF

(for those not familiar with US military abbreviations: 26 Fighter Squadron, 51 Fighter Group, 14 Air Force)

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #6 - Quiz!

Can you identify the aircraft type but more importantly the unit etc? 

Original photo from the Arawasi collection.

Ed Bailey commented:

Under the wing is the VT prefix for a civilian Indian aircraft, and it looks to me like an Airspeed Envoy.

UPDATE by Ed Bailey:

I heard from the owner of indianairmails.com, Piyush Khaitan. He shared a link, here, to images of ephemera from the airmail demonstration flight of 1935. An ad tells that the flight is to be in and Airspeed Envoy, and encourages postal customers to support the flight so that regular service can be established.

He also shared links on his site to lists of Indian aircraft registries and crash reports (at the top of the page here ).

According to the registry list, only one Airspeed Envoy was ever registered in India, VT-AHR, to the maharaja of Jaipur in 1936 and thence to Indian National Airways in 1940, crashing in Jaipur in 1942 with no fatalities. (No mention in the crash report of prior ownership by Tata Air Service which used the Envoy for the 1935 airmail flight with Tata's business partner Nevill Vintcent at the controls.)

There can be little doubt that the Japanese had no involvement in the crash if it happened in Jaipur.

Thank you again, Ed for all the effort. The photo was in a Japanese set of small photographs with other destroyed/wrecked/damaged Allied aircraft but unfortunately there was no writting on the back revealing the location or other details. So, it is definitely taken by a Japanese somewhere in the Southeast Asia but the question remains as to where and under what circumstances. Let us know if you spot anything.

Further UPDATE by Ed Bailey:

I see three possibilities for the aircraft in the photo. The first two are compatible with the photo being taken in Japanese-held territory: that this is some other Airspeed Envoy missing from the list of Indian-registered aircraft, or that it is indeed VT-AHR and the location of "Jaipur" listed in the accident report is not the crash site (link). The third possibility is that the photo was taken in Jaipur and eventually a print of it ended up in the Japanese soldier's collection.

The Airspeed Envoy in the photo has clearly had camouflage paint applied, but still has the civilian registration under the wing. It could read VT-AHR and we know of no other aircraft it could be. It was not unusual for civilian aircraft to be pressed into military service in appropriate livery even if they remained under civilian ownership and operation. The accident report says the aircraft crashed on the night of 22 March 1942 without loss of life, but suggests it may have been shot down. The date is not long after the fall of Rangoon, while the British were in retreat.

Speculating, but here is the explanation I think best fits the facts. This aircraft is the same Envoy that was used by Tata Air Service for the 25 February airmail demonstration flight (though under what ownership/registration, I don't know), subsequently bought by the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1936 and, at least by this point, registered VT-AHR, then sold to Indian National Airways in 1940. In 1942 it was pressed into service performing light transport duties for the retreating British forces and, possibly having been shot at by the Japanese, made a hard landing (look at the undercarriage) in British-held territory in Burma that was about to change hands. The crew got off safely, and the wreck was abandoned, either before or after the engines were salvaged. Then a Japanese soldier took a snapshot of the wreck.

BTW, it occurred to me that the database of accident reports might exclude aircraft losses in Burma, so I checked and it does list some in Burma. I also checked here for an Airspeed Envoy lost on 22 March 1942, but found none. It does list a fatal crash of an RAF Airspeed Envoy in Burma on 24 February 1942 (link), clearly not the same aircraft but possibly giving the RAF impetus to requisition VT-AHR.

It would be nice to have more info and less speculation, but I'm pretty sure what we have here is the history of one aircraft (Airspeed AS.6 Envoy II, no. 57, VT-AHR) starting in Bombay on 25 February 1935 and ending in Burma on 22 March 1942.

Once again, thank you very much Ed for all the effort. It seems we have a mystery here. All your suggestions sound very reasonable. Any ideas about the significance of the small star on the nose?

Ed Bailey commented:

I'm glad you asked about the star, because when I took another look at it, I noticed the star in the circle has wings. Check out the Wikipedia article on Indian National Airways, and you will notice its logo was exactly what you see below the cockpit. I think this confirms the identity of this aircraft beyond doubt.

