Download or read book Special Operations Consolidated B 24 Liberators written by William Wolf and published by Air World. This book was released on 2024-01-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite being America’s most produced bomber, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator has forever flown in the shadow of its more famous and glamorous B-17 rival. The workmanlike B-24 performed multiple unheralded roles in all theatres beyond its also multiple offensive missions, making it the war’s most versatile heavy bomber. Besides its offensive bombing, anti-submarine, and mining missions, the Liberator performed many little known “inoffensive” duties. Undoubtedly the most colorful of all Liberators were the so-called assembly ships of the Groups of the 2nd Air Division. Their unique paint schemes of stripes, polka dots, and checkerboard, were designed to make them ultra-conspicuous for their task of acting as leaders on which a Group formation could assemble their combat formations more quickly for a combat mission The Consolidated F-7 was a photographic reconnaissance version of the B-24 Liberator. The F-7 saw service in most theatres of the war. The long range of the Liberator also made it well suited to mapping missions during the war and post-war. Beginning in early 1944, to aid the Allied liberation of Europe, Carpetbagger B-24s were utilized to parachute spies, called “Joes” or “Janes”, or provide aerial supply of weapons and other matériel to resistance fighters in occupied Europe. Liberators also participated in the dropping of 2.75 billion propaganda leaflets using various techniques and delivery devices. Electronic Warfare played an important part in Allied global pre-invasion plans to discover the location of enemy radars, and, if possible, destroy them. This interception and analysis of an enemy electronic radiation was the origin of present day ELINT (ELectonicINTelligence). Modified RAF B-24D Airborne Electronic Reconnaissance Liberators, codenamed Ferret, were Radio Counter Measures and Electronic Intelligence aircraft that played a major role in European air opera¬tions. During 1942 the AAF became interested in aerial refueling as a means to bombing Japan. A shorter-range B-17E was selected as the receiver aircraft while the more spacious B-24D acted as the tanker. Although these tests were considered to be successful, the availability of longer-ranging B-29s and bases ever closer to Japan diminished the urgency of wartime aerial refueling. During the war, eighty-three B-24s crashed or made forced landings in Switzerland, sixty in Sweden, and several in Russia, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. Many of these Liberators landed undamaged or were repaired to be flown by these nations. Of particular interest are the six Liberators that were captured and flown by the Luftwaffe. Packed with a unique collection of photographs. Special Operations Consolidated B-24 Liberators reveals the most unusual and little-known facets of the Second World War’s most versatile bomber.
Download or read book Special Operations Consolidated B 24 Liberators written by William Wolf and published by Air World. This book was released on 2024-01-30 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite being America’s most produced bomber, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator has forever flown in the shadow of its more famous and glamorous B-17 rival. The workmanlike B-24 performed multiple unheralded roles in all theatres beyond its also multiple offensive missions, making it the war’s most versatile heavy bomber. Besides its offensive bombing, anti-submarine, and mining missions, the Liberator performed many little known “inoffensive” duties. Undoubtedly the most colorful of all Liberators were the so-called assembly ships of the Groups of the 2nd Air Division. Their unique paint schemes of stripes, polka dots, and checkerboard, were designed to make them ultra-conspicuous for their task of acting as leaders on which a Group formation could assemble their combat formations more quickly for a combat mission The Consolidated F-7 was a photographic reconnaissance version of the B-24 Liberator. The F-7 saw service in most theatres of the war. The long range of the Liberator also made it well suited to mapping missions during the war and post-war. Beginning in early 1944, to aid the Allied liberation of Europe, Carpetbagger B-24s were utilized to parachute spies, called “Joes” or “Janes”, or provide aerial supply of weapons and other matériel to resistance fighters in occupied Europe. Liberators also participated in the dropping of 2.75 billion propaganda leaflets using various techniques and delivery devices. Electronic Warfare played an important part in Allied global pre-invasion plans to discover the location of enemy radars, and, if possible, destroy them. This interception and analysis of an enemy electronic radiation was the origin of present day ELINT (ELectonicINTelligence). Modified RAF B-24D Airborne Electronic Reconnaissance Liberators, codenamed Ferret, were Radio Counter Measures and Electronic Intelligence aircraft that played a major role in European air opera¬tions. During 1942 the AAF became interested in aerial refueling as a means to bombing Japan. A shorter-range B-17E was selected as the receiver aircraft while the more spacious B-24D acted as the tanker. Although these tests were considered to be successful, the availability of longer-ranging B-29s and bases ever closer to Japan diminished the urgency of wartime aerial refueling. During the war, eighty-three B-24s crashed or made forced landings in Switzerland, sixty in Sweden, and several in Russia, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. Many of these Liberators landed undamaged or were repaired to be flown by these nations. Of particular interest are the six Liberators that were captured and flown by the Luftwaffe. Packed with a unique collection of photographs. Special Operations Consolidated B-24 Liberators reveals the most unusual and little-known facets of the Second World War’s most versatile bomber.
