B-24D Hadley's Harem Nose Art

[Old MacDonald]

I'm drawing a detailed profile of the famous "Hadley's Harem" B-24D Liberator that crashed off the Turkish coast after the August 1st, 1943, bombing attack on Ploesti, Romania. Although I've found several photos in books, none of them are quite clear enough for me to draw the nose art.


I can see the girl but not what's in her left hand nor anything from the waist down.


Does anybody know where I can find better resolution versions of these images, or even different photos that clearly show the artwork?


TIA


OM'D

 

[Gunsights]

That's not a girl under the M in Harem.

 

[Old MacDonald]

That's not a girl under the M in Harem.

Thanks. You must have a much better photo. Please post it!

 

[Gunsights]

It's a pluto style headed dog with Big disney style shoes pointing right and left at the bottom. Cant tell what is in the left hand that comes across the lower body.
Interesting cartoon nose art.

Thanks. You must have a much better photo. Please post it!

No , i guess i have better resolution here but it

Thanks. You must have a much better photo. Please post it!

 

[Old MacDonald]

It's a pluto style headed dog with Big disney style shoes pointing right and left at the bottom. Cant tell what is in the left hand that comes across the lower body.
Interesting cartoon nose art.





No , i guess i have better resolution here but it

 

[Old MacDonald]

To be clear, are you basing your opinion on the exceptionally grainy photo I posted, with the artwork simply enlarged?

I did the same thing before posting my request for help, and you can as reasonably interpret the figure as an "Olive Oyl" type cartoon figure with bouffant hair and a little hat. In any case, it's difficult to resolve the "Harem" name with a dog figure. The symbolism of that is more than I want to think about!

I'm hoping somebody has a much clearer photo of this artwork so we can see for certain what the figure looks like. I think the full ship profile photo came from the US National Archives, but I've looked for it several times and although I've found tons of interesting Liberator nose art, never this particular shot or plane. Maybe somebody has scanned it there?

 

[jospencer]

I'm drawing a detailed profile of the famous "Hadley's Harem" B-24D Liberator that crashed off the Turkish coast after the August 1st, 1943, bombing attack on Ploesti, Romania. Although I've found several photos in books, none of them are quite clear enough for me to draw the nose art.


I can see the girl but not what's in her left hand nor anything from the waist down.


Does anybody know where I can find better resolution versions of these images, or even different photos that clearly show the artwork?


TIA


OM'D

View attachment 487499 View attachment 487500

My father, Christopher Norman Holweger, was the waist gunner on Hadley's Harem. He died of war-related trauma on 6/30/1955. I am writing his biography, "Forgotten Soldier: My Father's World War II Story: Ploesti, Romania."

 

[mjfur]

FreeFind Site Search Results

B24D Hadleys Harem editorial photo. Image of hadleys - 78996091

B24D Hadleys Harem. Photo about hadleys, harem, wwii, ditching, bomber, aircraft, airplane, airframe, damaged, flight, historical, museum, history, liberator, british - 78996091

www.dreamstime.com

 

[Snautzer01]

I'm drawing a detailed profile of the famous "Hadley's Harem" B-24D Liberator that crashed off the Turkish coast after the August 1st, 1943, bombing attack on Ploesti, Romania. Although I've found several photos in books, none of them are quite clear enough for me to draw the nose art.


I can see the girl but not what's in her left hand nor anything from the waist down.


Does anybody know where I can find better resolution versions of these images, or even different photos that clearly show the artwork?


TIA


OM'D

View attachment 487499 View attachment 487500

41-24311 | American Air Museum

www.americanairmuseum.com

The B-24D, named, Hadley's Harem, was Lt. Gilbert Hadley's personal airplane and the one he flew, with his CoPilot, Lt. James Lindsey, on the mission to destroy Hitler's oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. As Hadley was approaching his target refinery, code named, "White IV", his plane, Hadley's Harem, took two direct flak hits, killing his bombardier. Lt. Leon Storms, instantly, badly damaging his plane's nose section and number two engine, which caught on fire. "We were two to three miles from our target, flying about 50 feet off the ground when we got hit," one of the gunners, SSgt. Newton, remembers. "We couldn't turn because we were in a tight formation with the other planes next to us and behind us in our flight, Flight 1, so we kept flying straight ahead, powering up to climb over and clear the 200 foot tall smokestacks ahead of us."