Thank you, Ed.

Here's the Indian National Airways logo from Wiki:

And here's the star with the wings on the Envoy nose:

So, thanks to Ed, we are confident to confirm beyond any doubt that the wrecked Envoy indeed belonged to the Indian National Airways fleet.

 

Here are more closeups

Are these hangars in the background and therefore a proper airfield?

I don't think I see the letters "AHR" under the port wing. What do you think?

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #5 - Vought F4U Corsair - video

Another clip from the NHK collection featuring a downed Vought F4U Corsair is Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City). The date mentioned is January 12, 1945.

From "Air War Pacific Chronology" by Eric Hammel.

January 12, 1945

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Night-flying scout bombers and fighters launched at 0330 hours from Task Group 38.5, fail to locate IJN battleship-carriers thought to be in Camranh Bay (they are not); 850 Task Force 38 aircraft mount a one-day total of 984 attack sorties against Japanese airfields and shipping along the west coast of French Indochina from Tourane to Saigon.

An afternoon strike against shipping around Saigon by more than 500 carrier bombers and fighters is instigated by a report in the morning from French Underground operatives in the city itself. In all during the day, claims are made for the destruction of 44 enemy vessels (including a French Navy cruiser) aggregating nearly 33,000 tons. It is also estimated that 20 Japanese seaplanes are destroyed on the water at Camranh Bay and 77 land-based aircraft are destroyed on the ground, including 50 that arrive from Singapore after dark.

Twenty-three USN and USMC carrier aircraft are lost, 16 to antiaircraft fire and seven in operational accidents. Also, a Fourteenth Air Force B-24 is shot down by USMC F4U pilots after its crew fails to respond to recognition calls and procedures and first opens fire on the unfamiliar F4Us. Most of the downed airmen are rescued.

VF-3 F6F pilots down a Ki-49, two D3As, an A6M, and three Ki-61s over Saigon between 0810 and 0840 hours; a VF-4 F6F pilot down an E13A over Quinon at 0855 hours; and a VF-3 F6F pilot downs a G3M near Padaran Bay at 1020 hours.

Lt(jg) Horace B. Moranville, a VF-11 F6F ace, is taken prisoner by Vichy French forces after his airplane is downed near Saigon by antiaircraft fire. He will escape captivity in early March, walk 300 miles to join friendly forces at Dienbienphu, and return to U.S. hands on March 28. Several other carrier pilots and crewmen experience similar escapes and rescues, but at least one USN pilot is later captured and executed.

Task Group 38.5 is formally dissolved. And at 1931 hours, Task Force 38 departs from the coastal area at high speed in the hope of avoiding an approaching typhoon.

Quite interesting to see the variety of Japanese aircraft types claimed by the US pilots: a Ki-49, two D3As, an A6M, three Ki-61s, an E13A, and a G3M. 

Mark Herber commented:

That's an Essex-based Marine Corsair flown by 2nd Lieutenant Joseph O. Lynch's VMF-213 F4U-1D BuNo 57381.

On 12 January 1945, he was on a special fighter sweep over then-French Indo-China. From the VMF-124/213 action report via fold3.com:

"Lynch was hit by small AA fire in the engine and made a forced landing in a rice paddy some 3 miles west of Tan Son Nhut, after being heard to say he was going in. Lynch was observed standing by his plane before our VF departed, and was reported 14 January to be safely in hands of French (friendly) and on his way to China."

To "finish" the story, the following is from Robert Sherrod's "History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II" p. 338:

"Lynch climbed out of his cockpit and the last his pals saw of him he waved his hand in salute, 'a lone, straight figure in an alien land.'

"But even in this alien land Lynch found friends. He was picked up by a native policeman who smuggled him to a French colonial outpost. At French Army headquarters in Saigon he me three Navy pilots from other carriers who also had been shot down during the day. All were fed and clothed, then stowed away in a women's prison, where they stayed six weeks, unbeknownst to the Japanese. On one occasion an SB2C pilot whose French was fluent saved the Americans by convincing the Japanese 'nobody here but us Frenchmen.'

