Lady be Good (aircraft)
Encyclopedia
Lady Be Good was an American B-24D Liberator
, AAF serial number 41-24301, which flew for the United States Army Air Forces
during World War II
. Based at Soluch Field in Soluch (today Suluq and Benina International Airport
, Libya
) as part of the 514th Bomb Squadron
, 376th Bomb Group
, it failed to return from an April 4, 1943 bombing raid on Naples
, Italy
. At the time, the plane was assumed to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea
and its nine crew members were classified as Missing in Action
.
In 1958 the nearly intact Lady Be Good was discovered 440 miles inland. Subsequent searches uncovered the remains of all but one of the crew.
late in the afternoon of April 4.
The members of the Lady Be Good crew were:
The crew took off from Soluch Field shortly after 3:00 p.m., one of the last to depart. High winds and obscured visibility prevented it from joining the main formation of bombers, and it continued the mission on its own. Their misson was the second part of a two part/two flight raid on the harbor of Naples, with a flight of 13 B-24s.
Nine B-24s returned to base because of the sandstorm, and four aircraft continued on. They arrived over Naples at 7:50 p.m. at 25,000 feet. With bad visibility, they did not bomb the primary target, but two B-24s hit their secondary target on the return trip, and two dumped their bombs into the Mediterranean to reduce weight and, as a result, fuel consumption. The Lady Be Good flew back alone from Italy on the return trip to its home base in Libya.
At 12:12 a.m. the pilot, Lt. Hatton, called base by radio and stated that his automatic direction finder was not working and asked for a location of base. He was apparently given a bearing but it is unknown if Lady Be Good received the transmission or not.
The plane apparently overflew its base and did not see flare
s fired to attract its attention and continued into the interior of North Africa for two more hours. At 2:00 a.m., the crew parachuted to the ground and the Lady Be Good continued on for 16 more miles with no one aboard and crash-landed in the Calanshio Sand Sea of the Libyan Desert
. A search and rescue mission from Soluch Air Base to find the missing bomber was unsuccessful and no trace of the crew or aircraft was found.
The first reported sighting of the crash site was on November 9, 1958 by a British oil exploration team. The team contacted authorities at Wheelus Air Base
, and plotted the location for proper ground investigation; but no attempt to examine the aircraft was made.
On February 27, 1959, British oil surveyor Paul Johnson spotted the wreckage near 26°42′45.7"N 24°01′27"E, 440 statute miles southeast of Soluch, following up the first sighting from the air on May 16, 1958, and another on June 15. A recovery team made initial trips from Wheelus Air Base
to the crash site on May 26, 1959.
Although the plane was broken into two pieces, it was immaculately preserved, with functioning machine guns, a working radio, and some supplies of food and water. A thermos
of tea was found to be drinkable. No human remains were found on board the aircraft, nor were parachutes found. Evidence aboard the plane indicated that the men had bailed out. Records in the log of navigator Lieutenant Hays, who was on his very first combat mission, ended at Naples. No human remains were found at the crash site.
. When the news media reported on the crashed plane and the five recovered bodies, an expanded joint effort of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army called "Operation Climax" took place in May 1960, using a C-130 cargo
plane and two Army Bell H-13 helicopters. A British Petroleum exploration crew found the remains of Staff Sgt. Shelley on May 12, 1960, 21 miles northwest of the five bodies that were initially found, and a U.S. helicopter found Tech. Sgt. Ripslinger on May 17, 1960. His remains were located 26 miles northwest of Shelley. These two bodies were the only ones found during Operation Climax. The body of Lt. Woravka was later found by another British Petroleum oil exploration crew in August 1960, and his remains were then recovered by the U.S. Air Force.
A diary recovered from the pocket of co-pilot Robert Toner told of much suffering on the walk northward and indicated the crew were unaware they were over land when they bailed out. There has been speculation that whatever airborne glimpses they may have caught of the empty desert floor in the darkness looked like open sea. It seems the crew never understood they were more than 400 miles (643.7 km) inland.
Some believe that the crew could have survived had they known how far inland they were and had their maps shown the area where they bailed out. Going north, the distance they walked was slightly less than the distance needed to reach the oasis of Wadi Zighen
that was south of them, but they were wholly unaware of this. Additionally, if they had headed south they would have very probably found the wreckage of the Lady Be Good with its water and food supplies, however meager, along with its working radio, which they might have used to call for help.
According to the Graves Registration Service report on the incident:
with an armrest from the bomber crashed in the Gulf of Sidra
. Only a few traces of the plane washed ashore and one of these was the armrest from the Lady Be Good.
Some parts from the Lady Be Good may be seen today at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
. A propeller can be seen in front of the village hall
in Lake Linden
, the home of Robert E. LaMotte.
