By David Fleet
Editor
Ypsilanti — David Newbill is going on a mission.
On Aug. 13, the Groveland Township resident will strap himself into a seat surrounded by glass in the nose of one of the two remaining WWII vintage B-29 Superfortresses still in use today. The one hour flight, a gift from David’s son Jeff, is part of the Thunder Over Michigan airshow at Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti. David will be in the bombardier seat, just to the right of the co-pilot seat of the B-29 named “Fifi.”
While the flight provides a unique historical perspective from the vantage of a WWII air crew, the experience is much more personal for David.
His father, Robert Newbill served as a co-pilot on 39 missions in a B-29 in WWII over the South Pacific.
Airplane artists dubbed Robert’s B-29, “Fever from the South,” with “Pappy” painted just below the co-pilots window, since he was the only one of 11 crew members that was a father.
Robert died in 2008, however, his service and memory remain for the family.
“Honestly I don’t know how Dad did it,” said David, regarding his father’s missions. “I have a choice whether to fly or not, the B-29 crew did not have such a choice. I’m sure it’s not what they really wanted to do.”
Robert Newbill was born in Kevil, Ky. In 1918 and moved to Flint as a youth. He graduated from Flint Central High School and later the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1941.
“He studied English in hopes of becoming an author,” said David.
Robert enlisted in 1943 and served in the Army Air Corps as a First Lieutenant. The same year as Robert was preparing for war he married Genevieve Sibiga while stationed in Phoenix, Az.
Robert was trained as a pilot but served as a co-pilot of a B-29 that would be stationed on the island of Saipan located in the Northern Mariana Islands about 1,500 miles southeast of Japan. In June 1944, Marines overtook the island of Saipan which became the air base for launching the then new long-range B-29 bombers directly over the homeland of Japan.
According to the U.S. Air Force, between Nov. 24, 1944 to Aug. 14, 1945 the Twentieth Air Force operating in the Marianas lost 447 B-29s and 824 crew.
The four-engine Boeing B-29 Superfortress had a wingspan of 141 feet, a pressurized cabin and could fly up to 31,000 feet and 250 mph. The altitude and speed made it difficult for Japanese fighters to catch. Perhaps one of the most famous B-29 was the silver plate series Enola gay, which carried nuclear weapons dropping on Nagasaki, and Hiroshima.
David recalled one of the few stories shared by his father’s bombing missions during WWII.
“On dad’s first mission, they went up, circle for an hour or so waiting to get in formation with other planes,” recalled David. “Then two of the four engines went out so they had to return to the base in Saipan. There was just no way they could make it to Tokyo. Apparently, that B-29 crew was the first to land a B-29 with just two engines in operations.”
David also reflected on some of the tragedies of the missions.
“They were on a bombing mission over Tokyo, one of dad’s first flights into combat,” he said. “A B-29 in their formation group went down right in front of him. The entire crew was lost. After that time dad realized that white-knocking it was not necessary, there was a job to do and if his number came up, so be it. After that time, he was at peace.”
Robert returned safely from all 39 missions and returned to the United States in December 1944. He was discharged in 1945.
For his efforts he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon and three Bronze Stars.
Robert returned to Flint where he owned the Foodlane Supermarkets from 1954 until his retirement in 1983. Robert and Genevieve had nine children, 17 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. Genevieve died in 2022.