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| RAAF No. 7 OTU Former Assignments USAAF 5th AF 90th BG 321st BS |
Aircraft History Built by Consolidated at San Diego. Constructors Number 865. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-24D-15-CO Liberator serial number 41-24070. 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) "Jolly Rogers", 321st Bombardment Squadron (321st BS). Nicknamed "Miss Deed" in a cursive style with quotation marks around the name on both sides of the nose with the nose art of a nude woman on her back with one hand behind her head and the other arm downward. The artwork on each side was slightly different. Sometime later, the left side nickname was repainted in a different style. Below the cockpit on both sides of the nose was a scoreboard with at bomb markings indicating combat missions flown and aircraft silhouettes for aircraft claimed by the gunners. On March 1, 1943 took off from 5 Mile Drome (Ward) piloted by 1st Lt. Walter E. Higgins, co-pilot Lt. Lyle Schoenauer with navigator Lt. George W. Sellmer with bombardier Lt. Robert F. Paviour on a reconnaissance mission over the north coast of New Guinea past Salamaua and Lae then across the Vitiaz Strait then easterly along the south coast of New Britain to Rabaul then westward along the north coast of of New Britain before returning to Port Moresby. They followed the flight plan until crossing from the south coast encountered thunderstorms towering in excess of 30,000'. Instead, they reversed course until finding a break in the clouds east of Gasmata and crossed to the north coast near Kimbe Bay and spotted a Japanese convoy and radioed a report and were ordered to shadow. Using cloud cover, this bomber managed to orbit until low on fuel and while returning over the Owen Stanley Range passed B-24D piloted by Lt. George W. Shaffer sent to continue shadowing the convoy. After landing at 5 Mile Drome, the crew were extensively questioned by intelligence as they were the first plane to spot the Japanese convoy that would be targeted during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. On February 22, 1944 transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as Liberator serial number A72-7 and retained the "Miss Deed" nickname and nose art. Assigned to 7 Operational Training Unit (7 OTU) at Tocumwal Airfield. Later, became Instructional Airframe No. 3 used for training. On October 29, 1945 scrapped in Australia. References NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - George W. Sellmer NARA World War II Army Enlistment Records - George W. Sellmer USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-24D-155-CO Liberator 41-24070 "24070 named "Miss Deed" and found the Japanese fleet Mar 1, 1943 and started the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. To RAAF as A72-7 - converted to components and scrapped Oct 29, 1945" ADF Serials - Liberator A72-7 Legacy of the 90th Bombardment Group (1994) pages 43-44 (March 1, 1943) Thanks to Pete Johnston and Tracy R. Young III for additional information Contribute
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