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| USAAF 13th AF 307th BG 371st BS
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Aircraft History Built by Consolidated at San Diego. Constructors Number 693. Modification Center Line Number 89. On October 18, 1942 delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-24D-10-CO serial number 41-23898. Also known as #898 for the last three digits of the serial number. Before departing the Continental United States (CONUS) this B-24 was equipped with radar including yagi antennas under each wing. On October 29, 1942 took off from Hamilton Field and flown to Wheeler Field on Oahu. Wartime History Assigned to the 13th Air Force (13th AF), 307th Bombardment Group (307th BG), 371st Bombardment Squadron (371st BS). Nicknamed "Flying Gator". On December 21, 1942 at 4:30pm took off from Wheeler Field on a flight to Midway Airfield arriving December 22, 1942 to stage for a bombing mission against Wake Island. On December 22, 1942 took off from Midway Airfield piloted by pilot Lt. Hoefler armed with five 500 pound bombs and climbed to 10,000' for a night bombing mission against Wake Island. The crew included bombardier Lt. Severson and navigator Lt. Shaeffer. The formation of 26 B-24 Liberators fr crossed the international dateline inbound to the target. This bomber was flying in position D-3. Arriving over Wake Island, there were scattered clouds at 2,000' over the island including target #9 at Toki Point and instead bombed secondary target #3 from 3,800' buildings south of the east-west runway of Wake Island Airfield with the bombs destroying the targets according to the tail gunner. After bombing, anti-aircraft fire and searchlights were observed but evaded by banking. Afterwards, climbed to 10,000' crossed the international dateline and landed on December 23, 1942 at 6:45am at Midway Airfield. In total, this mission spanned over 4,300 nautical miles and reported in the press as a "Christmas Eve" raid. Afterwards, returns to Wheeler Field on Oahu. ferried across the Pacific to the South Pacific and operated from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. On March 23, 1943 parked in the northwest dispersal area at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. During the night, three G4M1 Bettys from the 705 Kokutai armed with 60kg and 250kg bombs bombed Henderson Field, destroying six bombers including this bomber, B-24D "Shamrock", B-24D "Lone Wolf", B-17E "Zero Six Zero" 41-9060, B-17E "Buzz King" 41-9124 and RNZAF Hudson from No. 3 Squadron. References USAF Serial Number Search Results B-24D 41-23898 incorrectly states "Assigned to NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Virginia Aug 1944 to Nov 5, 1945. Registered as R-18. Returned to USAAF." CINCPAC "Action Report - Night Bombardment Raid, Wake Island 22-23 December 1942" December 26, 1942 Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) 371st Bomb Squadron (H) Destroy Japanese Installations & Personnel on Wake Island Reported - December 26, 1942 page 3-4 (ship #898 - Target #9) (Page 3) Lt. Hoefler, Pilot, Lt. Shaeffer, Navigator, Lt. Severson, Bombardier. Thanks to Robert Livingstone and Richard Dunn for additional information Contribute
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