The U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum
at Fort Lee, Virginia has a collection of military issue items, such as watches, silk survival maps, and flight clothing from the crew members who were recovered. Several of these items are on display.
An altimeter and manifold pressure gauge were salvaged from the plane in 1963 by Airman Second Class Ron Pike and are on display at the March Field Air Museum just south of Riverside, CA.
A Royal Air Force
team visited the site in 1968 and hauled away components including an engine (later donated to the USAF
) for evaluation by the McDonnell Douglas
company. Other pieces were stripped by souvenir hunters over the years.
In August 1994, the remains of the craft were recovered by a team led by Dr. Fadel Ali Mohammed and taken to a Libyan military base in Tobruk
for safekeeping. The remains were subsequently moved and are now stored at Jamal Abdelnasser Air Force Base, Libya.
A stained-glass window in the chapel
at Wheelus Air Base commemorates Lady Be Good and her crew.
, a 1970 made-for-TV movie, was about the ghosts of a B-25
bomber crew that crashed in the Libyan desert.
"King Nine Will Not Return
" is an episode of The Twilight Zone
that told the story of a B-25 crew member finding himself alone with the wreckage of his plane in the desert. In the episode, the marker of a grave
of a member of the fictional plane’s crew is dated "5 Apr, 1943," the day on which Lady Be Good was lost.
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
, AAF serial number 41-24301, which flew for the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Based at Soluch Field in Soluch (today Suluq and Benina International Airport
Benina International Airport
Benina International Airport serves Benghazi, Libya. It is located in the town of Benina, 19 km east of Benghazi, from which it takes its name. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau of Libya and is the second largest in the country after Tripoli International...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
) as part of the 514th Bomb Squadron
514th Flight Test Squadron
The 514th Flight Test Squadron is part of the Ogden Air Logistics Center based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It performs acceptance testing on refurbished aircraft before they are returned to their units.-History:...
, 376th Bomb Group
376th Air Expeditionary Wing
The 376th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force Air Combat Command unit. It is currently stationed at the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, Kyrgyz Republic...
, it failed to return from an April 4, 1943 bombing raid on Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. At the time, the plane was assumed to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and its nine crew members were classified as Missing in Action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
.
In 1958 the nearly intact Lady Be Good was discovered 440 miles inland. Subsequent searches uncovered the remains of all but one of the crew.
Background and mission
The crew of Lady Be Good were on their first combat mission, having arrived in Libya on March 18, 1943. The aircraft itself was also new, having reaching the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on March 25. The plane had the identification number 64 stencil-painted on its nose and its given name hand-painted on the starboard, front side of the forward fuselage; it was one of 25 B-24s assigned to bomb NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
late in the afternoon of April 4.
The members of the Lady Be Good crew were:
- 1st Lt.First LieutenantFirst lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
William J. Hatton - pilot - Whitestone, New York - 2nd Lt.Second LieutenantSecond lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
Robert F. Toner - co-pilot - North Attleborough, MassachusettsNorth Attleborough, MassachusettsNorth Attleborough, commonly written North Attleboro, is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2010 United States Census.The village of North Attleborough Center is located in the town.-History:... - 2d Lt. D.P. (initials only, also seen as "Dp") Hays - navigator - Lee's Summit, MissouriLee's Summit, MissouriLee's Summit is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Cass. As of the 2010 census found the population at 91,364 making it the sixth-largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area and the sixth-largest city in Missouri...
- 2d Lt. John S. Woravka - bombardier - Cleveland, OhioCleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
- T/Sgt.Technical SergeantTechnical Sergeant is the name of one current and two former enlisted ranks in the United States military.-United States Air Force:Technical Sergeant, or Tech Sergeant, is the sixth enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, just above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant. A technical sergeant is...
Harold J. Ripslinger - flight engineer - Saginaw, MichiganSaginaw, MichiganSaginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan... - T/Sgt. Robert E. LaMotte - radio operator - Lake Linden, MichiganLake Linden, MichiganLake Linden is a village in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census. The village is mostly within Schoolcraft Township, though a tiny portion lies in Torch Lake Township.-History:...
- S/Sgt.Staff SergeantStaff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
Guy E. Shelley - gunner - New Cumberland, PennsylvaniaNew Cumberland, PennsylvaniaNew Cumberland is a municipality at the eastern tip of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. New Cumberland was incorporated as a borough on March 21, 1831. The population was 7,349 at the 2000 census... - S/Sgt. Vernon L. Moore - gunner - New Boston, OhioNew Boston, OhioNew Boston is a village in Scioto County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,340 at the 2000 census. Apart from its southern boundary on the Ohio River, New Boston is entirely surrounded by the city of Portsmouth. It was platted on February 17, 1891, by James Skelton,...