"The pilots were transferred north to Hanoi for internment. Early in March the Japanese declared war on the French and twice the Foreign Legionnaires who were in charge of the Americans (by now a party of five Navy pilots, an Army B-24 pilot, and Lynch) engaged in sharp clashes, during which half the Legionnaires were killed. Through the efforts of an adjutant-chef named Gunther (a German) the Americans escaped from the fighting. At the village of Din Ben there was a U.S. Army Intelligence lieutenant named Carpenter waiting to meet them. On 31 March a C-47 from Kunming landed on the airstrip and took the grateful pilots to China."

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #4 - Vought F4U Corsair

According to a Japanese source, the arplane was found having made an emergency landing after being shot down (?) near  Kasanohara Navy Base, in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, on March 18, 1945. The plane belonged to the VBF-83 fighter bomber unit of the aircraft carrier "Essex" and was flown by Lt. Warren O. Sigman.

The photos are from a vintage, April 1945, publication. 

I was not able to find any mention of "Lt. Warren O. Sigman" except here, quite interesting read about the events of that day.

Our friend Patrice Fresnel added more from facebook group named "Carrier Air Group EIGHTY-THREE (CVG 83)":

 18 March 1945 (Lucky Day)

Love Day-14

Seventy-eight years ago today, Carrier Air Group EIGHTY-THREE (CVG-83) made their combat debut.

Essex's first two air groups (Nine and Fifteen) had been initiated with hit-and-run raids on Marcus and Wake Atolls, gaining “lower-stress” combat experience before major operations against the toughest targets. Some aviators of Air Group Four had previous combat experience in North Africa and Norway in USS Ranger (CV-4), and in the Philippines on Bunker Hill before boarding Essex.

But CVG-83's first combat missions were strikes on the Japanese Home Islands. Probably the only tougher combat debuts were for HornetAir Group at Midway (4 June 1942), Carrier Air Group Ten at Santa Cruz (26 October 1942), and a number of air groups (off the top of my head: Nine, Twelve, Seventeen, Twenty-three, Eighty-two, & Eighty-four) on 16-17 February 1945 against Tokyo!

The new or reformed groups joining Eighty-three on this day were Five (Franklin), Six (Hancock), Ten (Intrepid), and Eighty-six (Wasp). And what a day (or two or three or 79) it would be!!!

By design, and like all of the air groups making their debut, Eighty-three’s compliment was leavened with combat veterans, and they could share their experiences and lessons with the rookies to try and bring them home in one piece. As a refresher, the combat vets in CVG-83 that I’m aware of were:

· CAG-83: Harmon T. Utter, VP-101 in the Philippines (’41-’42)

· VBF-83: Frank A. Patriarca, VS-6 in Enterprise(’41-’42)

· Robert A. Kincaid, served in a DD in the Atlantic Fleet

· William H. Harris, Jr., VB-17 in Bunker Hill(’43-’44)

· Lindley L. Godson, VF-6 in Princeton, Belleau Wood, and Intrepid (’43-‘44)

· William P. Harris, VB-17 in Bunker Hill(’43-’44)

· Robert L. Temme, VB-17 in Bunker Hill(’43-’44)

· George A. Gibbs, VB-17 in Bunker Hill(’43-’44)

· VF-83: James J. Southerland, VF-83 CO: VF-5 in Saratoga(’42)

· Willard A. Sampson, gunnery officer in Lexington(’42)

· Thaddeus T. Coleman, VF-6 in various CVLs & Intrepid (’43-’44)

· Samuel E. Commella, VF-74 in Kasaan Bay(’44, Operation Anvil-Dragoon)

· George Minar, VF-74 in Kasaan Bay (’44, Operation Anvil-Dragoon)

· James M. Barnes, VF-74 in Kasaan Bay(’44, Operation Anvil-Dragoon)

· VB-83: David R. Berry, VB-5 in Yorktown(’42)

· James T. Crawford, VB-5 in Yorktown (’42)

· Joseph Breslove, VS-34 in the Carribean (’43)

· James A. Riner, VB-8 in Hornet (’42)

· Walton H. Marshall, VB-17 in Bunker Hill(’43-‘44)

· Guilford N. Ross, VB-17 in Bunker Hill(’43-‘44)

· VT-83: Harry C. White, USS Pensacola(’42)

· James W. Walden, VT-6 in Enterprise and Intrepid(’43-’44)

· John E. Shumway, VT-6 in Enterprise and Intrepid(’43-’44)

· Joe D. Roe, VT-6 in Enterprise and Intrepid(’43-’44)

· William H. Sleepeck, VT-6 in Enterpriseand Intrepid (’43-’44)

· Linus G. Jacobs, VC-29 (’42-’43?)

