CORRECTION: In the beginning of this video, we said that the B-24 Liberator is the most produced military aircraft of all time. This is not correct. The B-24 is the most produced bomber of all time, but the most produced military aircraft of all time is the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik.
My dad, James H. Link, was a tail gunner on B-24s. Flew quite a few different planes as depending on damage from missions, you could end up in a different plane on your next mission. One of his planes I remember was the "Ain't Mis Behavin'". Flew out of North Africa and Italy. Was shot down and spent 8 months as a POW. Moved often on trains to different camps. Was in Stalag Luft III where some time before he was there, the Great Escape took place. Never talked much about any of WWII and I'm sure suffered from PTSD most of his life. I'm honored to be his son. A good man.
My grandfather was an infantryman in North Africa and Sicily and slated for the invasion of Japan. Thanks to Oppenheimer he survived the war. He didn't say anything about the war until a few years before he passed at age 85.
My uncle was there also flew on a B-24 with the 454 bomb wing Martin Farrell was his name and he was a waist gunner. Shot down only survivor on his plane.They were bombing the oil fields
@@randallraszick6001 my grandfathers brother was in the Royal Navy and did the north artic supply runs to russia, then his ship did escort service to malta, where it was torpedod, he survived but was caught by an italian fisherman and handed over to the germans. where he was a POW until the end of the war. he never said anything about his experience except for once, when he told his story to an author writing a book from different survivors perspectives. As far as i know this was the one and only time he spoke about it sadly now deceased my mother has a copy of the book, so at least his memory lives on.
The reputation between the B-24 and the B-17 is kind of like the reputation between the Hurricane and the Spitfire during the Battle of Britain. The B-24 like the Hurricane was more numerous and did the majority of the work but the B-17 like the Spitfire gets all the glory.
The B-17 could take more punishment (battle damage) than the B-24 especially the wings, which is why the crews liked the B-17 better. I spoke to the pilot of the Collings Foundation's B-24 and he said flying the Liberator was like flying a freight train compared to the Flying Fortress.
@@yoehonjohn4832 Imho P47 is more appropriate since the Corsair was a carrier fighter. The P47 was in service much earlier than the P51, and with aux tanks and judicious use of the throttle the P47 had more than sufficient range.
It's more about location. The unique requirements of the war over NW Europe happened to be conducive to the B-17, in the MTO and particularly the Pacific the Liberator was superior with it's longer range. During and after the war, the VIIIth AF got the most publicity so the B-17 was more retained in popular memory.
My father was a B-24 pilot in WWII, flying their B-24 from the factory over to England. Named Superstitious Aloysius PJ 42-52673 in the 486th BG, 833rd at Sudbury England. A few months later the unit transitioned to B17-Gs, also named Superstitious Aloysius PR 42-97968. Completed 30 missions then home.
My grandmother was a warbride for a co-pilot that flew B-24s. He was killed over Austria in January 1945. Supposedly, he was filling in with different crews beyond his own, flying extra missions to fill his quota and get back to her sooner. He died on one such mission. My grandmother remarried after the war, but remained in close contact with his parents. RIP 2nd Lt. August Albregts. I wouldn't exist without your sacrifice.
sounds like straight of a series called catch-22 where a bombardier is filling in extra missions to get back but never does, they always raise the mission quota
Dad's dad was a waist turret gunner on B-24's out of Italy and we're lucky to have a photograph of their crew. He kept in touch with the tail gunner for 50 years after the war, then Dad picked up the conversation. Most people aren't necessarily familiar with the aircraft. Thanks for keeping the physical plane and its legacy.
I manned the waistgunner position on Diamond Lil last month - the only B-24 still flying/ I was amazed how tough it was to hold it aimed forward, I'd never considered the wind resistance on the barrel before. It was an amazing experience, that they hit anything from there shows how good they were!
Interesting, my father 35 missions as a bombardier with the 455th BG 720 sqd out of Italy, maybe they knew each other. His best friend..... the nose gunner.
@@M80Ball I find it really weird as well because @taofledermaus is a very niche channel I watch that usually consists of him or Officer Gregg shooting custom shotgun shells of all variety.
The video has a veteran stating the Yanks only sent 4 over; most histories of the Bomber war state Bomber Harris refused to release B-24s to Coastal Command, due to his fixation with winning the war by bombing German cities to rubble. The dig about the Ploesti raid being a failure also is a subtle denigration of the American's fixation on bombing oil and transportation facilities, which deprived the German military of the fuel necessary to move tanks, and fly aircraft This especially limited training of replacement pilots, for the Luftwaffe fighters the American daylight fighters (the P-51 especially) were sweeping from the skies, starting in early 1944....
My uncle died in a B-24 attack on the Skoda Armsworks in CZ in 1944. I got to ride in a B-24 a few years ago and it totally boosted my respect for the men that served in these planes.
The first time I rode on a big porp, or piston driven airplane was in China. It took off from Shenzhen airport about midnight and it started to circle the airport . It was trying to gain altitude but it couldn't. The plane was full of people and we all started to hug and kiss each other goodbye. We all thought we were going to crash and die but we made a safe landing and they replaced it with a Boeing 737-200 and we made it to Shanghai.
My uncle, Robert, was navigator on B-24s with the 458th BG (H) out of Horsham St. Faith. He was killed on the last mission of the Group on April 14th, 1945. Eleven days later, the 458th returned to the U.S. to begin training on B-29s in preparation for deployment to the Pacific Theater. I've always been fascinated by the Liberator because of my uncle's service. Thanks for the great video.
My father was a waist gunner in a B-24 for 48 missions out of Foggia, Italy. On that mission an explosion from a nearby 88 mm shell turned the fuel delivery system into a sprinkler system. Pilot declared it was every man for himself. My father was the first man out of the plane, spent 14 days wandering around the countryside before being picked up by the Czech underground. Later the underground group was captured along with my Dad and my Dad spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp . My Dad was part of the greatest generation. RIP Guy LaFata
The Consolidated B-24 was a fantastic aircraft but never reached the popularity of the B-17, the rivalry was similar to Lancaster and Halifax. My wifes father flew on the last B-24 mission of WW2 when the 392nd Bomb Group attacked Hallein Austria April 25 1945. He went on to work for Consolidated in San Diego, then renamed Convair, he helped build the F-102A Delta Dagger.
@@samsignorelli We know he worked at Convair San Diego Works near the airport. Then in 1958 he was transferred to the Convair Atlas Missile plant in Kearny Mesa and worked there into the late 70s.
@@billballbuster7186 My Dad was based at the Lindbergh plant, but did go to the Kearny Mesa on occasion....it's possible they met, at least in passing. And at Kearny, your father may have met my older brother who was in purchasing at that plant. Small world!
@@samsignorelli Small world indeed, the wifes dad was an engineer at Lindberg but had risen to a Dept Manager at Kearny Mesa. He never talked about what he actually did there.
Depends what you mean by "popularity". More B24s were flown against Germany than B17s and they did far more damage to the enemy because at range they carried far more bombs (the B17 wasted its carrying capacity on guns and armour). Sure, the B17 could absorb a lot more damage - but then again it had to because it was so damned slow.
A terrific documentary on a very important bomber, that deserves to be better known, particularly given the record breaking numbers produced. Well done, again, to the IWM. Top video, excellent gen as always.
My great uncle, Flying Officer VE Crowther RNZAF was an Observer with 224 squadron he did his training in Canada and he became the squadron bombing leader. He flew in an RAF Liberator MK3A, which was basically a B24D in RAF camouflage, it was fitted with the then top secret ASV radar. He and 5 other members of his crew died in an air accident on 30th October 1942. The tail gunner was the only survivor. We must remember all the aircrews that made the ultimate sacrifice during WW2.
My dad was a B-24 bombardier, in the 15th Air Force, flying out of Southern Italy in 1944. He flew combat missions in two different aircraft, because the first was destroyed in a crashlanding coming back from yet another raid on Ploesti. Interestingly, even that late in the war, the flak and fighter defense at Ploesti was so extreme that raids there counted as two missions in reaching the required total of 35 before cycling back to the States.
My Dad was also a B24 Bombardier in the 15th Army Air Corps 1944-45, based in Bari, Italy. Shot down in Austria March 1945, POW about 1 week before escaping with the rest of the crew. I hope your Dad & mine were friends. They sure were the greatest generation!
The floating mission number. Early in the war it was 25 bombing mission to complete your tour. Here you speak of 35 to go home. My father's crew arrived in England on 5 June, 1944 (what a day to show up?) and needed to complete 50 missions by that point in the war.
Fascinating little video. Been an aviation fantatic all my life and learned new stuff from this: 1. "Hot Stuff" being the first aircraft to complete 25 combat missions - I always thought it was the Memphis Belle. 2. The sheer number of B24s built - I googled this, and 18,000 of these compared to 12,000 B17s, and interestingly less than 8000 Lancasters. When I think of World War II bombers, I imagine the airfields being populated with Lancs, B17s, and perhaps Wellingtons, and of Course B29s in the latter part of the war in the pacific theatre. Tend to forget the b24 all together!
Memphis Belle was actually the third crew to make it to 25. The first one crashed as she said, the second plane (another B17) was named "Hell's Angels". The powers that be didn't think that was a family friendly name so the crew of the Memphis Belle got the credit and notoriety.
Great video. The video touches on this briefly, but I think the majority of pilots preferred the B-17. I think it was McGovern who said 'The Liberator is like flying a pig with wings'. After these missions the pilots were exhausted just from fighting the 24s controls. I've read this in several places, but I think the best sources for this are George McGovern's book "My life in the service" and Ambrose's "The wild blue". Both great reads.
I'm a high school history teacher here in the Detroit area as well as an Air Force vet. Willow Run is just down the road from where my school is. I'll be using this video when we teach WWII this year. Hopefully, I can establish some pride in our students as I have for how impactful Detroit was during the war.
Fantastic, keep the history alive. That was an incredible factory; fraught with delays initially but later moving at great production speed. Several videos out there on TH-cam about it.
The great Squadron Leader Bulloch points out how the US was slow in getting B-24s to Coastal Command but the author Alfred Price has pointed out that Air Marshall Harris would never release four engine aircraft destined for Bomber Command to Coastal Command. One nights losses of Lancaster or Halifax bombers could have greatly helped close the Atlantic Gap. This would have made a better contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic in the early to mid war years then the aircraft being lost over Germany. By the way, I have the utmost respect for Terrance Bulloch.