As they were leaving the refinery area behind them, Lt. Hadley and Copilot James Lindsey of Texarkana, Texas, pointed their damaged airplane south toward Turkey and Cyprus. They jettisoned their bombs and ordered their crew to jettison everything else, ammunition, fire extinguishers, Mae West life preservers, parachutes, anything to lighten the airship, which was struggling to stay in the air on only three good engines. South of Ploesti, they joined up with another group of shot up straggler B-24s, like themselves, Robert Sternfels' B-24D, The Sandman, led by the 98th Bomb Group's Leader, Col. John R. "Killer" Kane, in his B-24D that he had twice named, Hail Columbia, and Lt. Royden Lebrecht in, The Squaw, flying with the other planes for cover, relatively intact, and continued following the entire group of planes south, first, to make it out of the greater Ploesti area alive, and, then, if possible, to make it all the way to the British airbase at Nicosia, Cyprus.


Lt. Hadley made it all the way past, the southern coast of Turkey in his badly crippled plane. But, almost out of gasoline and engine oil for the three big Pratt & Whitney engines, still running, he had to break away from Hail Columbia, The Squaw, and, The Sandman. Hadley radioed a goodbye to the group of his friends and turned his plane back in the darkness toward the Turkish coast. "We got 25 miles off the coast of Turkey and were flying barely above stall speed," SSgt. Newton recalled. "Hadley had turned left toward land. It was about 8 o'clock at night, and we were losing oil pressure and altitude."


Newton remembers Hadley asking his fellow crew members, "You want to bail out, or try for the beach or the water ?" Shortly thereafter, two of the three remaining engines failed and froze, out of gas and engine oil, and the ship plunged 150 feet, hitting the water, nose first, breaking into pieces, in the sea off the coast of Antalya in Turkey. Neither Lt. Hadley, nor CoPilot Lt. Lindsey, emerged from the sinking wreckage. They were caught, trapped in their collapsed cockpit and drowned. Seven of the crew of ten escaped their sinking B-24D after crashing while trying to ditch, and were able to swim to shore. The seven survivors were captured by the Turks, and survived the war, interned. 3 KIA. 7 INT-TURK. ~ Aircraft Failed To Return (FTR) - 1 Aug 1943.


All crewmen who flew on the Ploesti mission received DFCs for flying the mission. Both pilots, Lt. Gilbert Hadley, Lt. James Rex Lindsey, and Bombardier Lt. Leon M. Storms, received their Distinguished Flying Crosses and Purple Hearts, posthumously, for their valor and sacrifice over Ploesti. August 1, 1943. MACR 167.


The Crew on Hadley's Harem On The Ploesti Mission :
Pilot Gilbert B. Hadley - KIA -
CoPilot James R. Lindsey - KIA -
Bombardier Leon Storms - KIA -
Navigator Harold Tabacoff - INT-TURKEY-WIA -
Top Turret Gunner Russell B. Page - INT-TURKEY -
Ball Turret Gunner William F. Leonard - INT-TURKEY -
Tail Gunner G. Frank Nemoth - INT-TURKEY -
Gunner Pershing W. Waples - INT-TURKEY -
Waist Gunner Leroy Newton - INT-TURKEY -
Waist Gunner Christopher N. Holweger - INT-TURKEY -


B-24D - 41-24311 - Hadley's Harem
23 Nov 42 through 5 Dec 42 - Built in San Diego
10 Dec 42 - 2 Test Flights
12 Dec 42 - ACC AAF
13 Dec 42 - Delivered
24 Dec 42 - Flown to Fort Worth for MOD
01 Jan 43 - MODs Completed
12 Jan 43 - ACC again by AAF
26 Mar 43 - Went Overseas
09 Jun 43 - Cairo
15 Jul 43 - Flew First 98th BG Mission (Flew 10 missions including last)
01 Aug 43 - Crashed off Turkish Coast - MACR 167
1995 - 2 Crew Recovered
1996 - Cockpit and forward aircraft section recovered from the sea
Dec 1997 - Installed in Rahni M. Koc Museum (Istanbul, Turkey)

Lt. Gilbert "Gib" Hadley's B-24D, Hadley's Harem, - Istanbul Turkey, 2018

 

[Old MacDonald]

My father, Christopher Norman Holweger, was the waist gunner on Hadley's Harem. He died of war-related trauma on 6/30/1955. I am writing his biography, "Forgotten Soldier: My Father's World War II Story: Ploesti, Romania."

Hi Jo

Best of luck with your Dad's biography. Please let us know when it's published.

