B-24 Photos found in antique store...

Hi folks,

Just registered for the site today, because I thought you might be interested to see a couple of photos I found in a bin full of random old photos at an antique store in Ithaca, NY the other day.

As a kid who grew up with a dad who was into WWII, we watched Black Sheep Squadron, we went to air shows, etc. I have a reasonable knowledge of old warbirds and when I found these two photos of a crewman standing proudly in front of this B-24 I figured these photos deserved a better home than just languishing in a box of old black and whites at an antique store.

They're 3" x 4.5" and after finding these two I rooted through the box hooping to find more from this same roll of film, but no luck, these were the only two.

I have to wonder what this guy's story was.... was he the tail gunner? Did he make it home? What did he see and where did he fly?

The "79" on the forward fuselage indicates this was a Stateside training aircraft.

e.g.

Judging by the number on the nose in the second picture, I would say that it was a training aircraft and the picture was more than likely taken at a training base in New Mexico or Texas. The B-24s used for training had those large numbers painted on the sides of the nose.
This is a close up from a B-24 from the training squadron my father was in. Most likely Alamogordo New Mexico 1942-43. You can just make out the number on the side of the nose.