WHY NO MENTION OF THE C-87?

My dad, DA Robinson Jr, was B24 pilot, 514th sq, 376th group. Was stationed at Benghazi and launched on first Ploesti raid. Later we lived at Sewart TN. Right across the street from Col Paul Tibbets. My dad always told us kids that you don't know what fear is until you see your pal's plane erupt in a fiery explosion flying off your wing. He died in 2002. He in many ways to me was the greatest guy who ever lived.

My father in law, James D. Jelley (LTC USAF Ret) was a B24 pilot and flew 48 missions in the B24 from Guadalcanal and on up the Solomon Chain in the 307th "Long Rangers". On mission 22 he was shot down by a Jap Zero after making a 2nd pass over Rabaul while bombing a Jap heavy cruiser, flying from Guadalcanal. His bombs hung on the first pass and he was ordered to go back, there were 5 other B24's that also had bombs left and went with him. One crewmember, a gunner, was killed and all but others bailed out safely. One gunner's chute did not open and he did a 1200 ft "swan dive" into the ocean - and lived! Jim and his co pilot were injured, Jim in the arm and the copilot in the leg and they flew the B24 until it ran out of gas as the injured gunner was still alive and jumping was out of the question for him. Jim flew the rudders and the copilot flew the yoke. They were picked up after a few hours by a Navy Captain in a PBY. Jim retired in 1967 from the USAF and died May 2010. He always treasured his crew and memories of his B24, "Shehasta".

On another B24 mission over the Pacific, Jim was carrying the payroll for the Americal Division to New Caledonia, I think, when he lost 3 engines. Crew dumped everything overboard to make the plane lighter, including the PAYROLL. After landing he explained where the money was and said he "signed a report giving the location" and that is all that was ever said.

Jim's memory lives on.

James

Called them Privateers but they weren't B-24s. They looked alot like them though, but had several differences, one of which was they came much later.

The navy version of the B-24 had a different name than Liberator. Can anyone supply that name? Also the navy "liberator" had a conventional tail with high fin and rudder rather than the twin end plate as shown in the photo. thanx

I would like to purchase a set of B-24 manuals in the briefcase issued by Consolidated.

My father was a B-24 pilot, first stationed in North Africa and then Italy. 55 Combat missions and finished WWII as a major; finished Korea as a Lt. Col., and retired in the mid 70's as a bird Col. He died in 1999. Less than a month before, I had given him a big book on the history of the B-24 for Father's Day. After he died, I had it shipped to the only remaining crewman on his ship, a waist gunner. I received a very nice letter in return.
When I was a child, I never learned the normal kid's stories. I was one of 4 brothers. One night before his Air Force reserve meeting, he could not find any of our kids books so he read us to sleep from the B-24 maintenance manual and the Universal Code of Military Justice. Years later, he told me that the first time was an accident. However, since all 4 of us were alseep in a maximum of 7 minutes, the many times after that were all deliberate.

My Dad (still alive, 94, at this writing) was B24 pilot w/485th BG, 830th Sq, out of Venossa Italy. Wasn't until I got interested in flying myself 25 yrs ago that he'd talk much about it & then I did some reading/research. He did 50 missions, & holy crap, from what I've read is incredibly lucky to be alive. He says the fighters didn't scare them so much, it was that terrible flak. The inhumanity of it all affected him. About the only time I've seen tears in his eyes was when I shipped-out to VietNam, & now I know why.

Assigned to the 55Th. Reconnaisance Squadron, long range weather, (attached to the 20th. A.F.), I was the copilot of B-24m (#449517). While we were flying through a typhoon, taking weather readings, we encountered a storm center (i. e. embedded thunderstorm). Our plane was subjected to a violent updraft and then a violent downdraft. Afterwards we found that the horizontal stabilizer was no longer parallel to the wings and that several antennas were broken off. After one more test flight the plane was scrapped but IT BROUGHT US HOME!

My older brother George Grubb was a B-24 pilot an did not talk much about his bomb runs but had a bucket full of flak. I remember him telling my dad that he flew 33 missions and bombed Polesti oil fields and that was all I remembered. The AF Museum in Dayton, OH. has a B24 an I have enjoyed visiting it twice..I was a B-36 an B-52 Tech.