Early in the war the RAF had absolute control over all aircraft. That is why the aircraft carriers of the royal Navy had the most god-awful aircraft to go to war with. Bomber Harris was a good man but had dangerous tunnel vision when it came to aircraft and where to use them.
The B-24, unfortunately, was built in modules assembled at other factory buildings nearby - this sped things up and made quality control more consistent. However, it also made the finished aircraft a bit more difficult to work on for some jobs. But mostly it made the B-24 easy to shoot down if you hit it in the right spot - which the Luftwaffe discovered very quickly. There's videos on TH-cam showing those unfortunate planes; the wings would fold back parallel to the fuselage and since the bombs and fuel were all close together the plane became a fireball really quickly. But the Liberator was difficult to fly, not impossible, and good crews made them work without problems. The most important rule - like the video said - was never go into enemy airspace without fighter escorts. There are precious few of these majestic warbirds still flying; I saw one a little over 10 years ago over Seattle with a B-17. Thanks very much indeed for this edifying video.
@@RockerWasRight Yeah but it flew easier missions. As a rule. In the Mediterranean. Even over NW Europe commanders gave B-24s easier missions whenever they could because they were worried higher loss rates would lower the morale of B-24 crews.
The lens being cleaned at 4:05 is a “Leylight”. They had one on each wing angled to focus at the bomb aiming point. The radar would lose the Uboat at a predictable distance where the lights were powered up. Pilot kept going straight. Bombs released when the conning tower appeared in the crossed beams almost always scored a hit. They were so effective that Uboat crews believed there was a special weapon in use. RN listening stations used radio direction finding to determine location of U-boats radio signals. A bomber was directed in and used radar to find the surfaced sub.
I hate to do this, but... It's actually called a Leigh light, created by Wing Commander Humphrey de Verd Leigh. There was only one mounted on the aircraft, to illuminate ahead of the airplane. Your description of the crossed beams sounds more like the height finding downward lights of the Dambusters. Sorry to be pedantic, but I feel that accurate info is better.
Off all the liberators my personal favorite was the Lady Be Good that went down in 1943 in the Sahara Desert. I was on the recovery team (operation climax) in 1960. The amazing is they all bailed out and she landed herself. I live just down the road from the Willow run plant that built the B-24 .
My great grandfather flew B-24`s in the war. They crashed multiple times and each time the whole crew survived. His flight group has a museum in the UK
In a Martin Marauder B 26. My Father flew 153 missions over Europe from May 1943 to May 1945. 9th Air Force 454 Bomb Group. Two Pratt Whitney 2800 WASP engines. Four bladed Curtis propellers. The fastest bomber in WWII. Landing speed. 150 mph. Top speed in a dive without bombs 475 mph. 12-50 Caliber guns 2 in the nose ( modified) 4 belly guns forward, pilots guns. 2 top turret guns 2 tail guns 2 waist guns either side. 12 total. Most fearsome formation tactical bomber in world war two. Most missions between 10-15,000 feet. The most powerful zone for deadly 88 German flak batteries. As many Luftwaffe fighters coming and going to targets until his last mission in May 1945 over Kassel Germany. In addition, My Father led the B-26 raids over Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge breakout. This bomber could carry 6,000 lbs in bombs, the same as a B-17. 153 times where every mission was D Day.
Speaking of Ford and Willow Run - Ford was to build B-24s under license from Consolidated. Ford execs met with Consolidated execs in California. The Ford execs brought a suitcase to a meeting with Consolidated. Consolidated asked, "What's the suitcase for?" To which Ford replied, "To take copies of the blueprints back to Willow Run" Consolidated laughed. They gave Ford a copy of the blueprints, but it took a railroad boxcar to hold all of the plans.
It's true. There's a excellent book detailing how the US became the arsenal of democracy. Check out "Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II" by Arthur Herman.
A full railroad box car is probably an exaggeration but probably not by much. Have you ever seen the manufacturing blueprints and plans for a rifle? Let's just say they couldn't fit in a briefcase. Dozens of separate booklets and schematics. Thousands and thousands of pages. This isn't a rifle but a big plane.
An old friend of my dad was a gunner on Coastal Command Liberators during the war. When he found out I was joining the RAF we had a great chat about his time on Liberators and Sunderlands. He even showed me his log book. Unfortunately he passed away not long after I joined.
I am from Uruguay, 84. The B-24 Liberator was the aircraft British PM Churchill chose for his movements during the war. It was loaned to him by Presdt. Roosevelt with crew included. Pilot was a 26 year old American who the PM greatly appreciated.
At the Citadel in the late 70’s, a college in Charleston, SC, one professor wore bombardier wings from WWII when he served in a B-24 bombardment group. A good man and professor. Quiet, he did not talk much about his time serving in WWII.
Thank you for an honest look at the B-24 (Finally). My uncle was a pilot who flew missions out of Rackheath with the 467th BG and finished the war there. He was hoping to go to the Pacific and get behind the controls of the B-29 but it was not to be. In the Pacific the B-24 was the go to at first because the B-17 simply did not have the "legs."
My grandfather was co-pilot with the 467th out of Rackheath. I have a book about the 467th, you can find every mission flow, plane #, etc. It is based on the pilots name. My grandfathers regular plane was pathfinder, he often got bumped to other planes as some higher ups rode co-pilot. Hard to track his missions. Some of the stories i heard are documented in the book.
A family friend flew B-24’s out of North Africa and Italy. Made the Ploiesti raid (second wave as I remember it) and made it back to base. Later flew missions over Italy and Germany. I do not believe he ever flew a plane again once he came home. When asked he never said much about the war other than to tell about the happier moments.
Your family's friend may have come home with the same mindset as my father. He figured he had used up all his good luck flying 50 missions and wasn't risking getting in a plane again.
@@cdjhyoung - You may have a valid point there. If I had flown 50 combat missions back then I might have second thoughts about ever again taking a plane anywhere. My hat is off to your dad and all of his crew mates. We owe them and thousands of others like them more than we can ever pay.
You've just reminded me of my mother bless her, who used to sing Mairzydotes to us as children. Its something I'll never forget. Mareseydotes, and Doeseydotes, But little lamseydivey, A kiddleydivey too, Wouldn't you?
The B-24 was also the mount of possibly one of the best-known people of the time, a certain James "Jimmy" Stewart, who was the deputy commanding the 2nd Bombardment Wing and commander of the 703d Bombardment Squadron, flying at least 20 combat missions.
Even with its faults the B-24 was a very good aircraft for it's intended purposes. A close family friend was the copilot on a B-24 called "Delectable Doris" and managed to complete the 25 mission requirement and was rewarded with the 8th Air Forces "Lucky Bastard" certificate. My God, those men were so brave flying those missions - they truly did help "liberate" the world from Nazism and Fascism.
The 8th Air Force alone suffered more casualties than USMC for the entire war in the Pacific. I’ve spoken with some 8 AF Veterans. All they ever said was “We had a job to do”. Courageous and humble.
@@richardbriscoe8563The Soviets did all the real work. Over 20 million Soviets died in WWII. China too. Millions of Chinese died fighting the Japanese. The US doesn't know sacrifice or bravery
Damage control over the abysmal failure of the air force brass in sending hundreds of bombers unescorted and losing over a hundred planes and thousands of crew members on totally failed raids in 1943. After that, it was publicity campaign and movies such as Memphis Belle to boost the public perception of a terribly flawed concept. Memphis Belle was about the air crews 25th mission, how they would fly it and then be able to go home. But the truth is, dozens of its crew were killed on previous missions and only one or two members were reaching their 25th mission. And many others not in the film flew at many as 80 missions after being told 25 was the limit.
@@Triple_J.1 My friend was a Master Sergeant in the Air Force Reserves. He was also a teacher, administrator and had a master's degree in history. He said he read a paper where the US could have used Mosquitos instead of Heavy Bombers for tactical bombing instead of strategic bombing to greater effect. 3 Mosquitos could carry the same amount of bombs as 2 B-17's, but with only 6 crews instead of 30. The Mosquito could also outrun most German fighters and being made of wood were less susceptible to cannon fire. They were also easier to repair. So instead of bombing German industry, which was questionable, you used Mosquitos to bomb barracks, supply depots, rail roads and fuel depots. You can build all the planes you want but what good are they if they get blown up waiting to be delivered or have no one to fly them or fuel them.
@@johnharris6655 It was the top brass who didn't like the idea of their Air Force using foreign planes. They didn't even like the addition of the Merlin engine in the P 51 even. Had to have Packard build them under license. (even though I was told that the Packards were better than the Rolls Royce Merlins)
@@Triple_J.1 *_”Damage control over the abysmal failure of the air force brass in sending hundreds of bombers unescorted and losing over a hundred planes and thousands of crew members on totally failed raids in 1943.”_* Your maths aren’t up to much. ‘Over a hundred planes’ doesn’t equal ‘thousands of crew members’. Over a thousand maybe but many survived. And realistically, what choice did they have? Please give an example of ‘totally failed raids in 1943’.
My late father in law flew B-24s as a young man in WW2. He came from a background of light, agile aircraft as a member of the flying team in college before the war and as a flight instructor for new pilots in his first year in the USAAF. He said the B-24 was "like flying a dump truck". It had a tendency to want to stagger and wallow especially when loaded, in the thinner air of high altitudes, at lower airspeeds, or some combo of those conditions. Especially sweat inducing was formation flying while heavily loaded at altitude, where he said they had to pay close attention and stay ahead of the airplane with their control inputs. Accounts I've read in recent years confirm what he described, such as this quote - "The bulky Liberator had a few faults. It required considerable strength to handle the controls. Pilots said that it was difficult to fly, particularly in formation and at altitudes above 20,000 feet, and that it demanded maximum skill. As one recalled, “In the air it was like a fat lady doing a ballet.'”
My grandad was a rear gunner on Liberators operated by No99 Squadron RAF during late WW2. He actually did 2 flights on the Liberator on display at RAF Museum London.
Thanks for the video - one other unsung variation of the Liberator was the modified version flown by the Carpetbaggers, the air arm of the OSS ( in joint operations with the SOE ) - flying out of Harrington airfield they dropped supplies and inserted agents in support of the occupied nation's resistance forces, flying at night at very low levels.
