Born John Snyder Houghton on 10 July 1919 at Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio.

He enlisted (ASN: 15132030) as a Private in the Army Air Corps on 24 August 1942 at Cleveland, Ohio. He was selected for aviation cadet training and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant (ASN: O-866563) in the USAAF.

Per 22nd Air Base Headquarters, Special Orders #66, dated 6 March 1944, he graduated with Class #25-44 from Flight Engineer School (FES) at Lowry Field near Denver, Colorado and was attached to 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing at Clovis Army Air Base, New Mexico. Subsequently, he underwent B-29 aircraft operational combat crew training and was assigned to Aircrew T-26 at Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas.

In January 1945, he out-processed through Herington Field, Kansas and deployed from Mather Field, California (with re-fueling stops at Hawaii and Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands) to the central pacific theatre of operations, and was assigned to 20th Air Force, XXI Bomber Command, 73rd Bomb Wing, 498th Bombardment Group (VH), 874th Bomb Squadron stationed at Isely Field on Saipan in the Mariana Islands.

During the night of 1-2 April 1945, he flew as the Flight Engineer aboard a Boeing B-29 Super Fortress nicknamed “Filthy Fay II” tail code T-Square-26 (serial #42-93999).

Take-off was 2114 hours on 1 April. It was one of 121 aircraft launched to bombard Target #357; the Musashino Engine Works of the Nakajima Aircraft Company near Tokyo, Japan. After a flight of approximately seven hours and some 1,200 nautical miles, his aircraft reached their check-point above Mount Fuji on the main island of Honshu, and began their bomb-run northeast towards the Tokyo area.

Dropping down from a cruise altitude of 30,000 feet to 6,800 feet to begin the bomb-run, his B-29 encountered flak from anti-aircraft artillery. Enemy opposition was described as: “no fighter aircraft, but moderate to intense flak and coordinated with searchlight batteries.”

After bombs-away at approximately 0300 hours on 2 April, his aircraft received a direct flak hit in the open bomb-bay, caught fire, and crashed in Atago Mountain near Yoshino Village in the Nishitama District of Tokyo.

Although he suffered third-degree burns, he managed to bail-out, but was captured and imprisoned in Tokyo Kempei Tai Headquarters. Nine days later, his condition became so grave that a Japanese doctor injected him with poison to let him die.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40733174/john-s-houghton

NAME: John Snyder Houghton

RACE: White

AGE: 21

BIRTH DATE: 10 July 1919

BIRTH PLACE: Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, USA

RESIDENCE PLACE: Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA

REGISTRATION DATE: 16 Oct 1940

REGISTRATION PLACE: Fenn College, Cleveland, Ohio

EMPLOYER: Fenn College, Student

WEIGHT: 140

COMPLEXION: Light

EYE COLOR: Hazel

HAIR COLOR: Brown

HEIGHT: 5' 8"

NEXT OF KIN: Ellis Martin Houghton (father)

John S Houghton