Approximately 17 percent of the pilots had previous combat experience, most as pilots, and a few as ship’s company on surface combatants. For many—but not all—their first combat after forming as a group about ten-and-a-half months earlier was today. All that training would be put to the test.

As mentioned for the 17th, tensions for the task force increased the night before, when snoopers located TF 58, and Stembel opened fire before midnight. After a lull, condition one was set in Essex’s at 0305 until 0355, and again at 0452!

The accelerated, aforementioned zipper mission consisting of VF-83’s four-plane night fighter contingent launched around 0415 initiated the day’s sorties. One Night Hellcat had to turn back due to a loose hood (canopy), but the other three headed to Nittagahara Airfield in the dark, arriving and strafing before sunrise. Because of the light (or lack thereof), no damage was assessable by the aviators.

General quarters (GQ) was sounded at 0503 due to approaching enemy aircraft. Ten minutes later, Essex had to take evasive action to avoid USS English (DD-696) "which came close aboard the port bow."

During this time, many aviators of the various squadrons were preparing for their first missions. Quoting the VBF-83 Unofficial Memoirs:

"Prior to dawn on 18 March 1945, pilots were undergoing an internal struggle of mixed emotions as they assembled in Ready Room One. Each pilot knew his assignment and each pilot also realized that he was going to parade his might and aggressiveness over the Japanese Homeland. But, he was well prepared and very eager. Spirit was high and the Squadron clowns were having a field day with little digs and witticisms. The Skipper, Lt . Cdr. F. A. PATRIARCA requested order as he gave us a last-minute fight speech and a few words of wisdom. Signal, "Pilots man planes", saw all pilots who weren't flying making a gala appearance on the Bridge to see the Corsairs off the deck and on the way. Our slogan was, "Good luck and good hunting."

At 0552, VBF-83's first missions were launched, consisting of a task group (TG) combat air patrol (CAP), submarine CAP (SubCAP), and a fighter sweep to Karasahara, Nittagahara, and Tomitaka airfields. Unfortunately, the mission was fouled up from the get go due to a number of factors, with most of the Corsairs forming up on Lt.(jg) Warren O. Sigman, and only three forming up on Patriarca. Over Tomitaka, the Japanese had aircraft aloft, and some wild dogfights ensued. Eight Japanese aircraft were claimed destroyed. However, Sigman and Lt.(jg) W. F. Garner were missing afterwards.

The first victor was Lt.(jg) James C. Sakellariades, who was taken to the bridge after trapping to shake Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman's hand. “The Greek” was so excited with the victory that he hugged the battle-hardened admiral! “Sakes’s” fellow officers in the junior officers' bunk room teased him about hugging the admiral!

By 0630, the first strike was off, consisting of 16 VF, 13 VB, and 15 VT, to hit Nittagahara again. There were three airborne Japanese aircraft in the area, but none approached. Unfortunately, the bombers were rusty and encountered strong (40 knot plus) winds, and results were not what was expected after their months of intense training (and lack of a "warm-up" strike). The pilots had to be impressed to "pick the specific hangar and then a specific nail in its roof."

Sadly, one of the VT-83 Avengers (BuNo 68388), flown by Ens. John L. Kiernan, with gunner William E. Parsons, Jr., ARM3c, lost its wings in a dive--a rare case of a structural failure by a licensed product of the Grumman Iron Works.

