455th BG B-24 "#494"?

[garandshooter]

Good afternoon all!

I'v been doing an extensive family history on my Great Uncle who flew 50+ missions on B-25's, B-24's and -17's out of Italy and Alaska. Most of those were with the 455th BG, 742nd BS from May-August 1944 on a B-24H named "EIGHT BALL". For the moment I have identified all of the aircraft that flew in his BG during his time in Italy except one. The ship is identified as #494. I checked Joe Baugher, B-24 Best Web, and others and the only aircraft with #494 I can find is a Micky equipped B-24H (42-64494) that Joe has listed as being MIA in Jan. of '44, which would have been way before my GU's time in the BG.
I have one photo that is claimed to be of her:

My GU flew on her for a mission on June 22, 1944. Can anyone help me identify elusive #494?

 

[CATCH 22]

Good afternoon all!

I'v been doing an extensive family history on my Great Uncle who flew 50+ missions on B-25's, B-24's and -17's out of Italy and Alaska. Most of those were with the 455th BG, 742nd BS from May-August 1944 on a B-24H named "EIGHT BALL". For the moment I have identified all of the aircraft that flew in his BG during his time in Italy except one. The ship is identified as #494. I checked Joe Baugher, B-24 Best Web, and others and the only aircraft with #494 I can find is a Micky equipped B-24H (42-64494) that Joe has listed as being MIA in Jan. of '44, which would have been way before my GU's time in the BG.
I have one photo that is claimed to be of her:

View attachment 567989

My GU flew on her for a mission on June 22, 1944. Can anyone help me identify elusive #494?

Hi Garandshooter,
Joe Baugher mentions that s/n 42-64494 has been "salvaged" on 18. January 1944 - that's pretty different from MIA. The a/c must have had a hard landing (as seen on the photo above) or something similar. But (playing devil's advocate) it is still possible they have repaired the same a/c later. There is no accident report for this particular B-24H (check here), which means it didn't crash, there is no MACR, no other reports. It could be a typo as well (the correct year of salvaging could be 1945 not 1944). I remember that the 455-th BG. moved to Italy in January-February 1944. Is it possible at all for an a/c from the 742-nd BS to be salvaged on Jan 18. 1944? You probably have the exact time of the group moving from your research.
Checking the above photo from B24bestweb I noticed that the photo credits go to AFHRA. This indicates (for me) that there is a report with the same photo somewhere in the documents of the squadron or the group. I would suggest you contact AFHRA and start searching for the Group- resp. Squadron diaries. This could be a mission report or just a daily report in the diary - who knows. I personally believe that this is the same a/c you are looking for.

 

[garandshooter]

Hi Garandshooter,
Joe Baugher mentions that s/n 42-64494 has been "salvaged" on 18. January 1944 - that's pretty different from MIA. The a/c must have had a hard landing (as seen on the photo above) or something similar. But (playing devil's advocate) it is still possible they have repaired the same a/c later. There is no accident report for this particular B-24H (check here), which means it didn't crash, there is no MACR, no other reports. It could be a typo as well (the correct year of salvaging could be 1945 not 1944). I remember that the 455-th BG. moved to Italy in January-February 1944. Is it possible at all for an a/c from the 742-nd BS to be salvaged on Jan 18. 1944? You probably have the exact time of the group moving from your research.
Checking the above photo from B24bestweb I noticed that the photo credits go to AFHRA. This indicates (for me) that there is a report with the same photo somewhere in the documents of the squadron or the group. I would suggest you contact AFHRA and start searching for the Group- resp. Squadron diaries. This could be a mission report or just a daily report in the diary - who knows. I personally believe that this is the same a/c you are looking for.

Catch 22,

First off- love the username. i just recently watched the remake and enjoyed it!

Second, you brought up some sleuthing points I didn't think of, so here's a few interesting points:

1. The 455th didn't reach Italy until February of '44, and didn't fly their first combat mission until February 16th. Right off the bat that eliminates the possibility of s/n 42-64494 being salvaged on January 18, 44 from any COMBAT related incidents.

2. After combing through the 455th's mission reports, I show #494 listed on the groups second combat mission (listed as February 17 to bomb troop concentrations).

3. There is a 455th newsletter article from the son of SSGT Theodore J. Olszewski (742nd squadron) who states his father in is in the photo in the original post of crashed #494. Mission report for July 17th shows #494 with Olszewski among her crew. Strangely enough, this is also the last time I've been able to find #494 listed on any mission rosters.