 

[Old MacDonald]

41-24311 | American Air Museum

www.americanairmuseum.com

The B-24D, named, Hadley's Harem, was Lt. Gilbert Hadley's personal airplane and the one he flew, with his CoPilot, Lt. James Lindsey, on the mission to destroy Hitler's oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. As Hadley was approaching his target refinery, code named, "White IV", his plane, Hadley's Harem, took two direct flak hits, killing his bombardier. Lt. Leon Storms, instantly, badly damaging his plane's nose section and number two engine, which caught on fire. "We were two to three miles from our target, flying about 50 feet off the ground when we got hit," one of the gunners, SSgt. Newton, remembers. "We couldn't turn because we were in a tight formation with the other planes next to us and behind us in our flight, Flight 1, so we kept flying straight ahead, powering up to climb over and clear the 200 foot tall smokestacks ahead of us."


As they were leaving the refinery area behind them, Lt. Hadley and Copilot James Lindsey of Texarkana, Texas, pointed their damaged airplane south toward Turkey and Cyprus. They jettisoned their bombs and ordered their crew to jettison everything else, ammunition, fire extinguishers, Mae West life preservers, parachutes, anything to lighten the airship, which was struggling to stay in the air on only three good engines. South of Ploesti, they joined up with another group of shot up straggler B-24s, like themselves, Robert Sternfels' B-24D, The Sandman, led by the 98th Bomb Group's Leader, Col. John R. "Killer" Kane, in his B-24D that he had twice named, Hail Columbia, and Lt. Royden Lebrecht in, The Squaw, flying with the other planes for cover, relatively intact, and continued following the entire group of planes south, first, to make it out of the greater Ploesti area alive, and, then, if possible, to make it all the way to the British airbase at Nicosia, Cyprus.


Lt. Hadley made it all the way past, the southern coast of Turkey in his badly crippled plane. But, almost out of gasoline and engine oil for the three big Pratt & Whitney engines, still running, he had to break away from Hail Columbia, The Squaw, and, The Sandman. Hadley radioed a goodbye to the group of his friends and turned his plane back in the darkness toward the Turkish coast. "We got 25 miles off the coast of Turkey and were flying barely above stall speed," SSgt. Newton recalled. "Hadley had turned left toward land. It was about 8 o'clock at night, and we were losing oil pressure and altitude."


Newton remembers Hadley asking his fellow crew members, "You want to bail out, or try for the beach or the water ?" Shortly thereafter, two of the three remaining engines failed and froze, out of gas and engine oil, and the ship plunged 150 feet, hitting the water, nose first, breaking into pieces, in the sea off the coast of Antalya in Turkey. Neither Lt. Hadley, nor CoPilot Lt. Lindsey, emerged from the sinking wreckage. They were caught, trapped in their collapsed cockpit and drowned. Seven of the crew of ten escaped their sinking B-24D after crashing while trying to ditch, and were able to swim to shore. The seven survivors were captured by the Turks, and survived the war, interned. 3 KIA. 7 INT-TURK. ~ Aircraft Failed To Return (FTR) - 1 Aug 1943.


All crewmen who flew on the Ploesti mission received DFCs for flying the mission. Both pilots, Lt. Gilbert Hadley, Lt. James Rex Lindsey, and Bombardier Lt. Leon M. Storms, received their Distinguished Flying Crosses and Purple Hearts, posthumously, for their valor and sacrifice over Ploesti. August 1, 1943. MACR 167.


The Crew on Hadley's Harem On The Ploesti Mission :
Pilot Gilbert B. Hadley - KIA -
CoPilot James R. Lindsey - KIA -
Bombardier Leon Storms - KIA -
Navigator Harold Tabacoff - INT-TURKEY-WIA -
Top Turret Gunner Russell B. Page - INT-TURKEY -
Ball Turret Gunner William F. Leonard - INT-TURKEY -
Tail Gunner G. Frank Nemoth - INT-TURKEY -
Gunner Pershing W. Waples - INT-TURKEY -
Waist Gunner Leroy Newton - INT-TURKEY -
Waist Gunner Christopher N. Holweger - INT-TURKEY -


B-24D - 41-24311 - Hadley's Harem
23 Nov 42 through 5 Dec 42 - Built in San Diego
10 Dec 42 - 2 Test Flights
12 Dec 42 - ACC AAF
13 Dec 42 - Delivered
24 Dec 42 - Flown to Fort Worth for MOD
01 Jan 43 - MODs Completed
12 Jan 43 - ACC again by AAF
26 Mar 43 - Went Overseas
09 Jun 43 - Cairo
15 Jul 43 - Flew First 98th BG Mission (Flew 10 missions including last)
01 Aug 43 - Crashed off Turkish Coast - MACR 167
1995 - 2 Crew Recovered
1996 - Cockpit and forward aircraft section recovered from the sea
Dec 1997 - Installed in Rahni M. Koc Museum (Istanbul, Turkey)

Lt. Gilbert "Gib" Hadley's B-24D, Hadley's Harem, - Istanbul Turkey, 2018

View attachment 666717

Hey S

Super info. Many thanks for following up on my post from four years ago. Still very helpful!