The Carpetbaggers took over the 492nd bomb group for their undercover missions. It was a case of a total personnel change. My father was a pilot in the 492nd having flown 11 missions with the group. His crew was stood down for a mission in their regular rotation. When their squadron didn't return from that mission, the survivors were told that the entire flight was lost in a collision over the target. My father went to his grave believing everyone he had flown with died on that mission. The truth is that on their return to England, each plane was diverted to a base other than their home base. Debriefed and ordered never to discuss this mission or their previous assignment. The OSS was so covert they completely infiltrated one of their own bomb groups. My father and his crew finished their tour by doing radar jamming along the English channel. The 492nd had a reputation as a hard luck group. Of the first 36 crews deployed to England in early 1944, only six crews returned home intact with out casualties. The loss of an entire flight group was not hard to sell considering how badly the group had been shot up in its previous missions.
@@cdjhyoung my wife's father was a carpetbagger, and retired a Lt Col- you might want to read Ben Parnell's book "Carpetbaggers: America's Secret War in Europe." for the unit's history and missions
Had an uncle who flew copilot on a B24. 51 missions with the 15th out of Italy If he were still here and you asked him what he thought about the B24? I know for a fact that his answer would be....not much. Hard to fly, white knuckle takeoffs when fully loaded, unpressurized, caught on fire easily . Went to his grave knowing that he was damn lucky to have survived and live a full life.
My father was a B-24 pilot in the 15th, flew 30 missions plus several lone wolf missions. He would agree with your uncle on all points. Said it was exhausting to fly, you had to fight with it every second, unlike the B-17. The accounts of pilots and copilots having to be carried out of the planes after long missions were not fantasy. The 109s and 190s would scream right past the 17s and pounce on the quick to burn 24s. Dad later ferried all kinds of military aircraft, was quite familiar with the characteristics of other bombers. And yeah, he also knew he was damn lucky to have survived flying 24s.
My dad flew the B-24 for the US Navy in the PTO...the Navy called it the PB4Y-1. He loved the aircraft, said it was a true pilots aircraft that required a high degree of skill but was capable of the type of low-level bombing and strafing attacks his squadrons carried out that could never have been accomplished by the B-17. He flew many types of aircraft during his service but always said the Lib was his favorite.
My father was a navigator on ‘Plum Lake’, flying from Stornara, Italy with the 15th AF. He didn’t discuss his experiences except when in the company of other airmen. I relish those times.
B-24 was faster, had a longer range and a heavier load, and was more advanced. The US decided to use them in the Pacific and as with everything else .. what was used in the Pacific was better. The B-17 was easier to fly. My grandfather flew the P-40 & P-47. He preferred escorting B-24 missions as they flew faster which made him a harder target. Grouping them with B-17s sedated the B-24s. My grandfather flew in the TAC and said by far the best US fighter was the P-38 and the best bomber was the B-24. He flew every US fighter used in the ETO
My uncle John Park flew a B24 out of North Africa. 50 missions plus 2 over Ploesti. He said the B24 was a tough aircraft and saved his life several times. His only complaint was the autopilot, saying it was like turning it over to a drunk driver. After 10 or 15 minutes, you had to turn it off so you wouldn't get sick. That meant you had to fly it yourself for most of the ten to twelve hour flights.
Had an opportunity to tour both B-17 ans B-24. The B-17 was cramped, with narrow passages. The waist gunner positions were offset due to narrow fuselage and the tunnrl to the tail for the very slender. The B-24 felt spacious as a barn in comparison.
I grew up in the 60’s. My friend and I were aviation lovers and spent hours studying WWII planes and building plastic models of them. At that time I don’t know that the reputation of the B-17 had eclipsed that of the B-24. I think we considered them to be pretty much equally worthy of respect.
My father was a tail gunner on a B-24 out of England. Churchill called serving in the Mighty Eighth statistical death. Horrible casualty rate and after the war it was found that aerial bombardment did not accomplish near as much as had been thought. Over the years Dad answered a few of my questions. He did 35 missions. Not many survived that many.
The bombs were used in WW II, and again in Vietnam, were uncertain in their trajectory and were “thin skinned” and often didn’t damage equipment and such in the war materiel factories although they would blow out walls and such when the bombs actually hit them which wasn’t that often. Post was studies concluded that rather few bombs actually hit the intended target. The myth of putting them (bombs) in a pickle barrel was jut that, a myth. As a young child my father was assigned to an airbase outside of Munich during the last years of the occupation while training Luftwaffe pilots to assume a role in NATO. I saw the bomb damage first hand. I’ll just say the German civilian populace suffered terribly. The 8th Air Force established the “Second Front” the Soviets were demanding for them to be able to stay in the war.
Finally some background about this airplane. I didn’t know its roots lay in a waterplane, but that explains a lot about its looks. Thank you, well presented!
it apparently had a tendency to have leaky fuel tanks requiring to be flown with the bomb bay doors open. There was a B24 crash near where I live where the plane was on fire when it was going down, attributed to a fire caused by the heaters and fuel fumes
My father flew in Liberators in the RAAF during WW2 from Sept 1944n till wars end. After transferring from Hudsons in 13 Squadron based in Darwin he joined 529 Squadron in the US 5th Air Force until Jan 1945 when he transferred to the all-Australian 25 , City of Perth Squadron. Much of the flying was bombing raids and anti-submarine roles. After he left the 5th Air force it began the big push with bombing raids north west into the Indian ocean over the Malay oil fields and the Philippines for which the squadrons were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Meanwhile in 25 squadron the crews were selected for special high altitude training with the intention of using stripped down Liberators to bomb Japan at high altitude above the anti-aircraft and Japanese fighters. Before this could happen the atomic bombs brought an end to the war.
Yeah, the Liberator was actually reasonably popular here. There’s a complete airframe on static display in a hangar down at Werribee, in Victoria. I’ve never seen it but always wanted to. It’s about an hour from my place.
Growing up a neighbor was a crew member gunner on bombers during WW2 he started out on B-17’s went home as an instructor than back out to the Pacific on B-24’s. He like told my Dad with us listening the B-24 was more comfortable than the B-17
Thank you for this informative video. My father was a tail gunner in an RAF B-24, stationed in India and undertook missions over Burma as part of 159 squadron.
Hi You forgot to mention the RAAF, we few them in the Pacific war, used them for Air Sea Rescue for a short time. Plus one under construction in Melbourne, Vic - FYI Bills
I had the (real) pleasure of seeing a B-24 Liberator, as well as a B-29 Superfortress, at Natrona County Airport (where I started to learn to fly), when the "Confederate Air Force" flew in on route to an airshow back in 1998. The Liberator was my favourite US heavy bomber but perhaps I was biased because it was the first Airfix model I bought back in the early 1980s.
Ah.... the good old days when you could use a historic term like "Confederate" without some snot-nosed, purple-haired freak screaming that you're a racist!
Grandpa flew out of Italy sometimes as far as Poland. Crashed and ruined three b24 s. In the last was shot down over Viena and was a pow until the end of the war. Hill afb in ogden utah has a great af museum with many planes. Free admission and a great way to spend a day.
My late father was PIC on a B24 VIP transport detail based Dorval Montreal. He made a round the world trip in late 1944, the aircraft was naned Marco Polo, I have pictures of him and the aeroplane and his log books, from RAF to BOAC til retirement as Captain.
My father flew out of Nadzab, New Guinea during the war. When Japan surrendered, a General wanted to take my father with him to the occupation of Japan. He wanted to go home so he and his crew fixed up a war weary B-24, cut orders, and flew home.
A ficinating account and facts of the behind the scenes make this part of history very interesting and unforgettable. Loved watching this video, found it informative and presented well. Many thanks. 🌹
The best depiction I've seen on a topic I'd been hearing about since I was a boy. This is because my Dad's brother and sister along with her husband built this plane in San Diego. Also, my Grandfather, John Nicholas Bergen was a foreman for Consolidated, building PBYs. He had a third grade education, but with a genius for metalworking that made him invaluable. You say ?David Davis? designed the plane? As I heard it, the plan was to give top priority to the Davis Wing, and next to the bomb bay with particular concern about the frustrating bomb bay doors that ruined flight trim characteristics at the worst possible time. That is opening flap type doors while the craft begins its bomb run. So, he? was determined to use a roll top desk approach. Only the prototype lost these roll top doors when they blew off. Time again they tried everything and failed even referring to the top aeronautical engineers. It all failed, so at a last resort, they reluctantly got my irascible Grandpa. I've many times heard him comment on the engineers he deplored... "They beat me over the head with their sheep skins, but in the end I do their job for them!" With Grandpa it was a brag that he'd so often backed up. So it was that he designed the production doors for that plane and went back to making PBYs.
My maternal grandfather was a nose gunner on a B24 flying out of Bari, Italy. He was also the crew photographer and swore to his dying day that HE actually took the famous photo of a B24 going down in flames (the "Black Nan") because it was from his squadron and that it was miscredited to someone else.
My Grandmother worked in Willow Run making these! She was short, at just a hair over 5', and was petite, so her job was to install wiring in places that were hard to get to. Just for that reason, I have soft spot for the Liberator.
This describes my mother and her sister that both worked at Willow Run. My mother was also petite and assigned to the same role as your grandmother. The problem for my mother was that she was horribly claustrophobic and the job terrified her.
