uhebeisen
Airman
A bomber crew (B-24 Liberator, 10 men) works best as a well-functioning team. They were trained to do this for about one year. What happens now if a bomber crashes or has to make an emergency landing and not all crew members return?
I'm asking because I am tracking the history of a B-24 bomber (there are also other entries about it in this forum). The bomber was stationed in Pantanella southern Italy. It was damaged in an attack on July 1944 and then crashed in Switzerland. Eight men of the crew have been interned. Three of them then fled and returned later to their unit.
I am mainly interested in what happens to the pilot (commissioned officer). He reported back to his unit in Pantanella on 23. October and I know he flew other missions until the end of the war.
Will he be assigned a new aircraft with a new crew or is he allocated as a reserve and flies on different aircraft as required? Was there a regulation for this in the US Army Air Force or was it handled very differently depending on the situation and the commander of the bomber squadron?
It is also of interest whether it was customary with the bombers to use the name or the noseart again and simply add a number, as was the case with the fighter planes (Miss Anne III)? This is relatively easy with single-seat aircraft, with bombers I imagine it's not so easy because the crew is no longer the same.
Thanks for your answers.
I'm asking because I am tracking the history of a B-24 bomber (there are also other entries about it in this forum). The bomber was stationed in Pantanella southern Italy. It was damaged in an attack on July 1944 and then crashed in Switzerland. Eight men of the crew have been interned. Three of them then fled and returned later to their unit.
I am mainly interested in what happens to the pilot (commissioned officer). He reported back to his unit in Pantanella on 23. October and I know he flew other missions until the end of the war.
Will he be assigned a new aircraft with a new crew or is he allocated as a reserve and flies on different aircraft as required? Was there a regulation for this in the US Army Air Force or was it handled very differently depending on the situation and the commander of the bomber squadron?
It is also of interest whether it was customary with the bombers to use the name or the noseart again and simply add a number, as was the case with the fighter planes (Miss Anne III)? This is relatively easy with single-seat aircraft, with bombers I imagine it's not so easy because the crew is no longer the same.
Thanks for your answers.