- S/Sgt. Samuel E. Adams - gunner - Eureka, IllinoisEureka, IllinoisEureka is a city in Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,295 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Woodford County. The city was founded in the year 1855. Eureka is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area....
The crew took off from Soluch Field shortly after 3:00 p.m., one of the last to depart. High winds and obscured visibility prevented it from joining the main formation of bombers, and it continued the mission on its own. Their misson was the second part of a two part/two flight raid on the harbor of Naples, with a flight of 13 B-24s.
Nine B-24s returned to base because of the sandstorm, and four aircraft continued on. They arrived over Naples at 7:50 p.m. at 25,000 feet. With bad visibility, they did not bomb the primary target, but two B-24s hit their secondary target on the return trip, and two dumped their bombs into the Mediterranean to reduce weight and, as a result, fuel consumption. The Lady Be Good flew back alone from Italy on the return trip to its home base in Libya.
At 12:12 a.m. the pilot, Lt. Hatton, called base by radio and stated that his automatic direction finder was not working and asked for a location of base. He was apparently given a bearing but it is unknown if Lady Be Good received the transmission or not.
The plane apparently overflew its base and did not see flare
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
s fired to attract its attention and continued into the interior of North Africa for two more hours. At 2:00 a.m., the crew parachuted to the ground and the Lady Be Good continued on for 16 more miles with no one aboard and crash-landed in the Calanshio Sand Sea of the Libyan Desert
Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...
. A search and rescue mission from Soluch Air Base to find the missing bomber was unsuccessful and no trace of the crew or aircraft was found.
Wreckage discovered in 1958
After the crew abandoned the aircraft, it continued flying southward. The mostly intact wreckage and evidence showing one engine was still operating at the time of impact suggests the aircraft gradually lost altitude in a very shallow descent, reached the flat, open desert floor and landed on its belly.The first reported sighting of the crash site was on November 9, 1958 by a British oil exploration team. The team contacted authorities at Wheelus Air Base
Wheelus Air Base
-See also:*List of airports in Libya-External links:*****...
, and plotted the location for proper ground investigation; but no attempt to examine the aircraft was made.
On February 27, 1959, British oil surveyor Paul Johnson spotted the wreckage near 26°42′45.7"N 24°01′27"E, 440 statute miles southeast of Soluch, following up the first sighting from the air on May 16, 1958, and another on June 15. A recovery team made initial trips from Wheelus Air Base
Wheelus Air Base
-See also:*List of airports in Libya-External links:*****...
to the crash site on May 26, 1959.
Although the plane was broken into two pieces, it was immaculately preserved, with functioning machine guns, a working radio, and some supplies of food and water. A thermos
Thermos
Thermos may refer to:* A vacuum flask generically known as a "thermos"* a brand of domestic vacuum flask made by Thermos L.L.C.* Thermos , an ancient Greek city, the capital city of the Aetolian League...
of tea was found to be drinkable. No human remains were found on board the aircraft, nor were parachutes found. Evidence aboard the plane indicated that the men had bailed out. Records in the log of navigator Lieutenant Hays, who was on his very first combat mission, ended at Naples. No human remains were found at the crash site.
Bodies found in 1960
In February 1960, the United States Army conducted a formal search for the remains of the airmen, and five were found. Finding evidence that three other crew members had continued walking northward to seek help, the exploration concluded their bodies were likely buried beneath sand dunesDune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
. When the news media reported on the crashed plane and the five recovered bodies, an expanded joint effort of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army called "Operation Climax" took place in May 1960, using a C-130 cargo
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
plane and two Army Bell H-13 helicopters. A British Petroleum exploration crew found the remains of Staff Sgt. Shelley on May 12, 1960, 21 miles northwest of the five bodies that were initially found, and a U.S. helicopter found Tech. Sgt. Ripslinger on May 17, 1960. His remains were located 26 miles northwest of Shelley. These two bodies were the only ones found during Operation Climax. The body of Lt. Woravka was later found by another British Petroleum oil exploration crew in August 1960, and his remains were then recovered by the U.S. Air Force.
