THE JAPAN TO WASHINGTON, D.C. FLIGHT
September 18 - 19, 1945

  • Click Here To Read Ivan Potts Description Of This Memorable Flight



    • Crew Members are Listed With the Enlargement
    (40th BG Assn Photo)

    Airplane #1 Commanded by Lt. Gen. Barney Giles
    Hokkaido, Japan, Sept. 1945
    (Potts photo)

    Airplane #2 Commanded by Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay
    The gun turrets and gunners blisters had been removed.
    The SQ number on the fuselage and the 40th GP triangle "S"
    on the tail are still faintly visible
    (Potts photo)

    Three Japan to Washington crew members examining
    a Japanese "Betty", Hokkaido, Sept. 1945
    (Potts photo)

    Two Japanese soldiers; Glad the war was over,
    as we were. Hokkaido, Sept. 1945
    (Potts photo)

    Route of the three B-29's across the top of the world
    on the record-breaking Japan to Washington flight.

    Gen. Carl Spaatz congratulates Lt. Gen. Barney M. Giles
    as General of the Army Henry H. Arnold, left and
    Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker and Lt. Gen. Hoyt
    S. Vandenburg, extreme right look on
    (U.S. Air Force Photo)

    Autograph hunters storm the lobby of a Washington hotel
    to grab the signatures of crew members who flew the
    big Superfortresses from Japan to Chicago non-stop.
    Trapped here are Lt. Bill Dolan (L), pilot in Gen. Giles' plane
    and Lt. Ivan Potts, one of Gen. LeMays pilots.
    (New York Sunday News Photo)

    Lt. Gen. Barney M. Giles discusses his plane's
    operation with Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle
    at National Airport, Washington, D.C.
    (U.S. Air Force Photo)

    (Caption to the right)
    (LEFT PHOTO)
    Gen. Carl Spaatz, Maj. Gen. Curtis E. Lemay, left, and Brig.
    Gen. Emmett O'Donnell Jr., right, stand by as General Arnold
    and Lt. Gen. Barney Giles speak on a nation wide broadcast.
    Standing in the rear between Gen. LeMay and Gen. Arnold is
    Lt. Ivan Potts, Jr., 25th SQ, 40th BG, co-pilot of Gen LeMay's
    crew. In the rear between Gen. Arnold and Gen. Giles is
    Lt. Col. William Kingsbury, Commanding officer, 25th SQ,
    40th BG and pilot of Gen. LeMay's crew.
    (U. S. Air Force Photo)

    LtoR: Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Brig. Gen. Emmett
    O Donnell, Gen. Henry H. Arnold and Lt. Gen. Barney
    M. Giles, shown shotly after completion of the
    Boeing B-29's non-stop flight from Japan.
    September 19, 1945 (U.S. Air Force Photo)