Longest Bombing Missions in WW2
- Alpini Arditi
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- Joined: 04 Jan 2022, 00:15
- Location: North Wales
Longest Bombing Missions in WW2
For sheer endurance, it's interesting to read various accounts of the longest bombing missions during the Second World War. From what I've been able to research, it seems the longest were done, unsurprisingly perhaps, by American B-29's in the Pacific and Asia theatres. Of these, the longest was a photo-reconnaissance mission (aircraft nicknamed 'Double Trouble') in June 1945, from Guam to Hokkaido in Northern Japan and back, taking just under 23 hours and covering a total of 4,650 miles. The next appears to be a bombing mission from India to the Straits of Johore, Malaysia, in February, 1945, by B-29's, over a distance of 3,841 miles. There were a few other Superfortress sorties that nearly approached the latter distance, too. Apart from the B-29's, the longest was apparently the epic journey of a US B-24 Liberator, called 'Shady Lady', which attacked Japanese oil refineries on Borneo, having ventured out from Northern Australia, in August 1943, and forced landed in Western Australia, having travelled some 2,700 miles. Finally, from the other side, in October 1940, there was the Italian SM 82 attack on Bahrain, from Rhodes, and landing in Eritrea, flying a total of 2,600 miles. I wonder what the record is for the other air forces during the war?
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