Low level B24 run?

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BobB

Airman 1st Class
137
248
Nov 18, 2015
Georgia
That photo looks like medium altitude. My father said that B-24's(Jolly Rogers) and PB4Y's operating from Mindoro up to the China coast sometimes came back with tree limbs. That is low altitude. They were supposed to be looking for shipping so you wonder if they were just hot dogging over the land.
 

FLYBOYJ

"THE GREAT GAZOO"
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Apr 9, 2005
Colorado, USA
That photo looks like medium altitude. My father said that B-24's(Jolly Rogers) and PB4Y's operating from Mindoro up to the China coast sometimes came back with tree limbs. That is low altitude. They were supposed to be looking for shipping so you wonder if they were just hot dogging over the land.
It's not - that photo was from the Ploesti Raid, you can probably guess the altitude based on the height of the smoke stacks. I don't think 200-800 feet is "medium altitude." Some of the returning B-24 came back from Ploesti with wheat stalks in their bomb bays when they were egressing the target area.
 

mjfur

Senior Airman
437
433
Sep 23, 2006
Some of the original file/photos.
 

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FLYBOYJ

"THE GREAT GAZOO"
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Apr 9, 2005
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In the last photo they look like they can't be more than 100'!

When I first started at Lockheed I had a supervisor that was on the Ploesti mission. I don't remember the squadron he was in (I vaguely remember him mentioning the 389th) but he told me his plane was pretty shot up when they made it back to Benghazi, they had wheat or corn stalks in their bomb bay, and the leading edges of their plane were crushed in several places from running into poles or trees!
 

BobB

Airman 1st Class
137
248
Nov 18, 2015
Georgia
The aircraft in the first photo is Sandman piloted by Capt. Robert Sternfels. He was quoted as saying that they flew at 250 feet. The photo was taken by an automatic camera in the airplane ahead of him. I'm guessing that they had it set up to trigger after bomb release to record if they hit anything.
 
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BobB

Airman 1st Class
137
248
Nov 18, 2015
Georgia
I got curious and did some googling. In this video from 2010, Mr. Sternfels explained that a camera was mounted using a mirror to look back so that the image needs to be reversed to reflect reality. He died in 2018 at age 97.
 

Thumpalumpacus

1st Lieutenant
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Feb 5, 2021
Tejas
I can't remember where I read it, but I distinctly remember reading that the gunners on the bombers were "dueling" with AAA crews on the ground.
 

FLYBOYJ

"THE GREAT GAZOO"
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Apr 9, 2005
Colorado, USA
I can't remember where I read it, but I distinctly remember reading that the gunners on the bombers were "dueling" with AAA crews on the ground.
Read the same thing, I think Jablownski mentions this when he covered Ploesti in the series "Air War." IIRC I believe the nose and rear gunners carried extra ammo for this.
 

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