Further strikes and sweeps continued throughout the day. The most notable sweep was the third sweep, in which approximately 54 Japanese aircraft were airborne near Karasahara and Tomitaka airfields. VBF-83 got in another major pitch, claiming another nine victories, with the loss of San Antonian Lieut. James J. Stevens. He was hit, possibly by AA, but perhaps by "UMENO" and "TANIMIZU" in correspondence between Captain Glen Wallace (Ret.) and Henry Sakaida. Stevens’ smoking Corsair was surrounded by “a tight knot of weaving and manuevering planes” whigh “fought all around him.” The furball headed out to sea and ultimately Stevens ditched. He extricated himself from BuNo. 57471, but was swimming slowly. Stevens's division dropped life rafts to him, but he didn't grab any of them, being surely injured. Wallace raised the lifeguard sub, and directed it towards his division leader, but Stevens was never recovered.

Since Wallace had taken so long to return to Wonder Base and delayed recovery operations, he was immediately ordered to the captain’s bridge to explain his actions. Nothing untoward seems to have come from Wallace’s delayed return.

Just over fourteen hours after flight operations began, they ended, with two VF-83 Hellcats, flown by Lieut. Johnny Spotts and Lt. (jg) Charles Hubenthal, diverting to USS Wasp (CV-18) due to low fuel after a TG CAP or SubCAP (sources vary).

Recapping the busy day, during combat on this day, VBF-83 (flying F4U-1D Corsairs) claimed 18 kills over Japanese aircraft. These kills were claimed by 15 different pilots. For the entire air group, 43.4 tons of bombs were dropped, 181 rockets were launched, and over 46,000 rounds of ammunition were fired. A total of 191 sorties were flown in at least six missions. Talk about hitting the ground running!

In addition to the pilot and air crew losses listed above, two Hellcats (one -5 & one -5N), five Corsairs, and one TBM were lost.

Lastly, around the task force, at least three carriers were damaged today: Enterprise (CV-6, a near miss), Yorktown (CV-10, her only wartime damage, which was thankfully minimal), and Intrepid (CV-11; a near miss and damage from an American 5" shell which exploded near her stern).

We will see the events of the day from the Japanese perspective, in the next post.

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #3 - Douglas B-18 Bolo, Philippines

Douglas B-18 Bolo captured by the Japanese Army in the Philippines.

 I believe it's the same aircraft in the above two photos and a different in the photo below. 

It's interesting to me when I read comments on FB and message boards about how laughably garbage the retractable turret of "Nell" was, while at the same time the same commentators seem to forget that the "Bolo" had one such dorsal turret.

Before you start talking about who "copied" whom: Bolo first flight - April 1935, Nell first flight - July 1935.

According to the original vintage magazine caption, the photo below was taken at Nickols Airfield, while the first three at Clark.

Leave a comment if you know more about these aircraft, like units etc.

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #2 - Martin B-10, Curtiss P-40, Douglas O-46, Philippines

After the capture of Manila, Philippines, in January 1942, the Japanese Army discovered numerous US aircraft—some entirely wrecked, others in fair condition, and some intact. The NHK collection clip features Martin B-10 bombers, Curtiss P-40 fighters, and a wrecked Douglas O-46 captured by the Japanese military, as well as some decoys. 

Some photos of the same aircraft from vintage (1942) publications. According to the NHK caption, the aircraft featured in the clip were found at Nickols Airfield (present-day Ninoy Aquino Airport).

Terry Popravak commented:

In the views of the P-40s, the right side one is a P-40B, with two ports in the wing visible, which were for the two .30-caliber machine guns in the wing, different from a P-40E with three .50-caliber guns in the wing. The left-hand P-40 could be a P-40B too. If I remember correctly, the P-40Bs were all in the 20th Pursuit Squadron at Clark Field when the war began. All the other P-40 squadrons at other locations started out with the E-model.

A photo of one of the Martin bombers featured in the clip. Note the same "37" (?) on the wing leading edge. Other sources mention that the location is Clark Field and based on what looks to be Mount Arayat in the background, Clark Field is the more probable location.

"Nihongun Rokakuki" #1 - B-29s, Manchuria - video

Following our series on "captured Japanese aircraft", we will continue with the opposite topic, "Nihongun Rokakuki" (aircraft captured by the Japanese Armed Forces). Since our knowledge of non-Japanese aircraft is limited, we would like to invite "audience participation" to make these posts even more interesting and accurate.

