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| YB-29 ‘HOBO QUEEN’ approaching RAF Glatton (Conington) Station 130, a major base used by American forces during the war. In the early quiet afternoon of March 11, 1944, while 20 group aircraft were on a mission to the Munster marshaling yards, a new silhouette appeared in the sky above Glatton. |
Although considered
for other theaters, and briefly evaluated in the UK, the B-29 was exclusively
used in World War II in the Pacific Theatre. The use of YB-29-BW 41-36393, the
so-named Hobo Queen, one of the service test aircraft flown around several British
airfields in early 1944, was part of a "disinformation" program from
its mention in an American-published Sternenbanner German-language propaganda
leaflet from Leap Year Day in 1944, meant to be circulated within the Reich,
with the intent to deceive the Germans into believing that the B-29 would be
deployed to Europe. This was the only YB-29 to leave the U.S.
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| YB-29 ‘HOBO QUEEN’ about to touch down at Glatton. The B-29 Superfortress landing at Glatton was YB-29, Serial Number 41-36963, ‘HOBO QUEEN’. It flew from Wichita to Miami and took off under ‘SECRET’ orders and flew south over the Atlantic Ocean, where she then headed North to Gander, Newfoundland. Refueling there, she then took off and flew non-stop to Horsham, St. Faith, in England. |
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| YB-29 ‘HOBO QUEEN’ (41-36963) arriving at Glatton. When ‘HOBO QUEEN’ departed England, piloted by Capt. Miles Thomas, she flew directly to the CBI, arriving at Kharagpur on April 6, 1944. She was the second B-29 aircraft to arrive. The ‘HOBO QUEEN’ was assigned to the 462nd Bomb Group and the only YB-29 to see action and was used as a tanker to transport fuel (delivering a record of over 4,000 gallons of gasoline) over the ‘Hump’ to keep the wheels moving against the Japanese Empire. |
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| Men came from all over the base to see this new Superfortress. The reason for the YB-29 to tour several airbases was to let the German intelligence believe that the B-29 would be the standard B-17 replacement. The YB-29 also landed at Knettishal airbase and Horsham St Faith airbase. |
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| Men came from all over the base to see this new Superfortress. |
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| The ‘HOBO QUEEN’ just after she landed at Glatton. |
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| YB-29 ‘HOBO QUEEN’ with a big crowd. |
