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| USAAF 5th AF 90th BG 320th BS  USAAF October 1944 |
Pilot Herb Corley Crash Landed October 1944 MACR none Aircraft History Built by Consolidated at San Diego. Constructors Number 2524. On August 23, 1943 delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-24D-170-CO Liberator serial number 42-72954 and flown to the Tuscon Modification Center the same day. During September 1943, the ball turret removed and twin .50 caliber machine guns installed on a scarf ring instead. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 90th Bombardment Group (90th BG) "Jolly Rogers", 320th Bombardment Squadron (320th BS). No known nickname. The nose had the "Moby Dick" motif with the whale's eye and mouth painted on each side of the nose. Mission History During October 1944, took off on a bombing mission against troops at Daraga in the southeast of Luzon. Over Legaspi hit by flak that damaged the hydraulic system. This B-24 was able to returned and crash landed without flaps or undercarriage at Hollandia, crashing into a pile of empty 55 gallon fuel drums. The nose turret completely dislocated from the fuselage, and both propellers were torn from no. 1 and no. 2 engines. Officially, this aircraft was written off on April 19, 1944 (in error). Pacific Island Odyssey by Carl Thien: "One day, returning from a ride in an A-20, I was passing a fuel dump near the airport when a B-24 returning from a bombing run, was unable to reach the Sentani Strip and crashed into hundreds of empty fuel drums. A few other nearby soldiers went into the dump to do what we could to help the downed flyers. Some of the empty drums were exploding, and others were starting to burn, but we could see the flyers trying to get out of the plane. We managed to bring three of them to the edge of the dump before a regular crash crew arrived and got the rest out. Several had been wounded before the crash, and couple more were badly hurt when when the plane grounded. The B-24 was still repairable after it was dragged out of the area and back to the airstrip, and we saw it the next week being worked on. We heard that most of the crew survived even though being severely wounded." References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-24D-170-CO Liberator 42-72954 The Forgotten Fifth (2007) page 76 Pacific Island Odyssey by Carl Thien Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated
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