First up is a clip from the NHK collection featuring downed Boeing B-29 Superfortresses during the December 7, 1945, raid against Mukden (present-day Shenyang), Manchuria (present-day northeast China). There are some conflicting reports regarding the success of the raid, and unfortunately, some, I would say,  "embarrassing " details about the unintended side effects of the raid that are not often mentioned. Let's take a look.

From here we read:

"After another training mission to Bangkok on 27 November, XX Bomber Command returned to its aircraft campaign in an attack against the Manchuria Airplane Manufacturing Company at Mukden on 7 December. This was a medium-sized plant, apparently engaged in the assembly of advanced trainers, which the Twentieth Air Force had made a priority target for December and January, but of less importance than Omura, Watanabe, and Tachiarai. A mission against Omura had been set for 3 December, but when the B-29's came up to Chengtu, they found the weather cold there and, according to reports, it was worse at Omura. Day after day, as aircrews and staff waited in impatient discomfort, weather reports brought further postponement. Since his Superforts were spread out at Chengtu like sitting ducks for enemy hecklers and since he got no encouragement from his weathermen, LeMay on 6 December requested permission to try Mukden; Washington's consent came only a few hours before takeoff time on the 7th.

"Field orders had already been cut, and 108 aircraft got off on schedule and without incident. With less difficulty on the way out than in the Omura missions, ninety-one bombers reached the Mukden area to find ceiling and visibility unlimited--that is, outside the planes, for intense cold had frosted the windows to the great handicap of pilots, bombardiers, and gunners. Ten planes in one formation bombed early in the run-in, hitting a rail yard nine miles short of the target. Eighty planes attacked more accurately, scattering 262 tons of bombs in the target area to cause some damage in the factory complex and more in the adjacent arsenal. Nine planes bombed in other areas.

"Japanese defenders again were aggressive, making in all 247 individual attacks on the Superforts. Three collisions were reported: one, unintentional, destroyed the Japanese fighter but merely bent a propeller on the B-29; another, unintentional, destroyed both planes; and in one a damaged fighter took down a Superfort in what looked like a deliberate ramming. Air-to-air bombing, a frequent Japanese tactic, scored a limited success when a phosphorus bomb hit on a B-29 wing and rode piggyback all the way home, burning but without doing serious harm."

warhistory.org mentions a few interesting details:

"B-29s first struck Manchuria three years to the day of Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor. Their anniversary raid was not coincidental but deliberately timed to encourage the more than 1,600 American prisoners of war incarcerated near Mukden. The mission’s tactical objective was destruction of the city’s aircraft factories.

"Of the original 108 Superforts that set out with the XX Bomber Command, no less than 17 were forced to drop out, due to unforeseen problems caused by extremely low temperatures. Inside and outside surfaces of canopies iced over, and the big warplanes struggled, not always successfully, to gain altitude in the thin air. "These worsening conditions forced another 10 B-29s to haphazardly jettison their payloads over a railroad yard long before reaching Mukden, utterly missing this secondary target, before banking away for home base. 

"When the remaining 80 Superfortresses arrived over the city, flight crews found it entirely obscured by a heavy smokescreen. Undeterred, they unloosed their combined 800 tons of bombs, which fell mostly within residential districts, killing about 1,000 civilians, injuring several thousand more. The primary targeted aircraft factories escaped unscathed."

While the raid "was meant as a morale-booster for more than 1600 Allied prisoners of war incarcerated there." and that "For them, the raid would bring hope that the war could soon be over", less-frequently mentioned is the fact that "Tragically, two bombs struck a prisoner of war facility housed within the military installations at Mukden, claiming the lives of 19 detainees and injuring more than 30."

Also, while warhistory.org mentions above that "The primary targeted aircraft factories escaped unscathed." 