I saw a PB4Y-2 at Fairbanks, Alaska three decades ago. I was on a "summer training camp" as a member of the US Army Reserve out of Phoenix, Arizona, and the PB4Y-2 (the US Navy's single rudder edition) was being used as a water bomber to fight forest fires. May I call the B-24 Liberator "the most successful bomber failure of World War Two?" This video has already showcased the Liberator's shortcomings. Two reasons for Liberator successes were massive production of the type and the fact that despite its warts, the Liberator was more capable than other bombers available in 1941. Both of the reasons for success were mentioned in this video, too. The Ford Willow Run assembly line is a decaying relic now, though someone is taking a stab at preserving parts of it as a museum. The Battle of the North Atlantic was covered well, but distances in the Pacific were even greater and the B-24 out-ranged other bombers until the B-29 premiered in 1944, performing valuable photo reconnaissance missions (and flying too high for interception by the few Japanese aircraft posted at island outposts--if there were any Japanese aircraft) and even long-range bombing missions from bases in China, Burma and Alaska. Hill Aerospace Museum (part of the Hill Air Force Base in Utah, formerly known as the Ogden Air Depot until renamed prior to WW2 in honor of the Army pilot who crashed the Boeing Model 299 on his first flight in the B-17 prototype) sent an expedition to Alaska and recovered its B-24 from a crash site; now their B-24 is on display. As the C-87, the Liberator carried fuel, bombs and other expedited supplies--and President Franklyn D. Roosevelt, too. Despite scrapping nearly all B-24 Liberators at the end of WW2, America got its money's worth out of them--and so did other nations including Britain. Aircraft of the early 20th Century were not designed to crash--and crew escape was something worked out after the planes were put into service. A good video on aircraft displayed at IWM would be comparing the different evacuation protocols of several different aircraft. Because those aircraft were not INTENDED to crash and not designed for either a "safe crash" or for the crew to abandon their crippled plane while it was in flight, design flaws such as the Liberator's bomb bay doors collapsing when the bomber was ditched over water and the flooded plane sinking immediately were not considered when the designers maximized speed, altitude, bomb load, and range. Eddie Rickenbacker's B-17 (used as a transport) ran out of fuel due to a navigation error and had to ditch in the Pacific--Rickenbacker reported that the B-17 sank too quickly to transfer most of the survival gear and supplies to three life rafts. Sinking upon water ditching before the crew could escape wasn't limited to the B-24 but the Liberator had the worst reputation--unlike the reputation of another Consolidated multi-engine high-wing patrol bomber, the PBY Catalina. When Rickenbacker took his involuntary 21-day Pacific Ocean cruise vacation in an inflated rubber raft Britian's MI-9 was still a young organization and the USAAF and USN thought it was moving mountains to provide its aircrew with heated flying suits, parachutes, and floatation devices. Survival kits in the modern sense were not really standard until the late WW2 period--and survival training was primitive. I toured Duxford about 20 years ago. I've worked as a museum volunteer at an air force museum for a decade and I'm aware of how limited resources affect what gets displayed. Having an MI-9 museum is probably out of the question because there's not enough interest in most nations. Hill Aerospace Museum had some survival supplies and equipment on display and a recreation of part of a Vietnam prisoner of war compound. Touring the aircraft in Duxford was a treat because many of the bigger planes were open for touring the interior. One thing that I noted was some aircraft had most of the crew parachutes located in a centralized location rather than at the crewman's action station. Their bulky parachutes interfered with crew duties, and it's far easier to account for parachutes if they're in one place, but getting from a gunnery position to that parachute storage in a plunging plane couldn't have been easy! Regarding the B-24, most of the crew didn't have seats! They stood or knelt at their action stations. The pilots had decent seats and probably seat belts, but others might have a simple stool to perch on. When the Liberator crash landed, most of the crew would sit on the floor and link arms to ride out the impact. It took until September 20, 1944 before the need to sacrifice a $215,516 aircraft in a water ditching under ideal conditions was undertaken. This IWM video has a film clip of this test. www.beneathhauntedwaters.com/B-24.htm www.451st.org/Manuals/How%20to%20Ditch%20the%20B-24.pdf th-cam.com/video/tG4nm2atjZI/w-d-xo.html www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/eddie-rickenbacker-adrift-in-the-pacific-ocean/
The most famous B-24 pilot was movie star Jimmy Stewart who flew about 20 missions with the 8th Air Force in 1944 before being promoted to a staff position. On paper, the B-24 was better than the B-17 but it tended to catch fire and the B-17 was more rugged and more likely to bring their crews home. A distant cousin of mine was killed when his B-24 crashed on takeoff from its base in England in 1944.
Oddly I was always a fan of the b24 over the b17 but I think this was due to a b24 costal command airfix model I had as a kid (also never knew I only missed them on active duty by a year or so).
My father was a belly gunner in the B-24 for the RAF, flying out of India. His plane was shot down over North Africa. Luckily, they were able to bailout behind friendly lines. One of his crew didn’t survive. After being sent to Montgomery’s Army, only two of his original crew survived the war. That is all we know of his experience in WW2, he wouldn’t talk about it and we never pressed him on it. He loved that Liberator!
My dad, an US Air Force Air Policeman (1948-1968) and worked as a Top-Secret Courier during his time in Europe (we were stationed in France from 1962-1965) and had spent time off and on at Wheelus AFB in Libya back in the 50's and early 60's. One day on TV we saw a documentary (made in the 70's) about the "Lady Be Good". He mentioned that he'd seen a small memorial to the aircraft and crew in a display in the Base HQ at Wheelus during one of his many courier trips around Europe and North Africa (we had several bases in North Africa). He'd heard about, but he never saw the stained-glass window in the nearby chapel. We'd hoped to eventually see it at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (where we were stationed there in the early 60's just before we went to France.) but we never got the chance, and he passed away a few years ago. I'm hoping one day to visit the museum and see the memorial to the Lady Be Good.
I had a very dear friend Ralph Sanders that was a bombardier on the B-24 Liberator. He told me lots of stories about he war and flying in the B-24. They were truly our greatest generation!!
My mother Gertude Fraser rivited every B24 that left Willow Run built in Ypsilanti, Mi in WWll. She never missed a day. I was at the airport a few years ago, the Yankee Air Muesum people were building another B24 from parts of planes gathered and made in all the diffeent plants the planes were made at, the side panels were the only part made at Willow Run that was collected, thats the parts my mother said she made, I got to rub a panel that day, it was amazing, of course I was tearing up, what a great experience. I haven't heard if the plane was completed, when it is finished it will be the last B24 to be built at Willow Run. The coolest thing for me is my Mother got to build part of that one too.Thanx for posting.
My father a B24 Bombardier 455th BG 720 sqdn out of Italy did his 35 missions in a 24. He loved the airplane, said it was under rated.The loss ratio of the 17 and 24 were almost identical with the nod going to the 24.
The huge Ford B24 plant at Willow Run seemed to take forever to get up to its mass production targetted output but once it did, it amazed everyone. In addition to its own fully completed aircraft, Willow Run also exclusively produced many of the B24 subassemblies which were then shipped to other B24 plants also tasked with final assembly, as mentioned.
As target distance was growing, the b17 payload was diminishing rapidly, much more than the b24's. The b24 was much more modern and complexe so it required more work and skill from the crews. But overall it was a much more capable aircraft.
Wasn't laminar flow. The davies wing was famous for having a high aspect ratio which reduces induced drag. The high thickness made it very draggy at high speed high altitude.
The laminar flow claim is performance based rather than technical. The Davis aerofoil was a unique speculative very high lift design, thick with a forward maximum thickness and strong camber, it was also in a high aspect ratio wing so it worked hard with lower drag but it really tortured the air so that it was always nearer the stall or air flow breakdown. They were extra dangerous in even light icing, the airflow broke up with much less ice than with other planes. The USAAF 8th A.F. usually removed the rubber de-icing boots from their heavy bombers. The B-24 was good for winning the war, it didn’t need to be popular.
My Dad God rest his soul was a left waist gunner in a B24 with the 458 HB group and was shot down Christmas eve 1944 and spent 6 months in stalag 13 . He liked the B17 better and said he thought it was harder to knock down and you could fly tight formation with a 17 where the 24 needed constant attention . The German fighters preferred attacking the 24 because they could roll out over the top without worrying about striking the tail surface while it took a good pilot to do that with a 17 due to its 17 ft tall tail .
Excellent! Thanks for pointing out the futility of using aerial bombardment to destroy the enemies war machine. I’ve gotten into some arguments about this, even though I point out that Nazi bombing didn’t stop Britain and there was no reason to believe it would work on Germany. It just made people more determined.
CORRECTION: In the beginning of this video, we said that the B-24 Liberator is the most produced military aircraft of all time. This is not correct. The B-24 is the most produced bomber of all time, but the most produced military aircraft of all time is the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik.
I was just about to comment on that. Glad you caught it.
The Soviet Union lied about everything. not lying could get a person killed.
No worries 🙂
You caught and corrected the mistake halfway through your excellent video. A plane I knew very little about. Thank you.
Thank you
My dad, James H. Link, was a tail gunner on B-24s. Flew quite a few different planes as depending on damage from missions, you could end up in a different plane on your next mission. One of his planes I remember was the "Ain't Mis Behavin'". Flew out of North Africa and Italy. Was shot down and spent 8 months as a POW. Moved often on trains to different camps. Was in Stalag Luft III where some time before he was there, the Great Escape took place. Never talked much about any of WWII and I'm sure suffered from PTSD most of his life. I'm honored to be his son. A good man.
Respect to your dad and all veterans.
My grandfather was an infantryman in North Africa and Sicily and slated for the invasion of Japan. Thanks to Oppenheimer he survived the war. He didn't say anything about the war until a few years before he passed at age 85.
My father fought in WW2 and I have no doubt it affected the rest of his life. For 1 thing he hated Spam wouldn't let it in the house.
My uncle was there also flew on a B-24 with the 454 bomb wing Martin Farrell was his name and he was a waist gunner. Shot down only survivor on his plane.They were bombing the oil fields
@@randallraszick6001 my grandfathers brother was in the Royal Navy and did the north artic supply runs to russia, then his ship did escort service to malta, where it was torpedod, he survived but was caught by an italian fisherman and handed over to the germans. where he was a POW until the end of the war. he never said anything about his experience except for once, when he told his story to an author writing a book from different survivors perspectives. As far as i know this was the one and only time he spoke about it sadly now deceased my mother has a copy of the book, so at least his memory lives on.
The reputation between the B-24 and the B-17 is kind of like the reputation between the Hurricane and the Spitfire during the Battle of Britain. The B-24 like the Hurricane was more numerous and did the majority of the work but the B-17 like the Spitfire gets all the glory.
True. Another one to compare on which would be better would be the p51 Mustang or F4U Corsair.
No, the B-24 was the high performance airplane. Faster and carried a larger bomb load. It took three B-17s to carry the same bomb load as two B-24s.
The B-17 could take more punishment (battle damage) than the B-24 especially the wings, which is why the crews liked the B-17 better. I spoke to the pilot of the Collings Foundation's B-24 and he said flying the Liberator was like flying a freight train compared to the Flying Fortress.
@@yoehonjohn4832 Imho P47 is more appropriate since the Corsair was a carrier fighter. The P47 was in service much earlier than the P51, and with aux tanks and judicious use of the throttle the P47 had more than sufficient range.
It's more about location. The unique requirements of the war over NW Europe happened to be conducive to the B-17, in the MTO and particularly the Pacific the Liberator was superior with it's longer range.
During and after the war, the VIIIth AF got the most publicity so the B-17 was more retained in popular memory.
My father was a B-24 pilot in WWII, flying their B-24 from the factory over to England. Named Superstitious Aloysius PJ 42-52673 in the 486th BG, 833rd at Sudbury England. A few months later the unit transitioned to B17-Gs, also named Superstitious Aloysius PR 42-97968. Completed 30 missions then home.
