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| USAAF 5th AF 90th BG 320th BS |
Aircraft History Built by Consolidated in San Diego. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-24D-7-CO Liberator serial number 41-23849. Ferried overseas via Hickam Field then across the Pacific to Australia. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 90th Bombardment Group (90th BG), 320th Bombardment Squadron (320th BS). Nicknamed "The Eager Beaver" on the left side of the nose. The tail was painted with the group's skull and crossed bombs motif in white. During 1943, this B-24 operated from 5 Mile Drome near Port Moresby and flew 77 combat missions in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) and claimed at least three enemy fighters and three ships. On the upper portion of the left side of the nose below the pilot window was a scoreboard of two rows of bomb markings indicating missions flown with three aircraft silhouettes and three ship silhouettes. During late November 1943, this B-24 was flown back to the United States by pilot Charles P Whitlock. Crew members included T/Sgt Frank Matthews. Hal Hevener adds: "I flew B-24 "Star Duster" 41-23869 home, along with two other bombers: B-24D "The Eager Beaver" 41-23849 and B-24D "Mister Butcher" 41-24045. We arrived at Hamilton Field the end of November and discovered we weren't off the hook until we delivered all three planes to Hill Field, so we did, and no we did not fly under the Golden Gate Bridge, as it was worth your wings if you did!! But we were all singing 'California Here I Come' over the Command Channel, which probably made th flight controllers a little unhappy!" In the United States, this B-24 was used during a war bond drive. On June 4, 1945 scrapped at Ontario Field in California. References Note, some sources incorrectly list this bomber's nickname as "Eager Beaver" USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-24D-7-CO Liberator 41-23849 "23849 (90th BG, 320th BS, "Eager Beaver") completed 77 missions" Thanks to Pete Johnson for additional information Contribute
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