4. I can't quite count the # of bombs painted on the side, but if I was a betting man, I'd bet it's pretty close to the amount flown by July 17, 1944.


So my thoughts are: Bougher might have typo'd '44 instead of '45, HOWEVER if this is the case, where did #494 go from July 17, 1944 to January 18, 1945?

 

[CATCH 22]

So my thoughts are: Bougher might have typo'd '44 instead of '45, HOWEVER if this is the case, where did #494 go from July 17, 1944 to January 18, 1945?

Or the typo could be Jan.18 instead of July 18. 1944? If the info was taken from a hand written document it's pretty near, isn't it?
But again, since the a/c is not mentioned on the crash reports site, it wasn't a crash. Probably something went wrong (e.g. front wheel/main wheels collapsed) and they salvaged the "old bird" for parts instead of repairing it.

 

[garandshooter]

Or the typo could be Jan.18 instead of July 18. 1944? If the info was taken from a hand written document it's pretty near, isn't it?
But again, since the a/c is not mentioned on the crash reports site, it wasn't a crash. Probably something went wrong (e.g. front wheel/main wheels collapsed) and they salvaged the "old bird" for parts instead of repairing it.

My only comment against that is the 455th didn't fly another mission after the July 17th mission until July 20th.

 

[garandshooter]

Or the typo could be Jan.18 instead of July 18. 1944? If the info was taken from a hand written document it's pretty near, isn't it?
But again, since the a/c is not mentioned on the crash reports site, it wasn't a crash. Probably something went wrong (e.g. front wheel/main wheels collapsed) and they salvaged the "old bird" for parts instead of repairing it.

I looked through the entire July 17th mission report and history: there was one prior return for a blown cylinder (#166) and one MIA (#259). No mentions of a landing accident.

 

[garandshooter]

Or the typo could be Jan.18 instead of July 18. 1944? If the info was taken from a hand written document it's pretty near, isn't it?
But again, since the a/c is not mentioned on the crash reports site, it wasn't a crash. Probably something went wrong (e.g. front wheel/main wheels collapsed) and they salvaged the "old bird" for parts instead of repairing it.

Mission complete. #494 is in fact 42-64494. I reached out to Dave Ungermach and he stated that per the groups gains/losses sheet, 42-64494 was written off and salvaged July 18, 1944.

 

[CATCH 22]

My only comment against that is the 455th didn't fly another mission after the July 17th mission until July 20th.

I was thinking, if whatever happened was on the 17-th (of July) the official salvaging date could be any date after it. This doesn't mean they started cannibalizing the a/c on the very same day - they just have written it off officially. This is the way I imagine it, but it's just guessing.
P.S. I wrote this before your last post and kept it open on my screen- now I see my guess was correct.
Good that all could be finished in one day. There are some "open cases" in the forum for years.
Cheers!

 

[garandshooter]

I was thinking, if whatever happened was on the 17-th (of July) the official salvaging date could be any date after it. This doesn't mean they started cannibalizing the a/c on the very same day - they just have written it off officially. This is the way I imagine it, but it's just guessing.
P.S. I wrote this before your last post and kept it open on my screen- now I see my guess was correct.
Good that all could be finished in one day. There are some "open cases" in the forum for years.
Cheers!

It was definitely a nice reward as I had been trying to identify this aircraft for almost a month or so. I thought I had aircraft researching down but you brought up some great points to keep in mind when identifying a/c, I appreciate your time! Have a good one!

 

[CATCH 22]

It was definitely a nice reward as I had been trying to identify this aircraft for almost a month or so. I thought I had aircraft researching down but you brought up some great points to keep in mind when identifying a/c, I appreciate your time! Have a good one!

To be honest I'm happy too. It's always good to exchange information with somebody who has many of the puzzle pieces but somehow didn't find the last one(s). I've researched the 12-th and 15-th AAFs (starting in 2007-2008) and have very nice memories of contacts with veterans, their relatives, historians, authors etc.
Would you by any chance check this thread: Aircraft info
It's another mystery, but maybe you've seen that "dancing donkey" before?
Cheers!
Yves

 

[garandshooter]

To be honest I'm happy too. It's always good to exchange information with somebody who has many of the puzzle pieces but somehow didn't find the last one(s). I've researched the 12-th and 15-th AAFs (starting in 2007-2008) and have very nice memories of contacts with veterans, their relatives, historians, authors etc.
Would you by any chance check this thread: Aircraft info
It's another mystery, but maybe you've seen that "dancing donkey" before?
Cheers!
Yves

Will do Yves, looking at it now!