My grandmother was a warbride for a co-pilot that flew B-24s. He was killed over Austria in January 1945. Supposedly, he was filling in with different crews beyond his own, flying extra missions to fill his quota and get back to her sooner. He died on one such mission. My grandmother remarried after the war, but remained in close contact with his parents.
RIP 2nd Lt. August Albregts. I wouldn't exist without your sacrifice.
sounds like straight of a series called catch-22 where a bombardier is filling in extra missions to get back but never does, they always raise the mission quota
@@Schneizel00
And also a book. Lol.
Kind of like how Hamlet is "also" a play.
Thanx for sharing this story…
Dad's dad was a waist turret gunner on B-24's out of Italy and we're lucky to have a photograph of their crew. He kept in touch with the tail gunner for 50 years after the war, then Dad picked up the conversation. Most people aren't necessarily familiar with the aircraft. Thanks for keeping the physical plane and its legacy.
Waist gunners on the Liberator didn't have a turret.
I manned the waistgunner position on Diamond Lil last month - the only B-24 still flying/ I was amazed how tough it was to hold it aimed forward, I'd never considered the wind resistance on the barrel before. It was an amazing experience, that they hit anything from there shows how good they were!
@@garywayne6083 : I thought the B-24 "Witchcraft" is still flying as well. No?
@@tempestfury8324 It may be but all recent info I found about it on the net listed it as airworthy but not currently flying
Interesting, my father 35 missions as a bombardier with the 455th BG 720 sqd out of Italy, maybe they knew each other. His best friend..... the nose gunner.
Excellent presentation! Well done Emily.
It’s odd to run into a comment out in the wild from another channel. Bring back the test tubes!
agreed! She's a very well informed, fluent and erudite speaker :D
@@M80Ball I find it really weird as well because @taofledermaus is a very niche channel I watch that usually consists of him or Officer Gregg shooting custom shotgun shells of all variety.
Surprised to see you here! Cheers
The Liberator did a great job for RAF Coastal Command.
Brought my dad back home safely.
The video has a veteran stating the Yanks only sent 4 over; most histories of the Bomber war state Bomber Harris refused to release B-24s to Coastal Command, due to his fixation with winning the war by bombing German cities to rubble. The dig about the Ploesti raid being a failure also is a subtle denigration of the American's fixation on bombing oil and transportation facilities, which deprived the German military of the fuel necessary to move tanks, and fly aircraft This especially limited training of replacement pilots, for the Luftwaffe fighters the American daylight fighters (the P-51 especially) were sweeping from the skies, starting in early 1944....
@@michaelcevasco3587 I dont think Harris preferred the B24 He would not release Lancasters
My uncle died in a B-24 attack on the Skoda Armsworks in CZ in 1944. I got to ride in a B-24 a few years ago and it totally boosted my respect for the men that served in these planes.
The first time I rode on a big porp, or piston driven airplane was in China. It took off from Shenzhen airport about midnight and it started to circle the airport . It was trying to gain altitude but it couldn't. The plane was full of people and we all started to hug and kiss each other goodbye. We all thought we were going to crash and die but we made a safe landing and they replaced it with a Boeing 737-200 and we made it to Shanghai.
A great video , shedding light on an aircraft that deserves more recognition for its efforts during the second world war.
She's my favorite.
My uncle, Robert, was navigator on B-24s with the 458th BG (H) out of Horsham St. Faith. He was killed on the last mission of the Group on April 14th, 1945. Eleven days later, the 458th returned to the U.S. to begin training on B-29s in preparation for deployment to the Pacific Theater. I've always been fascinated by the Liberator because of my uncle's service. Thanks for the great video.
You are right to research and to pass on to your family the history of your Uncle, and to honour him, he deserves all of that and more.
My father was a waist gunner in a B-24 for 48 missions out of Foggia, Italy. On that mission an explosion from a nearby 88 mm shell turned the fuel delivery system into a sprinkler system. Pilot declared it was every man for himself. My father was the first man out of the plane, spent 14 days wandering around the countryside before being picked up by the Czech underground. Later the underground group was captured along with my Dad and my Dad spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp . My Dad was part of the greatest generation. RIP Guy LaFata
The Consolidated B-24 was a fantastic aircraft but never reached the popularity of the B-17, the rivalry was similar to Lancaster and Halifax. My wifes father flew on the last B-24 mission of WW2 when the 392nd Bomb Group attacked Hallein Austria April 25 1945. He went on to work for Consolidated in San Diego, then renamed Convair, he helped build the F-102A Delta Dagger.
Wonder if he worked with my father, who was a Convair engineer for over 30 years.
@@samsignorelli We know he worked at Convair San Diego Works near the airport. Then in 1958 he was transferred to the Convair Atlas Missile plant in Kearny Mesa and worked there into the late 70s.
@@billballbuster7186 My Dad was based at the Lindbergh plant, but did go to the Kearny Mesa on occasion....it's possible they met, at least in passing.
And at Kearny, your father may have met my older brother who was in purchasing at that plant.
Small world!
@@samsignorelli Small world indeed, the wifes dad was an engineer at Lindberg but had risen to a Dept Manager at Kearny Mesa. He never talked about what he actually did there.
Depends what you mean by "popularity". More B24s were flown against Germany than B17s and they did far more damage to the enemy because at range they carried far more bombs (the B17 wasted its carrying capacity on guns and armour). Sure, the B17 could absorb a lot more damage - but then again it had to because it was so damned slow.
Thank you, good history. The US Navy develope the B-24 into long-range patrol bomber designated PB4Y-2 Privateer. My dad flew that plane during WW2.
A terrific documentary on a very important bomber, that deserves to be better known, particularly given the record breaking numbers produced. Well done, again, to the IWM. Top video, excellent gen as always.
My great uncle, Flying Officer VE Crowther RNZAF was an Observer with 224 squadron he did his training in Canada and he became the squadron bombing leader. He flew in an RAF Liberator MK3A, which was basically a B24D in RAF camouflage, it was fitted with the then top secret ASV radar. He and 5 other members of his crew died in an air accident on 30th October 1942. The tail gunner was the only survivor.
We must remember all the aircrews that made the ultimate sacrifice during WW2.
My dad was a B-24 bombardier, in the 15th Air Force, flying out of Southern Italy in 1944. He flew combat missions in two different aircraft, because the first was destroyed in a crashlanding coming back from yet another raid on Ploesti. Interestingly, even that late in the war, the flak and fighter defense at Ploesti was so extreme that raids there counted as two missions in reaching the required total of 35 before cycling back to the States.
You had a great Dad!
My Dad was also a B24 Bombardier in the 15th Army Air Corps 1944-45, based in Bari, Italy. Shot down in Austria March 1945, POW about 1 week before escaping with the rest of the crew. I hope your Dad & mine were friends. They sure were the greatest generation!
The floating mission number. Early in the war it was 25 bombing mission to complete your tour. Here you speak of 35 to go home. My father's crew arrived in England on 5 June, 1944 (what a day to show up?) and needed to complete 50 missions by that point in the war.
Awesome, he may have known my father a 24 bombardier 455th BG 720 squadron, 35 and home. I'm proof of that, I was with him in his nut sack!
@@cdjhyoung 50? unless Col Cathcart had anything to say about it
Fascinating little video. Been an aviation fantatic all my life and learned new stuff from this: 1. "Hot Stuff" being the first aircraft to complete 25 combat missions - I always thought it was the Memphis Belle. 2. The sheer number of B24s built - I googled this, and 18,000 of these compared to 12,000 B17s, and interestingly less than 8000 Lancasters.
When I think of World War II bombers, I imagine the airfields being populated with Lancs, B17s, and perhaps Wellingtons, and of Course B29s in the latter part of the war in the pacific theatre. Tend to forget the b24 all together!
Memphis Belle was actually the third crew to make it to 25. The first one crashed as she said, the second plane (another B17) was named "Hell's Angels". The powers that be didn't think that was a family friendly name so the crew of the Memphis Belle got the credit and notoriety.
Great video. The video touches on this briefly, but I think the majority of pilots preferred the B-17. I think it was McGovern who said 'The Liberator is like flying a pig with wings'. After these missions the pilots were exhausted just from fighting the 24s controls. I've read this in several places, but I think the best sources for this are George McGovern's book "My life in the service" and Ambrose's "The wild blue". Both great reads.
I'm a high school history teacher here in the Detroit area as well as an Air Force vet. Willow Run is just down the road from where my school is. I'll be using this video when we teach WWII this year. Hopefully, I can establish some pride in our students as I have for how impactful Detroit was during the war.
Detroit was the beating heart of the "Arsenal of Democracy" during the war.
Fantastic, keep the history alive. That was an incredible factory; fraught with delays initially but later moving at great production speed. Several videos out there on TH-cam about it.
It got my grandfather home safe....Sgt Floyd Jerzak 6th Air Force VI Bomber Command Panama Canal Zone...he was a U-Boat hunter
The great Squadron Leader Bulloch points out how the US was slow in getting B-24s to Coastal Command but the author Alfred Price has pointed out that Air Marshall Harris would never release four engine aircraft destined for Bomber Command to Coastal Command. One nights losses of Lancaster or Halifax bombers could have greatly helped close the Atlantic Gap. This would have made a better contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic in the early to mid war years then the aircraft being lost over Germany. By the way, I have the utmost respect for Terrance Bulloch.
Early in the war the RAF had absolute control over all aircraft. That is why the aircraft carriers of the royal Navy had the most god-awful aircraft to go to war with. Bomber Harris was a good man but had dangerous tunnel vision when it came to aircraft and where to use them.
The B-24 needs to receive the recognition it deserves.
The B-24, unfortunately, was built in modules assembled at other factory buildings nearby - this sped things up and made quality control more consistent. However, it also made the finished aircraft a bit more difficult to work on for some jobs. But mostly it made the B-24 easy to shoot down if you hit it in the right spot - which the Luftwaffe discovered very quickly.
There's videos on TH-cam showing those unfortunate planes; the wings would fold back parallel to the fuselage and since the bombs and fuel were all close together the plane became a fireball really quickly. But the Liberator was difficult to fly, not impossible, and good crews made them work without problems. The most important rule - like the video said - was never go into enemy airspace without fighter escorts.
There are precious few of these majestic warbirds still flying; I saw one a little over 10 years ago over Seattle with a B-17. Thanks very much indeed for this edifying video.
@@DavidSmith-ss1cgYet the 24 had a slightly BETTER loss ratio.
@@RockerWasRight
Yeah but it flew easier missions. As a rule. In the Mediterranean. Even over NW Europe commanders gave B-24s easier missions whenever they could because they were worried higher loss rates would lower the morale of B-24 crews.
