What B-29 Superfortress bomber was stationed on Tinian Island?
George Benedict Zabelka George B. Zabelka, a Catholic chaplain with the U.S. Army Air Force, was stationed on Tinian Island in the South Pacific in 1945, where he was assigned to 509th Composite Group. This is the unit of the crews of "Enola Gay" and "Bockscar" (aka Bock’s Car and Bocks Car), that dropped the Atomic Bombs (”Little Boy” and “Fat Man”) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His duties included saying Mass on Sunday and during the week, hearing confessions, talking with the soldiers, and other typical duties of a wartime chaplain.
Schilling Air Force Base Schilling Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force Base located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Salina, Kansas, United States. It was also known as Smoky Hill Air Force Base. During World War II, "Smoky Hill Army Air Field" (AAF) was in the first group United States Army Air Forces bases for training on the B-29 Superfortress aircraft in the summer of 1943. Along with Walker Army Airfield near Victoria, Pratt Army Airfield and Great Bend Army Airfield the initial cadre of the 58th Bombardment Wing was formed. The 58th Bomb Wing was the first B-29 combat wing of World War II and engaged in the first long-range strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands beginning in March 1944 from bases in India.