B-24 Liberator

Mr Wolverine said:
They had no female aircrew in the RAF during WWII. There were some female pilots that delivered new planes from the factories to Squadrons, with no ammo in the guns! Much to the disgust of at least one pretty young Spitfire pilot who wanted to “dance” with the Luftwaffe. The photo certainly looks like a young lady has crept in, sadly I can no longer ask Dad, I will have to find a larger copy of that photo that has the crew names on the back, it is hiding somewhere, it may shed some light on who that is.

I found my list of crew names, that is no female crew member, he was their Mid Upper Gunner, came from London but his name is unkown to me. These were a bunch of boys, Dad was only 19 when the photo was taken.
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Its too bad we didn't let female pilots fly combat, they were some good fliers and we could have used them. There is at least one confirmed case of a female ferry pilot getting bounced by a 109 in an unarmed spitfire, she outflew the German right down to the deck and he ended up crashing into the sea. The kill was awarded to the pilot's male CO.
 
awsome post thanks for shareing reminds me of an old guy that ran an old rambler shop turned to skidoo parts and marine he was a spitfire mechanic in england during the war and had some awsome stories and pics to share would go to get parts and half the time ended up talking for hours
 
There are still a few flyable B-24s around. I've seen the Collings Foundation's "Dragon and his Tail" in Florida. Also saw one flying around Keene, NH some 20 yrs ago.

My best B-24 encounter happened at RCAF Station Trenton in 1968. We were playing golf on one of the holes which parallels the main runway when I heard a multi-engine aircraft on final which sounded a lot different than the usual C-130 traffic. Turned out this was a B-24 from the Indian Air Force which was returning to Canada for the National Aviation Museum. We went over and had a look at it on the tarmac later. The thing was totally stock, like it had flown out of a 1944 time warp- guns, turrets, the whole sh$teree!

The B-24 had very long legs and was used by the RCAF/RAF/ US Navy for ASW patrols for this reason. It played a big part in supressing the German U-Boats.
 
Liberators, Sunderlands, and Catalinas. I used to house sit for a guy who flew ASW patrol on Catalinas during the war. He told me they dropped a depth charge on a whale once, just to see what would happen (plane full of bored teenagers with guns, what else would happen?). And like many other crews, they removed the tracers from their MGs. He said they were great fun to shoot coyotes with.
 
RMXC51 said:
Its too bad we didn't let female pilots fly combat, they were some good fliers and we could have used them. There is at least one confirmed case of a female ferry pilot getting bounced by a 109 in an unarmed spitfire, she outflew the German right down to the deck and he ended up crashing into the sea. The kill was awarded to the pilot's male CO.
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Commander Charles Bentall Lamb DSO DSC Royal Navy, flew Fairey Swordfish torpedo planes in WWII, and in his memoir To War in a Stringbag recounted being set upon by a German fighter which of course far outclassed the old Swordfish in most measures of performance, but he was able to use his biplane's slow speed maneuvrability to evade the German at lower and lower levels until the latter crashed into the sea. Since he didn't actually fire his own guns during the encounter, it wasn't awarded to him as an air combat "kill."

Tragically, he was able to do this in part because he had unintentionally led a British fighter pilot to the same end during training pre-war.
 
Excellent book. The way the Vichy French treated prisoners was disgusting. A bunch of Quislings from Darlan on down.
 
Picture is a prop from a USAAF B-24 that crashed in NL during the war.

B24crashsite017.jpg
 
Glad to see this thread back up.

Thank-you John for posting it, and many thanks to your father for his service.

I'm a Legion member (never served but had family who did, and still do). One of the members I don't get down to see enough any more earned a DFC flying Libs for the Burma Bombers.

I printed the entire thread and gave it to him on the occasion of his 95th Birthday. It was very much appreciated. :)
 
If anyone would like to read a great book, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.
The story of Louis Zamperini, an American B-24 bomber pilot in WW2.
LouisZamperini.jpg
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Fabulous bit of history.

I hope many children can learn from the mistakes of our past, and that there are enough of us telling the stories to keep those mistakes from being repeated.
 
cemetery_photos.aspx
Thanks for the pics guys. These types of historical pictures are priceless and a reminder of why we must never forget. My grandmothers brother Orrin was lost in an RCAF Lancaster near Aisne France. She was able to lay a wreath in the 80's in the towns annual service at the site, so that was good closure for her. Kind of strange though, there were usually 7 in a Lanc, but there were 4 Brits & 4 Canucks in this one. Any info on possible reasons why would be appreciated.
 
ojo de aguila said:
cemetery_photos.aspx
Thanks for the pics guys. These types of historical pictures are priceless and a reminder of why we must never forget. My grandmothers brother Orrin was lost in an RCAF Lancaster near Aisne France. She was able to lay a wreath in the 80's in the towns annual service at the site, so that was good closure for her. Kind of strange though, there were usually 7 in a Lanc, but there were 4 Brits & 4 Canucks in this one. Any info on possible reasons why would be appreciated.
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Many reasons why there would be an extra crew member. Flying "Second Dickey", was a first time pilots flight in combat with a seasoned crew to get the routine down as there was no copilots position on a lanc. Could have been a combat photographer etc. If you have some detail on the crew such as Sqn number, crew names etc just throw it into google. It is very possible to get great detail thru a quick search. Good luck.
 
Nose gear with burnt/melted tire below rim. Note the tire bead wires still there after all these years. I found their binoculars last year, partial leather strap still attached. With heavy heart I placed it back where found.....
B24crashsite036.jpg
 
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