@@Ben-zr4ho The likes of Jimmy Stewart might have disagreed with you.
The lens being cleaned at 4:05 is a “Leylight”. They had one on each wing angled to focus at the bomb aiming point. The radar would lose the Uboat at a predictable distance where the lights were powered up. Pilot kept going straight. Bombs released when the conning tower appeared in the crossed beams almost always scored a hit. They were so effective that Uboat crews believed there was a special weapon in use.
RN listening stations used radio direction finding to determine location of U-boats radio signals. A bomber was directed in and used radar to find the surfaced sub.
I hate to do this, but... It's actually called a Leigh light, created by Wing Commander Humphrey de Verd Leigh. There was only one mounted on the aircraft, to illuminate ahead of the airplane. Your description of the crossed beams sounds more like the height finding downward lights of the Dambusters. Sorry to be pedantic, but I feel that accurate info is better.
@@doolie1779 As do I
my grandpa was the test pilot and called it a death trap, then went and sunk 2 uboats in 22 mins
Off all the liberators my personal favorite was the Lady Be Good that went down in 1943 in the Sahara Desert. I was on the recovery team (operation climax) in 1960. The amazing is they all bailed out and she landed herself. I live just down the road from the Willow run plant that built the B-24 .
My great grandfather flew B-24`s in the war. They crashed multiple times and each time the whole crew survived. His flight group has a museum in the UK
In a Martin Marauder B 26.
My Father flew 153 missions over Europe
from May 1943 to May 1945.
9th Air Force 454 Bomb Group.
Two Pratt Whitney 2800 WASP engines.
Four bladed Curtis propellers. The fastest bomber in WWII. Landing speed. 150 mph.
Top speed in a dive without bombs
475 mph.
12-50 Caliber guns
2 in the nose ( modified)
4 belly guns forward, pilots guns.
2 top turret guns
2 tail guns
2 waist guns either side.
12 total. Most fearsome formation tactical bomber in world war two.
Most missions between 10-15,000 feet.
The most powerful zone for deadly
88 German flak batteries. As many Luftwaffe fighters coming and going to
targets until his last mission in
May 1945 over Kassel Germany.
In addition,
My Father led the B-26 raids over Bastogne
during the Battle of the Bulge breakout.
This bomber could carry 6,000 lbs in bombs, the same as a B-17.
153 times where every mission was
D Day.
Speaking of Ford and Willow Run -
Ford was to build B-24s under license from Consolidated.
Ford execs met with Consolidated execs in California. The Ford execs brought a suitcase to a meeting with Consolidated.
Consolidated asked, "What's the suitcase for?"
To which Ford replied, "To take copies of the blueprints back to Willow Run"
Consolidated laughed. They gave Ford a copy of the blueprints, but it took a railroad boxcar to hold all of the plans.
I hope this is true.
It's true.
There's a excellent book detailing how the US became the arsenal of democracy.
Check out "Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II" by Arthur Herman.
A full railroad box car is probably an exaggeration but probably not by much. Have you ever seen the manufacturing blueprints and plans for a rifle? Let's just say they couldn't fit in a briefcase. Dozens of separate booklets and schematics. Thousands and thousands of pages. This isn't a rifle but a big plane.
An old friend of my dad was a gunner on Coastal Command Liberators during the war. When he found out I was joining the RAF we had a great chat about his time on Liberators and Sunderlands. He even showed me his log book. Unfortunately he passed away not long after I joined.
I am from Uruguay, 84. The B-24 Liberator was the aircraft British PM Churchill chose for his movements during the war. It was loaned to him by Presdt. Roosevelt with crew included. Pilot was a 26 year old American who the PM greatly appreciated.
At the Citadel in the late 70’s, a college in Charleston, SC, one professor wore bombardier wings from WWII when he served in a B-24 bombardment group. A good man and professor. Quiet, he did not talk much about his time serving in WWII.
Thank you for an honest look at the B-24 (Finally). My uncle was a pilot who flew missions out of Rackheath with the 467th BG and finished the war there. He was hoping to go to the Pacific and get behind the controls of the B-29 but it was not to be. In the Pacific the B-24 was the go to at first because the B-17 simply did not have the "legs."
My grandfather was co-pilot with the 467th out of Rackheath. I have a book about the 467th, you can find every mission flow, plane #, etc. It is based on the pilots name. My grandfathers regular plane was pathfinder, he often got bumped to other planes as some higher ups rode co-pilot. Hard to track his missions. Some of the stories i heard are documented in the book.
1:00 "and became the most-produced military aircraft of all time"
1 Ilyushin Il-2 - 36,183.
2 Messerschmitt Bf 109 - 34,852. ...
3 Supermarine Spitfire/Seafire - 22,685. ...
4 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 - 20,051. ...
5 Polikarpov Po-2 - 20,000 to 30,000. ...
6 B-24 Liberator - 18,482.
Yeah, that was a bit of a goof.
She clearly stated, "bomber aircraft."
A family friend flew B-24’s out of North Africa and Italy. Made the Ploiesti raid (second wave as I remember it) and made it back to base. Later flew missions over Italy and Germany. I do not believe he ever flew a plane again once he came home. When asked he never said much about the war other than to tell about the happier moments.
Your family's friend may have come home with the same mindset as my father. He figured he had used up all his good luck flying 50 missions and wasn't risking getting in a plane again.
@@cdjhyoung - You may have a valid point there. If I had flown 50 combat missions back then I might have second thoughts about ever again taking a plane anywhere. My hat is off to your dad and all of his crew mates. We owe them and thousands of others like them more than we can ever pay.
My great uncle was a top turret gunner in first the B-17 then the B-24. He preferred the B-24.
My uncle was a B-24 tailgunner in Europe. His B-24 was named Marezydoats (one of several with that name). He made it home, but never talked about it.
You've just reminded me of my mother bless her, who used to sing Mairzydotes to us as children. Its something I'll never forget.
Mareseydotes, and Doeseydotes,
But little lamseydivey,
A kiddleydivey too,
Wouldn't you?
The B-24 was also the mount of possibly one of the best-known people of the time, a certain James "Jimmy" Stewart, who was the deputy commanding the 2nd Bombardment Wing and commander of the 703d Bombardment Squadron, flying at least 20 combat missions.
I thought he flew Mitchell's
Nope, 24's@@kevvoo1967
Even with its faults the B-24 was a very good aircraft for it's intended purposes. A close family friend was the copilot on a B-24 called "Delectable Doris" and managed to complete the 25 mission requirement and was rewarded with the 8th Air Forces "Lucky Bastard" certificate. My God, those men were so brave flying those missions - they truly did help "liberate" the world from Nazism and Fascism.
For all her faults she was like the Sherman tank, they could be built in record time.
The Willow Run factory was turning out one B-14 every 55 minutes. @@garysilver718
B-24. Excuse my 70+ year old fingers.
The 8th Air Force alone suffered more casualties than USMC for the entire war in the Pacific. I’ve spoken with some 8 AF Veterans. All they ever said was “We had a job to do”. Courageous and humble.
@@richardbriscoe8563The Soviets did all the real work. Over 20 million Soviets died in WWII. China too. Millions of Chinese died fighting the Japanese. The US doesn't know sacrifice or bravery
"The B-24 was just as good as the B-17, but the B-17 had a better press agent." Jimmy Stewart, actor and B-24 Pilot.
Damage control over the abysmal failure of the air force brass in sending hundreds of bombers unescorted and losing over a hundred planes and thousands of crew members on totally failed raids in 1943. After that, it was publicity campaign and movies such as Memphis Belle to boost the public perception of a terribly flawed concept.
Memphis Belle was about the air crews 25th mission, how they would fly it and then be able to go home. But the truth is, dozens of its crew were killed on previous missions and only one or two members were reaching their 25th mission. And many others not in the film flew at many as 80 missions after being told 25 was the limit.
@@Triple_J.1 My friend was a Master Sergeant in the Air Force Reserves. He was also a teacher, administrator and had a master's degree in history. He said he read a paper where the US could have used Mosquitos instead of Heavy Bombers for tactical bombing instead of strategic bombing to greater effect. 3 Mosquitos could carry the same amount of bombs as 2 B-17's, but with only 6 crews instead of 30. The Mosquito could also outrun most German fighters and being made of wood were less susceptible to cannon fire. They were also easier to repair. So instead of bombing German industry, which was questionable, you used Mosquitos to bomb barracks, supply depots, rail roads and fuel depots. You can build all the planes you want but what good are they if they get blown up waiting to be delivered or have no one to fly them or fuel them.
@@Triple_J.1 Yeah, thanks Col Cathcart
@@johnharris6655 It was the top brass who didn't like the idea of their Air Force using foreign planes. They didn't even like the addition of the Merlin engine in the P 51 even. Had to have Packard build them under license. (even though I was told that the Packards were better than the Rolls Royce Merlins)
@@Triple_J.1
*_”Damage control over the abysmal failure of the air force brass in sending hundreds of bombers unescorted and losing over a hundred planes and thousands of crew members on totally failed raids in 1943.”_*
Your maths aren’t up to much. ‘Over a hundred planes’ doesn’t equal ‘thousands of crew members’. Over a thousand maybe but many survived.
And realistically, what choice did they have?
Please give an example of ‘totally failed raids in 1943’.
My late father in law flew B-24s as a young man in WW2. He came from a background of light, agile aircraft as a member of the flying team in college before the war and as a flight instructor for new pilots in his first year in the USAAF. He said the B-24 was "like flying a dump truck". It had a tendency to want to stagger and wallow especially when loaded, in the thinner air of high altitudes, at lower airspeeds, or some combo of those conditions. Especially sweat inducing was formation flying while heavily loaded at altitude, where he said they had to pay close attention and stay ahead of the airplane with their control inputs. Accounts I've read in recent years confirm what he described, such as this quote - "The bulky Liberator had a few faults. It required considerable strength to handle the controls. Pilots said that it was difficult to fly, particularly in formation and at altitudes above 20,000 feet, and that it demanded maximum skill. As one recalled, “In the air it was like a fat lady doing a ballet.'”
The laminar flow wing of the B-24 was in constant need of attention by the pilot.
My grandad was a rear gunner on Liberators operated by No99 Squadron RAF during late WW2. He actually did 2 flights on the Liberator on display at RAF Museum London.
My great uncle was CO of 99 from September 44 to April 45. Must have know each other.