Download or read book B 24 Liberator Units of the CBI written by Edward M. Young and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The B-24 Liberator was the mainstay of the US Army Air Force's strategic bombing effort in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945. With longer range and a greater load-carrying capacity than the B-17, the B-24 was well-suited to the demands of the CBI. The CBI's two air forces, the Tenth in India and the Fourteenth in China, each had one heavy bomb group equipped with Liberators. These two groups, the 7th and the 308th, carried the war to the Japanese across China and South East Asia, flying over some of the most difficult terrain in the world. The 308th had the added burden of having to carry its own fuel and bombs over the Himalayan 'Hump' from India to China in support of its missions. Despite the hardships and extreme distances from sources of supply, both units compiled a notable record, each winning two Distinguished Unit Citations.
Download or read book Consolidated B 24 Liberator written by Edward Shacklady and published by Cerberus Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although overshadowed, to a large extent, by the B-17 Flying Fortress the B-24 Liberator was made in greater quantity, and used by more Allied air forces on every front of the Second World War. The first operational models were used by the Royal Air Force as a transport on the North Atlantic ferry service. The RAF Liberator I, used both as a bomber in North Africa and as a long-range Coastal Command patroller, had ASV (air-to-surface vessel) radar and four 20mm cannons. Its armament was greatly improved when powered turrets in the tail and mid-upper positions were incorporated into the Liberator II. As a heavy bomber it saw service in the Pacific with the USAAF; in North Africa and Italy with the RAF and USAAF. Specially equipped Liberators were also used to drop agents and equipment in Occupied Europe on behalf of the OSS (Office of Strategic Service), SOE (Special Operations Executive) and SIS (Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6).
Download or read book Apollo s Warriors written by Michael E. Haas and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1998-05 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting a fascinating insider's view of U.S.A.F. special operations, this volume brings to life the critical contributions these forces have made to the exercise of air & space power. Focusing in particular on the period between the Korean War & the Indochina wars of 1950-1979, the accounts of numerous missions are profusely illustrated with photos & maps. Includes a discussion of AF operations in Europe during WWII, as well as profiles of Air Commandos who performed above & beyond the call of duty. Reflects on the need for financial & political support for restoration of the forces. Bibliography. Extensive photos & maps. Charts & tables.
Download or read book The Praetorian STARShip the untold story of the Combat Talon written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jerry Thigpen's study on the history of the Combat Talon is the first effort to tell the story of this wonderfully capable machine. This weapons system has performed virtually every imaginable tactical event in the spectrum of conflict and by any measure is the most versatile C-130 derivative ever produced. First modified and sent to Southeast Asia (SEA) in 1966 to replace theater unconventional warfare (UW) assets that were limited in both lift capability and speed the Talon I quickly adapted to theater UW tasking including infiltration and resupply and psychological warfare operations into North Vietnam. After spending four years in SEA and maturing into a highly respected UW weapons system the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) chose the Combat Talon to lead the night low-level raid on the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay. Despite the outcome of the operation the Talon I cemented its reputation as the weapons system of choice for long-range clandestine operations. In the period following the Vietnam War United States Air Force (USAF) special operations gradually lost its political and financial support which was graphically demonstrated in the failed Desert One mission into Iran. Thanks to congressional supporters like Earl Hutto of Florida and Dan Daniel of Virginia funds for aircraft upgrades and military construction projects materialized to meet the ever-increasing threat to our nation. Under the leadership of such committed hard-driven officers as Brenci Uttaro Ferkes Meller and Thigpen the crew force became the most disciplined in our Air Force. It was capable of penetrating hostile airspace at night in a low-level mountainous environment covertly to execute any number of unconventional warfare missions.
Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Special Duties Pilot written by John M. Billings and published by Air World. This book was released on 2021-08-31 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If there was ever a man who was born to fly, it is John M. Billings. He took his first plane ride in 1926, began taking piloting lessons in 1938, and joined the US Army Air Force in July 1942. After training he was assigned to fly Consolidated B-24 Liberator long-range bombers. He joined the 825th Bombardment Squadron of the 484th Bombardment Group. After flying fifteen daylight strategic bombing missions, Billings was selected for assignment to the 885th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) (Special). As its designation suggests, the 885th was no regular bombing unit. The 885th specialized in flying top secret, low-altitude missions at night in support of the clandestine operations of the OSS and the Special Operations Executive. The unit’s covert missions included parachuting OSS and SOE agents and supplies deep inside German territory. The most eventful and dangerous of Billings’ thirty-nine secret missions with the 885th was his assignment in February 1945 to clandestinely insert a three-man OSS team, code-named Greenup, into Austria. The drop zone selected for the Greenup insertion was located on a glacier in a valley surrounded by mountains in the middle of the snow-covered Alps. Billings and his crew finally found the weather in the Alps clear enough to spot the drop zone, slip their unwieldy B-24 between the mountain peaks and descend to an altitude just a few hundred feet above the moonlit snow. On Billings’ signal, the OSS agents parachuted right on target. The insertion of this OSS team was the inspiration for the feature film Inglorious Bastards. However, Brad Pitt’s vengeful character was far removed from the leader of the Greenup team, Fred Mayer, who achieved success by infiltrating enemy ranks to gain vital intelligence. After the war, John Billings flew with Trans World Airlines and Eastern Airlines. He also flew more than 300 ‘Angel Flight’ airlift missions which involve the specialized aerial transportation of critically ill medical patients. This is one man’s story of a remarkable lifetime of flying, both in peace and in war.
Download or read book World War II in Focus Volume 3 written by Ray Merriam and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-04-20 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Merriam Press World War II In Focus WF3 First Edition (2014) Pictorial coverage of one of the most famous aircraft of World War II, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, also includes text covering design and development, operational history with RAF, RCAF, US Navy, USAAF, strategic bombing, assembly ships, special operations, transport variants (C-87 and C-109), PB4Y-1, RAAF, SAAF, Luftwaffe, Soviet, production, variants and conversions, list of countries and units which operated the B-24, USAAF B-24 units, surviving B-24s, and specifications. 202 B&W photos and illustrations 26 color photos and illustrations 4 cutaways
Download or read book B 24 Liberator in Action written by David Doyle and published by MMD-Squadron Signal. This book was released on 2012 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The B-24 Liberator, produced by four different firms, in five different plants, was built in greater quantities than any other WWII bomber. Operated by the US Army Air Force and US Navy on all fronts during WWII, and supplied to British Commonwealth nations, the 18,482 Liberators took the war to the Axis doorstep. This lavishly illustrated new edition brings to life no less than 20 variants these famed aircraft, as well as their crews. Experimental versions, classic bombers, freighters, tankers, reconnaissance birds, and even the rare gunship version are discussed.
Download or read book The Dakota Hunter written by Hans Wiesman and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2015-03-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A tale of a lifelong passion for a WWII aircraft that changed the author’s life: “It is almost like an adventure novel except it is true” (Air Classics). This book tells the story of a Dutch boy who grew up during the 1950s in postwar Borneo, where he had frequent encounters with an airplane, the Douglas DC-3, a.k.a. the C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, of World War II fame. For a young boy living in a remote jungle community, the aircraft reached the proportions of a romantic icon as the essential lifeline to a bigger world for him, the beginning of a special bond. In 1957, his family left the island and all its residual wreckage of World War II, and he attended college in The Hague. After graduation, he started a career as a corporate executive—and met the aircraft again during business trips to the Americas. His childhood passion for the Dakota flared up anew, and the fascination pulled like a magnet. As if predestined, or maybe just looking for an excuse to come closer, he began a business to salvage and convert Dakota parts, which meant first of all finding them. As the demand for these war relic parts and cockpits soared, he began to travel the world to track down surplus, crashed, or derelict Dakotas. He ventured deeper and deeper into remote mountains, jungles, savannas, and the seas where the planes are found, usually as ghostly wrecks but sometimes still in full commercial operation. In hunting the mythical Dakota, he often encountered intimidating or dicey situations in countries plagued by wars or revolts, others by arms and narcotics trafficking, warlords, and conmen. The stories of these expeditions take the reader to some of the remotest spots in the world, but once there, one is often greeted by the comfort of what was once the West’s apex in transportation—however now haunted by the courageous airmen of the past.
