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Memoirs of a B-29 Pilot

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There haven't been many first-person reminiscences by B-29 aircrew published. Charles Reyher, a pilot with the 501st BG, 315th BW, flew 13 missions during the final months of the war including the last B-29 strike of World War II. MEMOIRS OF A B-29 PILOT, published in 2008, is his account of piloting a B-29 over Japan.

Formerly a B-17 instructor, Reyher was assigned to the 315th in November 1944. The Wing, equipped with stripped-down B-29B models carrying top-secret APO-7 'Eagle' radar, deployed to Guam with the specific mandate to destroy Japan's oil and fuel refineries and storage installations. Reyher's first mission was on 29 June 1945; his last, 14 August 1945. Awarded a DFC, Reyher joined the airlines after the war, flying 35 years for TWA.

MEMOIRS OF A B-29 PILOT tops off at 228 pages. Reyher's account of his wartime service ends on page 174 with the succeeding pages being devoted to his postwar career and miscellaneous thoughts on the efficacy of American bombing, etc. While the book is generally interesting, some of the background material he includes throughout the book is rather dull and somewhat repetitive. More details on his 13 missions would have made for a more exciting read.

The book includes 36 photographs, maps and xeroxes of documents.

Since B-29 reminiscences are fairly rare, check out MEMOIRS OF A B-29 PILOT. You may find it a perfectly fine narrative of one B-29 pilot at war.