Thanks for the video - one other unsung variation of the Liberator was the modified version flown by the Carpetbaggers, the air arm of the OSS ( in joint operations with the SOE ) - flying out of Harrington airfield they dropped supplies and inserted agents in support of the occupied nation's resistance forces, flying at night at very low levels.
The Carpetbaggers took over the 492nd bomb group for their undercover missions. It was a case of a total personnel change. My father was a pilot in the 492nd having flown 11 missions with the group. His crew was stood down for a mission in their regular rotation. When their squadron didn't return from that mission, the survivors were told that the entire flight was lost in a collision over the target. My father went to his grave believing everyone he had flown with died on that mission. The truth is that on their return to England, each plane was diverted to a base other than their home base. Debriefed and ordered never to discuss this mission or their previous assignment. The OSS was so covert they completely infiltrated one of their own bomb groups. My father and his crew finished their tour by doing radar jamming along the English channel. The 492nd had a reputation as a hard luck group. Of the first 36 crews deployed to England in early 1944, only six crews returned home intact with out casualties. The loss of an entire flight group was not hard to sell considering how badly the group had been shot up in its previous missions.
@@cdjhyoung my wife's father was a carpetbagger, and retired a Lt Col- you might want to read Ben Parnell's book "Carpetbaggers: America's Secret War in Europe." for the unit's history and missions
Enjoyed the video and well presented too, interesting fact of the RAF flying the B 24 first. Well done 👍
Had an uncle who flew copilot on a B24. 51 missions with the 15th out of Italy If he were still here and you asked him what he thought about the B24? I know for a fact that his answer would be....not much. Hard to fly, white knuckle takeoffs when fully loaded, unpressurized, caught on fire easily . Went to his grave knowing that he was damn lucky to have survived and live a full life.
My father was a B-24 pilot in the 15th, flew 30 missions plus several lone wolf missions. He would agree with your uncle on all points. Said it was exhausting to fly, you had to fight with it every second, unlike the B-17. The accounts of pilots and copilots having to be carried out of the planes after long missions were not fantasy. The 109s and 190s would scream right past the 17s and pounce on the quick to burn 24s. Dad later ferried all kinds of military aircraft, was quite familiar with the characteristics of other bombers. And yeah, he also knew he was damn lucky to have survived flying 24s.
Terrific commentary Emily, thankyou for such a professional delivery.
My dad flew the B-24 for the US Navy in the PTO...the Navy called it the PB4Y-1. He loved the aircraft, said it was a true pilots aircraft that required a high degree of skill but was capable of the type of low-level bombing and strafing attacks his squadrons carried out that could never have been accomplished by the B-17. He flew many types of aircraft during his service but always said the Lib was his favorite.
My father was a navigator on ‘Plum Lake’, flying from Stornara, Italy with the 15th AF. He didn’t discuss his experiences except when in the company of other airmen. I relish those times.
B-24 was faster, had a longer range and a heavier load, and was more advanced. The US decided to use them in the Pacific and as with everything else .. what was used in the Pacific was better. The B-17 was easier to fly. My grandfather flew the P-40 & P-47. He preferred escorting B-24 missions as they flew faster which made him a harder target. Grouping them with B-17s sedated the B-24s. My grandfather flew in the TAC and said by far the best US fighter was the P-38 and the best bomber was the B-24. He flew every US fighter used in the ETO
My uncle John Park flew a B24 out of North Africa. 50 missions plus 2 over Ploesti. He said the B24 was a tough aircraft and saved his life several times. His only complaint was the autopilot, saying it was like turning it over to a drunk driver. After 10 or 15 minutes, you had to turn it off so you wouldn't get sick. That meant you had to fly it yourself for most of the ten to twelve hour flights.
Had an opportunity to tour both B-17 ans B-24.
The B-17 was cramped, with narrow passages. The waist gunner positions were offset due to narrow fuselage and the tunnrl to the tail for the very slender.
The B-24 felt spacious as a barn in comparison.
i'm remember reading somewhere a joke from that time which said the B-24 was the box the B-17 came in
I noticed in this film the waist gunner had a a SEAT.
I grew up in the 60’s. My friend and I were aviation lovers and spent hours studying WWII planes and building plastic models of them. At that time I don’t know that the reputation of the B-17 had eclipsed that of the B-24. I think we considered them to be pretty much equally worthy of respect.
What was your favorite model? Revel or Monogram?
My father was a tail gunner on a B-24 out of England. Churchill called serving in the Mighty Eighth statistical death. Horrible casualty rate and after the war it was found that aerial bombardment did not accomplish near as much as had been thought. Over the years Dad answered a few of my questions. He did 35 missions. Not many survived that many.
The bombs were used in WW II, and again in Vietnam, were uncertain in their trajectory and were “thin skinned” and often didn’t damage equipment and such in the war materiel factories although they would blow out walls and such when the bombs actually hit them which wasn’t that often. Post was studies concluded that rather few bombs actually hit the intended target. The myth of putting them (bombs) in a pickle barrel was jut that, a myth.
As a young child my father was assigned to an airbase outside of Munich during the last years of the occupation while training Luftwaffe pilots to assume a role in NATO. I saw the bomb damage first hand. I’ll just say the German civilian populace suffered terribly.
The 8th Air Force established the “Second Front” the Soviets were demanding for them to be able to stay in the war.
Finally some background about this airplane. I didn’t know its roots lay in a waterplane, but that explains a lot about its looks. Thank you, well presented!
it apparently had a tendency to have leaky fuel tanks requiring to be flown with the bomb bay doors open. There was a B24 crash near where I live where the plane was on fire when it was going down, attributed to a fire caused by the heaters and fuel fumes
My father flew in Liberators in the RAAF during WW2 from Sept 1944n till wars end. After transferring from Hudsons in 13 Squadron based in Darwin he joined 529 Squadron in the US 5th Air Force until Jan 1945 when he transferred to the all-Australian 25 , City of Perth Squadron. Much of the flying was bombing raids and anti-submarine roles. After he left the 5th Air force it began the big push with bombing raids north west into the Indian ocean over the Malay oil fields and the Philippines for which the squadrons were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Meanwhile in 25 squadron the crews were selected for special high altitude training with the intention of using stripped down Liberators to bomb Japan at high altitude above the anti-aircraft and Japanese fighters. Before this could happen the atomic bombs brought an end to the war.
Yeah, the Liberator was actually reasonably popular here. There’s a complete airframe on static display in a hangar down at Werribee, in Victoria. I’ve never seen it but always wanted to. It’s about an hour from my place.
Growing up a neighbor was a crew member gunner on bombers during WW2 he started out on B-17’s went home as an instructor than back out to the Pacific on B-24’s. He like told my Dad with us listening the B-24 was more comfortable than the B-17
Thank you for this informative video. My father was a tail gunner in an RAF B-24, stationed in India and undertook missions over Burma as part of 159 squadron.
Hi You forgot to mention the RAAF, we few them in the Pacific war, used them for Air Sea Rescue for a short time. Plus one under construction in Melbourne, Vic - FYI Bills
I had the (real) pleasure of seeing a B-24 Liberator, as well as a B-29 Superfortress, at Natrona County Airport (where I started to learn to fly), when the "Confederate Air Force" flew in on route to an airshow back in 1998.
The Liberator was my favourite US heavy bomber but perhaps I was biased because it was the first Airfix model I bought back in the early 1980s.
Ah.... the good old days when you could use a historic term like "Confederate" without some snot-nosed, purple-haired freak screaming that you're a racist!
I just took a ride in Diamond Lil last month - now called the Commemorative Air Force. She's still going strong along with FiFi the B-29
Grandpa flew out of Italy sometimes as far as Poland. Crashed and ruined three b24 s. In the last was shot down over Viena and was a pow until the end of the war. Hill afb in ogden utah has a great af museum with many planes. Free admission and a great way to spend a day.
My late father was PIC on a B24 VIP transport detail based Dorval Montreal. He made a round the world trip in late 1944, the aircraft was naned Marco Polo, I have pictures of him and the aeroplane and his log books, from RAF to BOAC til retirement as Captain.
The stories he could have told...
My father flew out of Nadzab, New Guinea during the war. When Japan surrendered, a General wanted to take my father with him to the occupation of Japan. He wanted to go home so he and his crew fixed up a war weary B-24, cut orders, and flew home.
I made one of these Airfix models back in 79 when I was 12 . Not forgotten by me thats for sure
I have one unopened in a box that I will never make
A ficinating account and facts of the behind the scenes make this part of history very interesting and unforgettable. Loved watching this video, found it informative and presented well. Many thanks. 🌹
The best depiction I've seen on a topic I'd been hearing about since I was a boy. This is because my Dad's brother and sister along with her husband built this plane in San Diego. Also, my Grandfather, John Nicholas Bergen was a foreman for Consolidated, building PBYs. He had a third grade education, but with a genius for metalworking that made him invaluable. You say ?David Davis? designed the plane? As I heard it, the plan was to give top priority to the Davis Wing, and next to the bomb bay with particular concern about the frustrating bomb bay doors that ruined flight trim characteristics at the worst possible time. That is opening flap type doors while the craft begins its bomb run. So, he? was determined to use a roll top desk approach. Only the prototype lost these roll top doors when they blew off. Time again they tried everything and failed even referring to the top aeronautical engineers. It all failed, so at a last resort, they reluctantly got my irascible Grandpa. I've many times heard him comment on the engineers he deplored... "They beat me over the head with their sheep skins, but in the end I do their job for them!" With Grandpa it was a brag that he'd so often backed up. So it was that he designed the production doors for that plane and went back to making PBYs.
Great video, well done, thank you!
My maternal grandfather was a nose gunner on a B24 flying out of Bari, Italy. He was also the crew photographer and swore to his dying day that HE actually took the famous photo of a B24 going down in flames (the "Black Nan") because it was from his squadron and that it was miscredited to someone else.
My wife’s Grandpa was a B-24 pilot, flew out of North Africa, Italy, Germany
My Grandmother worked in Willow Run making these! She was short, at just a hair over 5', and was petite, so her job was to install wiring in places that were hard to get to. Just for that reason, I have soft spot for the Liberator.
This describes my mother and her sister that both worked at Willow Run. My mother was also petite and assigned to the same role as your grandmother. The problem for my mother was that she was horribly claustrophobic and the job terrified her.
I saw a PB4Y-2 at Fairbanks, Alaska three decades ago. I was on a "summer training camp" as a member of the US Army Reserve out of Phoenix, Arizona, and the PB4Y-2 (the US Navy's single rudder edition) was being used as a water bomber to fight forest fires.