Diary details and conclusions
After parachuting to the desert floor, eight of the nine airmen had managed to meet up by firing their revolvers and signal flares into the air. They had not been able to find the ninth crewman, bombardier Lt. John Woravka, because unknown to them his parachute had only partially opened and he likely died on impact. Thinking they were fairly close to the Mediterranean coast, the eight surviving crew members walked north, leaving behind footwear, parachute scraps, Mae West vests and other items as markers to show searchers what their path had been. They survived for eight days, sharing only a single canteen of water while walking over 100 miles (160.9 km) in searing heat before perishing. Remains of five airmen were found in a group nearly 80 miles (128.7 km) from the crash site. The other three (Guy Shelley, "Rip" Ripslinger and Vernon Moore) had set off to try to find help while the other five waited behind. The bodies of Shelley and Ripslinger were found twenty and twenty-seven miles further north, respectively. Moore's remains were never found, although it is possible that in 1953 his body had been spotted and buried by a British desert patrol, unaware that any air crews from the war had ever gone missing in the area.A diary recovered from the pocket of co-pilot Robert Toner told of much suffering on the walk northward and indicated the crew were unaware they were over land when they bailed out. There has been speculation that whatever airborne glimpses they may have caught of the empty desert floor in the darkness looked like open sea. It seems the crew never understood they were more than 400 miles (643.7 km) inland.
Some believe that the crew could have survived had they known how far inland they were and had their maps shown the area where they bailed out. Going north, the distance they walked was slightly less than the distance needed to reach the oasis of Wadi Zighen
Wadi Zighen
Wadi Zighen is a depression placed in the Libyan Desert in the Al Kufrah District of Libya, about 180 km N-NW of Al-Tag, Kufra und E of Tazirbu. There are five water wells, the most important is named Bir el Hárasc. Around the wells grow some palms, but there are no permanent inhabitants....
that was south of them, but they were wholly unaware of this. Additionally, if they had headed south they would have very probably found the wreckage of the Lady Be Good with its water and food supplies, however meager, along with its working radio, which they might have used to call for help.
According to the Graves Registration Service report on the incident:
The aircraft flew on a 150 degree course toward Benina Airfield. The craft radioed for a directional reading from the HF/DF station at Benina and received a reading of 330 degrees from Benina. The actions of the pilot in flying 440 miles into the desert, however, indicate the navigator probably took a reciprocal reading off the back of the radio directional loop antenna from a position beyond and south of Benina but 'on course'. The pilot flew into the desert, thinking he was still over the Mediterranean and on his way to Benina.
Aftermath
Parts of the plane were scavenged or returned to the United States for evaluation. A few aircraft with replacement parts from Lady Be Good later had inflight problems. A U.S. Army de Havilland Canada DHC-3 OtterDe Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, but was overall a larger aircraft.-Design and...
with an armrest from the bomber crashed in the Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...
. Only a few traces of the plane washed ashore and one of these was the armrest from the Lady Be Good.
Some parts from the Lady Be Good may be seen today at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
. A propeller can be seen in front of the village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
in Lake Linden
Lake Linden, Michigan
Lake Linden is a village in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census. The village is mostly within Schoolcraft Township, though a tiny portion lies in Torch Lake Township.-History:...
, the home of Robert E. LaMotte.
The U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum
Army Quartermaster Museum
The United States Army Quartermaster Museum, located at Fort Lee, Virginia, is one of a number of small museums in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The museum's aim is to preserve and exhibit the history of the Quartermaster Corps, which was formed in 1775 and to date it has collected more than 20,000...
at Fort Lee, Virginia has a collection of military issue items, such as watches, silk survival maps, and flight clothing from the crew members who were recovered. Several of these items are on display.
An altimeter and manifold pressure gauge were salvaged from the plane in 1963 by Airman Second Class Ron Pike and are on display at the March Field Air Museum just south of Riverside, CA.
A Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
team visited the site in 1968 and hauled away components including an engine (later donated to the USAF
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
) for evaluation by the McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
company. Other pieces were stripped by souvenir hunters over the years.
In August 1994, the remains of the craft were recovered by a team led by Dr. Fadel Ali Mohammed and taken to a Libyan military base in Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
for safekeeping. The remains were subsequently moved and are now stored at Jamal Abdelnasser Air Force Base, Libya.
A stained-glass window in the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
at Wheelus Air Base commemorates Lady Be Good and her crew.
In popular culture
The Lady Be Good incident was indirectly referenced in a couple of television shows and movies. Sole SurvivorSole Survivor (1970 film)
Sole Survivor is a TV movie written by Guerdon Trueblood and directed by Paul Stanley. It starred Richard Basehart, William Shatner, and Vince Edwards...
, a 1970 made-for-TV movie, was about the ghosts of a B-25
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
bomber crew that crashed in the Libyan desert.
"King Nine Will Not Return
King Nine Will Not Return
"King Nine Will Not Return" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:The World War II B-25 Mitchell bomber King Nine has crashed in the desert. Captain James Embry finds himself stranded, alone except for the wreckage and the mystery of what happened to...
" is an episode of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
that told the story of a B-25 crew member finding himself alone with the wreckage of his plane in the desert. In the episode, the marker of a grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
of a member of the fictional plane’s crew is dated "5 Apr, 1943," the day on which Lady Be Good was lost.