"The archives of one of the participating USAAF units, the 25th Bomb Squadron (BS), reveal that... Of the 27 aircraft the 25th BS sent to Mukden, a total of 23 bombed the primary target in two formations; the first 12-aircraft formation released its bomb load from around 6,700 metres (22,000 feet). The strike photos showed the effectiveness of the bombing and also disclosed the beginnings of a smokescreen started by the defending forces; by the time the remaining 11 aircraft of the 25th BS arrived over Mukden approximately 20 minutes later, the targets and the airfield had been completely obscured. Reconnaissance photos taken several days later revealed that the southern edge of the target area had sustained extensive damage, as had a line of hangars on the adjacent airfield." 

This source mentions the B-29s that were casualties in the mission:

42-63363 40th Bomb Group

42-65262 444th Bomb Group

42-6262 444th Bomb Group ?????????

42-6299 462nd Bomb Group, Humpin Honey, was rammed

42-6359 462nd Bomb Group was MIA,

42-65213 462nd Bomb Group "Carlalani" A/C Maj. White, non-combat loss due to heavy icing and plane broke apart.]

42-6389 468th Bomb Group "Party Girl"

42-6390 468th Bomb Group "Gallopin Goose"

42-63395 468th Bomb Group crashed at A-7 returning from Mukden

T-10 might have had a different A/C: William S. Doxey, Capt.

T-29 has a different S/N: 42-24181

42-24745 A-26

42-24693 V-27

Leave a message if you think this list is incorrect or incomplete.

It also mentions:

"The 40th Group got off 26 planes, of which 23 attacked the primary target. Ten planes, however, dropped early on the Suhuton RR Yards. One plane bombed Darien, the secondary target, one bombed Chenghsien, the last resort target, and one Hsuchang, a target of opportunity. One plane of the 40th, 42-63363, was lost on the mission. The 444th sent off 27 planes, of which twenty bombed the primary target and one dropped early Suhuton RR Yards. One plane dropped on Chenghsien  and one on a target of opportunity, Tsingtao[!!!].

"One plane, 42-65262, was MIA and four were early returns The 462nd Group got 23 planes airborne, off which 21 bombed the primary target. Two planes were lost, 42-6299 was rammed and 42-6359 was MIA, and two returned early. The 468th Group was the largest contributor of airplanes, launching 31. Twenty-six bombed the primary, two bombed Darien, one Chenghsien and one bombed Kaishu, Korea, a target of opportunity. One airplane returned early. The 468th reported no losses."

"Chenghsien", Tsingtao, Dalian and Haeju are all locations VERY distant from Mukden but perhaps they indicate the return flight path of the US bombers and the fact that these B-29s failed to release their bombs over Muden and dropped them wherever they could...or something like that. 

Let's see some stills.

This B-29 has been identified as "42-6262" "Round Trip Ticket" of the 444th BG.

The camels are said to indicate that "Round Trip Ticket" had flown supply missions over the Himalayas.

That is a part of the emblem of the 678th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), a cobra head over a spade symbol (here). "Round Trip Ticket" s/n 42-6262 was assigned to the 678th Bomb Squadron, which belonged to the 444th Bomb Group. So the insignia could belong to Round Trip Ticket.

Can you identify the B-29s seen in this still? 

Ed Bailey suggested:

assuming it's also one of the B-29s shot down on the 7 Dec 1944 Mukden raid can only be 42-2699 according to Joe Baugher's serial number list: "[42-]6299 Delivered to USAAF 11Jan44. Assigned to 462nd Bomb Group, Walker AAF, KS

Departed Walker AAF, KS for CBI 10Apr44; arrived Piardoba, India 19Apr44.Assigned to 770th Bomb Squadron, 462nd Bomb Group, Piardoba, India. Named ‘Humpin Honey’

Named ‘Princess Patsy’. (462nd BG) rammed by Ki-44 (Tojo) over Mukden, Manchuria Dec 7, 1944. MACR 10125."

Thank you, Ed.

Last but not least, did you notice the Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" making a quick pass?

Against the US B-29s that raided Mukden, the IJAAF had committed four fighter units: the 104th Sentai lost two pilots flying Nakajima Ki-44 "Shoki" fighters; the 25th and the 81st Dokuritsu Chutai one Kawasaki Ki-45 "Toryu" and one Mitsubishi Ki-46 (Dinah), respectively; one 4th Rensei Hikotai Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" pilot sustained injuries.

Check here for more on the 104 Sentai.