 

[jospencer]

FreeFind Site Search Results

B24D Hadleys Harem editorial photo. Image of hadleys - 78996091

B24D Hadleys Harem. Photo about hadleys, harem, wwii, ditching, bomber, aircraft, airplane, airframe, damaged, flight, historical, museum, history, liberator, british - 78996091

www.dreamstime.com

Hi Jo

Best of luck with your Dad's biography. Please let us know when it's published.

If you would like to read the introduction send me an email.

 

[Slindsey]

My Great Uncle was Lt. James Rex Lindsey, we always wished there was a better picture of the plane and even better would be the crew.

My father, Christopher Norman Holweger, was the waist gunner on Hadley's Harem. He died of war-related trauma on 6/30/1955. I am writing his biography, "Forgotten Soldier: My Father's World War II Story: Ploesti, Romania."

I'm so glad you're writing this, and glad he survived. I do have your dad's name up because of Lt. James Rex Lindsey. While 7 survived I don't know much about what happened to them.

 

[Thomas Allen]

To be clear, are you basing your opinion on the exceptionally grainy photo I posted, with the artwork simply enlarged?

I did the same thing before posting my request for help, and you can as reasonably interpret the figure as an "Olive Oyl" type cartoon figure with bouffant hair and a little hat. In any case, it's difficult to resolve the "Harem" name with a dog figure. The symbolism of that is more than I want to think about!

I'm hoping somebody has a much clearer photo of this artwork so we can see for certain what the figure looks like. I think the full ship profile photo came from the US National Archives, but I've looked for it several times and although I've found tons of interesting Liberator nose art, never this particular shot or plane. Maybe somebody has scanned

 

[Old MacDonald]

Hi Thomas

Thanks. I eventually got a good, or at least better, quality photo from the widow of one of the HH crew. It's certainly a cartoon character, although I've never seen a "gremlin" pictured like that--but if Roy called it a gremlin, it's pretty safe to assume the rest of the crew also considered it a gremlin. In any case, my scale model aircraft decal sets in 1/48 & 1/72 have been printed and available for about a year now.

 

[jospencer]

I was working on writing my father's biography: "Forgotten Soldier: My Father's Word War II Story: Ploesti, Romania."
After writing about 1/3 of the book, I stopped. Researching and writing about the mission to bomb the oil fields at Ploesti,
Romania was bringing up too much for me (I watched my father die when I was thirteen-months-old from the cumulative
affects of shell-shock.)

I need to write this book. If you would like to read the introduction message me here or email.
Any support, emotional or financial, will get me going again.

 

[Snautzer01]

I was working on writing my father's biography: "Forgotten Soldier: My Father's Word War II Story: Ploesti, Romania."
After writing about 1/3 of the book, I stopped. Researching and writing about the mission to bomb the oil fields at Ploesti,
Romania was bringing up too much for me (I watched my father die when I was thirteen-months-old from the cumulative
affects of shell-shock.)

I need to write this book. If you would like to read the introduction message me here or email.
Any support, emotional or financial, will get me going again.

Hi. I think it might be an good idea to post that intro on this board.
We are interested in aviation in i think all levels. From personal to technical.
Perhaps the reaction of the members will relight the fire.

 

[jospencer]

Hi. I think it might be an good idea to post that intro on this board.
We are interested in aviation in i think all levels. From personal to technical.
Perhaps the reaction of the members will relight the fire.

Thank you for the suggestion, but exactly how do I do that? I know I can create or post to threads, but what it the way to reach the most members about my father's biography?

 

[Wurger]

You may use the Author's corner sub-section of the WWII Books section . Go there and use the "Authors! Have a self-created work?"option seen at the top of the page. Click the "Go here to submit your works to the community!" line. Then type the needed info there.

 

[jospencer]

You may use the Author's corner sub-section of the WWII Books section . Go there and use the "Authors! Have a self-created work?"option seen at the top of the page. Click the "Go here to submit your works to the community!" line. Then type the needed info there.

View attachment 767452

Thank you. I will try this. But the book isn't published yet so I will have to see if I can post the introduction. More incentive to
get the book written and published.