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| USAAF 5th AF 90th BG 320th BS  90th BG 1943   90th BG 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. The same day, flown to the Tuscon Modification Center the same day. During September 1943, Hawaiian Air Depot (HAD) nose modification and the ball turret was removed and twin .50 caliber machine guns installed on a scarf ring in the ball turret position. Wartime History During October 1943 assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 90th Bombardment Group (90th BG) "Jolly Rogers", 320th Bombardment Squadron (320th BS) "Moby Dick". No known nickname. The tail had the skull and cross bomb motif of the 90th Bomb Group. The nose had the "Moby Dick" motif of the 320th Bomb Squadron of a whale's eye and mouth on each side of the nose. On October 18, 1943 took off from 5 Mile Drome (Ward) near Port Moresby piloted by Captain Gottke on a mission via Hood Point and Kiriwina on a bombing mission against Rabaul but the bombers aborted due to bad weather and instead bombed alternate targets including Cape Hoskins, Cape Gloucester and Sio. On October 21, 1943 took off from 5 Mile Drome (Ward) piloted by Maj Whitlock on a bombing mission against Sattelberg. Mission History During October 1944, took off piloted by Herb Corley on a bombing mission. Hit by anti-aircraft fire that damaged the hydraulic system. This B-24 was able to returned to Hollandia and landed without being able to extend the flaps or landing gear and ran off the runway into a pile of empty 55 gallon fuel drums. On impact, the nose turret completely dislocated from the fuselage, and both propellers were torn off engine no. 1 and no. 2. Afterwards written off. Ultimate fate unknown likely scrapped or otherwise disappeared. References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-24D-170-CO Liberator 42-72954 Individual Aircraft Record Card (IARC) B-24D 42-72954 Pacific Island Odyssey (1993) 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." The Forgotten Fifth (2007) page 76 Thanks to Robert Livingstone for additional information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated June 14, 2025
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