Download or read book Airlift and airborne operations in World War II written by Roger E. Bilstein and published by Department of the Air Force. This book was released on 1998 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: United States Army Air Forces in World War 2. Details the history of the Air Transport Command.
Download or read book Consolidated B 24 Liberator written by Jean Pierre de Cock and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Consolidated B 24 Liberator written by Ray Merriam and published by Merriam Press. This book was released on 2016-12-17 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Merriam Press World War 2 In Review Special Series. First Edition 2017. Third in the Special series of the World War 2 In Review journal. Pictorial overview featuring 407 color and B&W photos, drawings and illustrations of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. Also includes coverage of the XB-41 long range escort, C-87 Liberator Express, C-109 fuel tanker models. The B-24 was used in World War II by several Allied air forces and navies, and by every branch of the American armed forces during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the Western European, Pacific, Mediterranean, and CBI Theaters. The B-24 provided excellent service in a variety of roles thanks to its large payload and long range. Also included are (1) Operation Tidal Wave - the low-level strike against the Ploesti oil fields, in Romania on 1 August 1943 and (2) Flying the B-24 Bomber Was No Picnic. The B-24 ended World War II as the most produced heavy bomber in history. Color printing on heavy glossy paper.
Download or read book Consolidated B 24 Liberator written by and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Army Air Forces in World War II Men and planes written by and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The B 24 Liberator Haulers written by William Wolf and published by Air World. This book was released on 2024-09-30 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With iconic images depicting it in the skies over Occupied Europe or the Far East, the B-24 Liberator is remembered for its part in the Allies bombing campaigns during the Second World War. But there was another part to this famous four-engine aircraft one that is less well known. While the Douglas C-47 Dakota is deservedly celebrated as the most important twin-engine transport aircraft of the war, the early use of the four-engine Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber as a passenger carrier is virtually unknown but was as important. Since the B-24 had more interior room than the B-17, it could be more easily be converted into a personnel carrier. These early Liberators operated Americas and Britains early diplomatic missions and then were to be extensively flown by the Atlantic Ferry Organization and the Transport Commands on missions that opened the world to air transport as never before. Several B-24s were converted for VIP personal and diplomatic use, which included Harrimans Moscow and round-the-world diplomatic mission, and those used by Churchill and Eisenhower to get around. To meet the need for a cargo and personnel transport which had longer transoceanic range and improved high-altitude performance than the C-47, in early 1942 the C-87, a hastily designed B-24 derivative, was placed into production. By installing a built-up floor section that replaced the bomb bay doors, the C-87 could carry six tons of cargo loaded through a cargo door cut into the side of its fuselage or through a special hinged door in its nose. Most C-87s were operated by the US Ferrying Command and Air Transport Command; by the late summer of 1943, they were extensively operating regular routes from the United States to the worlds most remote areas. To meet this increased requirement for air transport, the ATC was forced to turn to four civil commercial airlines for help operating the system. Of the 287 purpose-built C-87s, 24 were transferred to the RAF under Lend-Lease for RAF Ferry and Transport Command. The C-87 would remain as a prime mover until the dedicated C-54 Skymaster four-engine transport came into service. The 218 C-109s were fuel tanker conversions of completed B-24 bombers which had all armament removed and extra fuel tanks added to carry fuel from India for B-29s based in China. Due to the lack of C-47s after D-Day, conventional B-24s were again converted for transporting vital supplies and bulk fuel to troops in France. Once Allied troops broke out of the Normandy beachhead, converted Liberators flew Trucking supply drop operations delivering emergency fuel and supplies to Pattons fuel-starved armies racing across France. Later these B-24s supplied the ill-fated Operation Market Garden at Arnhem.
