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Dates |
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Event |
1943 |
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Constructed as a B-24D-60-CO by Consolidated at San Diego, CA, USA. |
5 August 1943 |
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Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Army Air Force with s/n 42-72843. |
August 1943 |
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Transferred to Herington AAB, KS.
For acceptance flight and training. |
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Markings Applied: Strawberry Bitch, 24 |
August 1943 |
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Transferred to Tucson Modification Center, AZ. |
23 August 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Dow Field, ME.
First leg of overseas departure. |
29 August 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Gander, Newfoundland. |
1 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Prestwick, Scotland. |
1 September 1943 |
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Damaged.
During mission to Wiener Neustadt, Austria, aircraft suffered 7 holes in airframe and damaged antenna due to AA fire. |
2 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Saint Mawgen, Cornwall. |
3 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Watton, England. |
6 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Saint Mawgen, Cornwall. |
7 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Marrakech, Morocco. |
7 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Algiers, Algeria. |
7 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Deversoir Field, Egypt.
For combat modifications. |
11 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Tripoli, Libya. |
16 September 1943 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Berka 2 U Benghazi, Libya. |
16 September 1943 |
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Transferred to 512th Bombardment Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, Benghazi, Libya. |
20 September 1943 |
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To Castel Franca Verto, Italy, to bomb RR yards. Due to overcast conditions, secondary target Pescara airfield was bombed. |
22 September 1943 |
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Bombed airfield at Athens, Greece. |
24 September 1943 |
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Base of operations changed.
Enfidaville, Tunisia. |
September 1943 |
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Mission to Wiener Neustadt, Austria to bomb aircraft manufacturing. |
Circa October 1943 |
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Photographer: National Museum of the USAF |
4 October 1943 |
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Mission to Athens, Greece, to bomb Tatori airfield. |
5 October 1943 |
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Mission to Athens, Greece, to bomb Eleusis airfield. |
10 November 1943 |
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Mission to Villar Perosa, Italy, to bomb ball-bearing manufacturing. |
11 November 1943 |
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Mission to Annecy, France, to bomb ball-bearing manufacturing. |
15 November 1943 |
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Mission to Athens, Greece, to bomb Eleusis airfield. |
17 November 1943 |
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Base of operations changed.
San Pancrazio, Italy. |
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Markings Applied: 24, STRAWBERRY BITCH, 272843, 24, 2
The Vargas Girl was added while at San Pancrazio, Italy, but no date given. |
25 November 1943 |
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Mission to Klagenfurt, Austria to bomb airfield, but aborted due to weather. |
28 November 1943 |
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Mission to Dogna, Italy to bomb tunnel and viaduct. |
29 November 1943 |
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Mission to Rome, Italy, to bomb airfield. Aborted due to weather. |
30 November 1943 |
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Mission to Klagenfurt, Austria, to bomb aircraft manufacture, aborted due to weather. |
14 December 1943 |
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Mission to Athens, Greece, to bomb Tatori airfield. |
15 December 1943 |
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Mission to Avisio, Italy, to bomb railroad viaduct. Pilot Dan Rice in his memoirs remembers aborting this mission due to a blown cyclinder on # 4 engine - 376th records do not confirm. |
25 December 1943 |
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Mission to Vicenza, Italy, to bomb airfield. |
23 February 1944 |
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Mission to Steyr, Austria, to bomb aircraft manufacture. |
April 1944 |
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Transferred to Zone of Interior (Continental USA). |
July 1944 |
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Transferred to Homestead AAF, FL. |
September 1944 |
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Assigned to Ogden Air Depot, Hill AAF, UT for storage. |
1945 |
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Assigned to 4120th AAF Base Unit (Air Materiel Command), Freeman AAF, IN for storage.
Assigned to USAAF Museum. |
9 May 1946 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Orchard Park, IL. |
6 June 1946 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to Davis-Monthan AAF, Tucson, AZ. |
Circa 6 June 1946 |
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Photographer: National Museum of the USAF |
September 1946 |
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Assigned to Davis-Monthan AAF, Tucson, AZ for storage.
To Museum status. |
May 1959 |
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Photographer: Grissom AFB
Notes: Photographed at Bunker Hill AFB (now Grissom AFB), IN, during Armed Forces Day celebration while on the way to the Air Force Museum |
May 1959 |
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Photographer: Grissom AFB
Notes: Photographed at Bunker Hill AFB (now Grissom AFB), IN, during Armed Forces Day celebration while on the way to the Air Force Museum |
12 May 1959 |
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Ferry flight. Delivered to United States Air Force Museum, Patterson Field (East Side), Dayton, OH.
 View the Location Dossier |
13 May 1959 |
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Placed on display. |
June 1969 |
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Photographer: Glenn Chatfield |
17 October 1970 |
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Transported by ground. Delivered to National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright Field, Dayton, OH.
View the Location Dossier |
17 October 1970 |
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Photographer: National Museum of the USAF |
21 May 1973 |
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Photographer: Peter Nicholson
Notes: As she was displayed in the summer of 1973. |
16 July 1996 |
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Photographer: Mike Henniger
Notes: Photographed at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. |
16 July 1996 |
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Photographer: Mike Henniger
Notes: Photographed at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. |
4 December 2006 |
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Photographer: Glenn Chatfield |
6 May 2008 |
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Photographer: Glenn Chatfield |
14 May 2010 |
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Photographer: Glenn Chatfield |
19 April 2013 |
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Photographer: Glenn Chatfield
Notes: Original ball turret located and now restored |
Circa 2020 |
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Photographer: National Museum of the USAF |