Fantastic flying machine. From the war point of view, it had killed hundreds of innocent young men but brought back credentials. During my early training years I was familiarised on Wright Cyclones. I had an opportunity to be in a team to service a B24 for display purposes. I also keep a memento geven to me by my section head, at the time of his retirement back in 1966. It is a brocken mirror reflector used in the gun sight recovered from a war damaged B24. I also have read hundreds of pages of B24 history. Those were the days my friends. Difficult to forget history!!
Murali
Aircraft Engineer and Scientist (Retd)

Following basic training in Shepherd Field,Tx in late 1944 was classified as mechanic gunner and assigned to Biloxi,Mississippi to learn about B-24s and as a high scorer was given the option to train as a B-32 flight engineer. This ended my relationship with the B-32 and in my next assignment to Liberal, Kansas I crewed as a PFC flight engineer on B-24s,training single engine pilots to fly multi engine aircraft. This was hairy stuff as we did multple take-offs and landings but the 50% flight pay was good adding $27/month to my pocket and th hot choclate and donuts on the flight line was welcome. After a stint at Randolph field crew chiefing some AT-6s for guys getting in their 4 hours to collect their flight pay and with the war coming to an end I was on my way to CampStoneman,California via Truax Field, Wisc. After over 3 weeks on the USAT Etolin crossing the Pacific I set foot on Okinawa and then Kadena Field where I spent almost a year working on B-29s

My dad built B-24's at the Consolidated plant near Ft. Worth, Texas during WWII. I have always been proud of his contribution to the war effort by helping build these great bomber aircraft that flew their missions and brought so many fliers back to base even after unbelievable battle damage.

She wasn't a pretty plane like the B-17, but she took me and my crew over Nazi Europe and through the flak of Berlin, Munich, Paris, Gotha and a total of 35 targets and brought me back safely to the 8th Air Force's 445th Bomb Group in Tibenham, England, in the summer of 1944, so I don't care if she wasn't pretty. But maybe we were just lucky, because the 8th AF was losing 100 bombers per month at that time. Being in a bomber over Europe was the most dangerous place to be in WWII. I'm glad to be alive. FB

My Dad was a B-24 pilot with the 448th Bomb Group out of Seething. He finished with 33 missions, including one coming back with a lot of the tail shot off, and another so low on fuel an engine cut out just on landing and one on taxi. Various other damage on most of the missions and it took both pilot and co-pilot to keep them in the air on the way home. He took movies from the cockpit on several bomb runs showing flak and attacks from ME-109's. I need to get those restored. Harold Kennedy has a website of the 448th.

The late Captain D.M.(Don) Teal RAFC penned a two-page first person account of the crash of a Liberator on a mountain top in Arran, off the Scottish coast, on August 9 1941. Teal, asked to officiate at the Arran funeral, missed death when a second flght he was to be on crashed on takeoff at Prestwick killing all aboard August 13 1941. Forty-four crew in all were lost. The full story and pictures are scheduled to be published in the Arran newspaper next week. Thought readers of this site may find this of interest. Jim Leggett. email; photo_writer@yahoo.com

My father, Tsgt John E. Gormley, was in the 90th Bomb Group "Jolly Rogers" and was KIA on 13OCT43 coming off the first daytime bombing run on Rabaul, flying out of Port Moresby. I was 4 months old and never got to know this hero who gave his life for our country at age 26.
Freedom isn't free!

I was a 455th Group lead pilot flying off the wing of the group leader returning from a mission to Bucharest Romania when over Yugoslavia we were hit by intense & accurate Anti-aircraft fire, The Group leader went down in flames & my plane also suffered severe damage to #2, #3,Engines, losing both fuel & oil pressure on each of these engines. To maintain flying speed we had to alternate the use of these three engines along with #1 engine which was not hit. Also, our hydraulic system was damaged beyond repair. In any event we were able to maintain enough altitude to get across the Adriatic sea & were able to just get over the airfield fence after lowering the landing gear using emergency procedures & as we had no flaps, nor brakes, we had to deploy parachutes from the waist windows in order to stop just going off the far end of the field. All Four engines were damaged beyond repair. Number one engine was damaged from overheating & the other three engines were also damaged from malfunctioning low oil & fuel pressure but we by the grace of God, we were able to survive for more missions

My late uncle flew in Liberators with a squadron of the SAAF (South African Air Force) based in North Africa then Italy - if anybody can give me details of the squadron it would be appreciated. Oh, I remember him telling me they dropped supplies in Stalingad as well.

My Grandfather, Vernon M. Samuelson, was part of the 449th Bomb group, crew 7-12. He flew a B-24 that he named "Cincy's Margie". I wanted to see if there were anyone out there that remembers him and possibly has any pictures with him in it and his plane "Cincy's Margie". He passed away back in 2006. He had typed his memoirs down and my Mom gave me a copy. My son Logan (Vernon's Great-Grandson) is very interested in World War II and I wish that he was still around to talk to him. If you have any info for me, please email me. Thanks so much! Sincerely, Michele Horton