May I call the B-24 Liberator "the most successful bomber failure of World War Two?" This video has already showcased the Liberator's shortcomings. Two reasons for Liberator successes were massive production of the type and the fact that despite its warts, the Liberator was more capable than other bombers available in 1941. Both of the reasons for success were mentioned in this video, too. The Ford Willow Run assembly line is a decaying relic now, though someone is taking a stab at preserving parts of it as a museum. The Battle of the North Atlantic was covered well, but distances in the Pacific were even greater and the B-24 out-ranged other bombers until the B-29 premiered in 1944, performing valuable photo reconnaissance missions (and flying too high for interception by the few Japanese aircraft posted at island outposts--if there were any Japanese aircraft) and even long-range bombing missions from bases in China, Burma and Alaska. Hill Aerospace Museum (part of the Hill Air Force Base in Utah, formerly known as the Ogden Air Depot until renamed prior to WW2 in honor of the Army pilot who crashed the Boeing Model 299 on his first flight in the B-17 prototype) sent an expedition to Alaska and recovered its B-24 from a crash site; now their B-24 is on display. As the C-87, the Liberator carried fuel, bombs and other expedited supplies--and President Franklyn D. Roosevelt, too. Despite scrapping nearly all B-24 Liberators at the end of WW2, America got its money's worth out of them--and so did other nations including Britain.
Aircraft of the early 20th Century were not designed to crash--and crew escape was something worked out after the planes were put into service. A good video on aircraft displayed at IWM would be comparing the different evacuation protocols of several different aircraft. Because those aircraft were not INTENDED to crash and not designed for either a "safe crash" or for the crew to abandon their crippled plane while it was in flight, design flaws such as the Liberator's bomb bay doors collapsing when the bomber was ditched over water and the flooded plane sinking immediately were not considered when the designers maximized speed, altitude, bomb load, and range. Eddie Rickenbacker's B-17 (used as a transport) ran out of fuel due to a navigation error and had to ditch in the Pacific--Rickenbacker reported that the B-17 sank too quickly to transfer most of the survival gear and supplies to three life rafts. Sinking upon water ditching before the crew could escape wasn't limited to the B-24 but the Liberator had the worst reputation--unlike the reputation of another Consolidated multi-engine high-wing patrol bomber, the PBY Catalina. When Rickenbacker took his involuntary 21-day Pacific Ocean cruise vacation in an inflated rubber raft Britian's MI-9 was still a young organization and the USAAF and USN thought it was moving mountains to provide its aircrew with heated flying suits, parachutes, and floatation devices. Survival kits in the modern sense were not really standard until the late WW2 period--and survival training was primitive.
I toured Duxford about 20 years ago. I've worked as a museum volunteer at an air force museum for a decade and I'm aware of how limited resources affect what gets displayed. Having an MI-9 museum is probably out of the question because there's not enough interest in most nations. Hill Aerospace Museum had some survival supplies and equipment on display and a recreation of part of a Vietnam prisoner of war compound. Touring the aircraft in Duxford was a treat because many of the bigger planes were open for touring the interior. One thing that I noted was some aircraft had most of the crew parachutes located in a centralized location rather than at the crewman's action station. Their bulky parachutes interfered with crew duties, and it's far easier to account for parachutes if they're in one place, but getting from a gunnery position to that parachute storage in a plunging plane couldn't have been easy!
Regarding the B-24, most of the crew didn't have seats! They stood or knelt at their action stations. The pilots had decent seats and probably seat belts, but others might have a simple stool to perch on. When the Liberator crash landed, most of the crew would sit on the floor and link arms to ride out the impact. It took until September 20, 1944 before the need to sacrifice a $215,516 aircraft in a water ditching under ideal conditions was undertaken. This IWM video has a film clip of this test.
www.beneathhauntedwaters.com/B-24.htm
www.451st.org/Manuals/How%20to%20Ditch%20the%20B-24.pdf
th-cam.com/video/tG4nm2atjZI/w-d-xo.html
www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/eddie-rickenbacker-adrift-in-the-pacific-ocean/
The most famous B-24 pilot was movie star Jimmy Stewart who flew about 20 missions with the 8th Air Force in 1944 before being promoted to a staff position.
On paper, the B-24 was better than the B-17 but it tended to catch fire and the B-17 was more rugged and more likely to bring their crews home. A distant cousin of mine was killed when his B-24 crashed on takeoff from its base in England in 1944.
Oddly I was always a fan of the b24 over the b17 but I think this was due to a b24 costal command airfix model I had as a kid (also never knew I only missed them on active duty by a year or so).
I was the opposite. The Airfix B17 artwork was so good I never noticed the B24.
Excellent...everything said tracks other sources discussing the B-24. Thanks, Emily.
A great plane. I don’t think it was as popular with crews compared to the B 17. Brave men stepped into both btw. What a generation.
I don't think a single American airman liked the B-17.
My father was a belly gunner in the B-24 for the RAF, flying out of India. His plane was shot down over North Africa. Luckily, they were able to bailout behind friendly lines. One of his crew didn’t survive. After being sent to Montgomery’s Army, only two of his original crew survived the war. That is all we know of his experience in WW2, he wouldn’t talk about it and we never pressed him on it. He loved that Liberator!
Remember the actor Jimmy Stewart was a b-24 pilot in combat during wwii and a squadron leader staying in the reserves till retiring as a general !
Another excellent video, well presented. Thank you!
My dad, an US Air Force Air Policeman (1948-1968) and worked as a Top-Secret Courier during his time in Europe (we were stationed in France from 1962-1965) and had spent time off and on at Wheelus AFB in Libya back in the 50's and early 60's. One day on TV we saw a documentary (made in the 70's) about the "Lady Be Good". He mentioned that he'd seen a small memorial to the aircraft and crew in a display in the Base HQ at Wheelus during one of his many courier trips around Europe and North Africa (we had several bases in North Africa). He'd heard about, but he never saw the stained-glass window in the nearby chapel. We'd hoped to eventually see it at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (where we were stationed there in the early 60's just before we went to France.) but we never got the chance, and he passed away a few years ago. I'm hoping one day to visit the museum and see the memorial to the Lady Be Good.
Great video and great presenter - learnt quite a few things about the plane I didn't know, particularly its origins in sea plane designs features.
A really well produced and presented video. Thank you.
Very informative and nicely done video ! The narrator did a wonderful job also. My dad flew on one during the war.
They built one B-24 at Willow Run, Michigan, every hour or so. Amazing.
My Dad was a radio operator on a B-17. My uncle was on the B-24. Good presentation. 👍
My Dad was a flight engineer and gunner in the 15th USAAF. In the 465th Bomb Grp. 780th Sqd
I had a very dear friend Ralph Sanders that was a bombardier on the B-24 Liberator. He told me lots of stories about he war and flying in the B-24. They were truly our greatest generation!!
The ‘ U boat detecting radar pictured is, in fact , a large arc light for illuminating surfaced submarines at night.
A Leigh Light I think.
Looking forward to my visit to Duxford on September 17th. Thank you IWM for all the great work you do.
My mother and grandmother worked at the Willow Run factory during the war. Part of the original factory which remains is now an aviation museum.
Cool video. My Great Grandfather was Reuben Fleet. Founder of Consolidated. Love seeing stuff like this.
My mother Gertude Fraser rivited every B24 that left Willow Run built in Ypsilanti, Mi in WWll. She never missed a day. I was at the airport a few years ago, the Yankee Air Muesum people were building another B24 from parts of planes gathered and made in all the diffeent plants the planes were made at, the side panels were the only part made at Willow Run that was collected, thats the parts my mother said she made, I got to rub a panel that day, it was amazing, of course I was tearing up, what a great experience. I haven't heard if the plane was completed, when it is finished it will be the last B24 to be built at Willow Run. The coolest thing for me is my Mother got to build part of that one too.Thanx for posting.
Thank you for the video, marvelous to keep learning about WWII
Henry Ford turned them out like model T’s , amazing story of American engineering.
My father a B24 Bombardier 455th BG 720 sqdn out of Italy did his 35 missions in a 24. He loved the airplane, said it was under rated.The loss ratio of the 17 and 24 were almost identical with the nod going to the 24.
The huge Ford B24 plant at Willow Run seemed to take forever to get up to its mass production targetted output but once it did, it amazed everyone. In addition to its own fully completed aircraft, Willow Run also exclusively produced many of the B24 subassemblies which were then shipped to other B24 plants also tasked with final assembly, as mentioned.
Highly educational. I learned some things I never knew before, even after reading dozens of books about the air war over Europe.
As target distance was growing, the b17 payload was diminishing rapidly, much more than the b24's.
The b24 was much more modern and complexe so it required more work and skill from the crews. But overall it was a much more capable aircraft.
No obnoxious music, no long self-congratulatory intro, Miss knows her facts...clicks subscribe. Well done,
Wasn't laminar flow. The davies wing was famous for having a high aspect ratio which reduces induced drag. The high thickness made it very draggy at high speed high altitude.
*Davis* wing but otherwise you're correct.
@@tempestfury8324 as long as you can get the gist
The e was an autocorrect
The laminar flow claim is performance based rather than technical. The Davis aerofoil was a unique speculative very high lift design, thick with a forward maximum thickness and strong camber, it was also in a high aspect ratio wing so it worked hard with lower drag but it really tortured the air so that it was always nearer the stall or air flow breakdown. They were extra dangerous in even light icing, the airflow broke up with much less ice than with other planes. The USAAF 8th A.F. usually removed the rubber de-icing boots from their heavy bombers. The B-24 was good for winning the war, it didn’t need to be popular.
My Dad God rest his soul was a left waist gunner in a B24 with the 458 HB group and was shot down Christmas eve 1944 and spent 6 months in stalag 13 . He liked the B17 better and said he thought it was harder to knock down and you could fly tight formation with a 17 where the 24 needed constant attention . The German fighters preferred attacking the 24 because they could roll out over the top without worrying about striking the tail surface while it took a good pilot to do that with a 17 due to its 17 ft tall tail .
To survive 25 missions over occupied Europe only to crash on the way home once again shows just how unfair life can be.
Excellent! Thanks for pointing out the futility of using aerial bombardment to destroy the enemies war machine. I’ve gotten into some arguments about this, even though I point out that Nazi bombing didn’t stop Britain and there was no reason to believe it would work on Germany. It just made people more determined.
What a fantastic script! Well written, balanced and factual.
Being able to crash land more successfully in the B17 is an excellent reason for choosing it over the B24
But the B-17 was more likely to not get shot down in the first place.
It was a tougher aircraft to bring down.