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| RAAF No. 7 OTU Former Assignments USAAF 5th AF 90th BG 400th BS  90th BG 1943  90th BG 1943  RAAF January 11, 1945 |
Pilot F/Lt Frank W. Bottomer, 405146 (survived) Co-Pilot Frances J. Sheehan. 415688 (survived) Freemantle, WA Student P/O Robert G. Robertson, 2406 (survived) Crashed January 11, 1945 Aircraft History Built by Consolidated at San Diego. Constructors Number 1085. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-24D-25-CO Liberator 41-24290. Ferried overseas via Hickam Field then across the Pacific to Australia. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 90th Bombardment Group (90th BG) "Jolly Rogers", 400th Bombardment Squadron (400th BS). Nicknamed "Hell's Belle" in double quotation marks with the nose art of the upper half of a nude female with her hair blow backward holding a bomb with flames below her waist. On February 22, 1944 transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as Liberator serial number A72-8. Nose number 8 for the last digit of the serial number. Assigned to No. 7 Operational Training Unit (7 OTU) at Tocumwal Airfield. By December 1944 the bomber had a total flight time of 826 hours. Mission History On January 11, 1945 at 10:45am took off from Tocumwal Airfield took off piloted by F/Lt Frank W. Bottomer and F/O Frances J. Sheehan to give dual instruction to student pilot P/O Robert G. Robertson to fly circuits and landings. After take off after flying roughly 800 yards at roughly 125 mph, the nose dipped and hit the runway as the pilots closed the throttles and the nose became airborne then stalled and the left wing dropped, turned off the runway and headed towards trees while the pilot applied right rudder before it hit the ground causing the landing gear to collapse and the propellers were torn off engines no. 1 and no. 2 broke off on impact. Afterwards, the bomber was deemed to be totally damaged and was officially written off. Fate Ultimate fate unknown likely scrapped or otherwise disappeared. References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-24D-25-CO Liberator 41-24290 "24290 to RAAF as A72-8 - w/o in takeoff crash at Tocumwal, NSW Jan 11, 1945" ADF Serials - Liberator A72-8 NAA "Liberator A72-8 - Court of Inquiry re accident to at 7 OTU on 11.1.45 [includes photographs]" (NAA: A705, 32/18/516) WW2 Nominal Roll - Frank W. Bottomer, 405146 WW2 Nominal Roll - Frances J. Sheehan. 415688 WW2 Nominal Roll - Robert G. Robertson, 2406 Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated November 2, 2025 |
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