This was a daylight precision mission involving 20 planes from the 6th Bomb Group:
The first mission, the first since 25 Feb, was flown on 4 March. It
was a high-altitude daylight attack on Target 90.17-357 - The Nakajima
Aircraft Factory at Mushashino on the outskirts of Tokyo. Twenty-two
ships, carrying a total of 238 five-hundred pound GP bombs, were airborne
with two aborting shortly after takeoff. Difficulty was experienced in
assemblying the formations off Daio-Zaki due to the great amount of aircraft
at this point and a lack of adequate means for accurate identification of
the leaders. Aircraft were forced to form flight squadrons as best
they could and a complete undercast at the primary target forced bombing of
the secondary target - the urban area of Tokyo. Little enemy
opposition was encountered and all planes returned safely.
Sgt James R. Clark, radio operator on Major Layson's crew of the 39th
Squadron, sustained flak wounds on the raid. He was presented the
Purple Heart a few days later and in May, Sgt Clark was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism in saving the life of another
crew member. Sgt Clark shared his oxygen mask with Sgt Keenan until
their plane reached a lower altitude. Two hours later with the radar
and Loran sets inoperative and in spite of his wounds, Sgt Clark manned his
station, secured a position fix by radio, and stayed at his post until the
plane landed at Tinian.
[Pirate's Log, pp. 31-32]
