Death in the Desert: The Lady Be Good.

By 

Scott Schwartz

Lady Be Good was one of twenty five B-24's that were being prepared for take-off.  The time was 1 PM.  

As Hatton and is crew sat in Lady Be Good, its four big Pratt & Whitney engines rumbled as Hatton and his co-pilot Toner went through their pre-take off checklists.  Mission 109 was a risky one; enemy fighters-both German and Italian-were expected to be encountered, as well as heavy anti-aircraft fire.  

But, first the Liberators had to get off the ground; the storm was still blasting men and machines alike with sand.  Crews could not see outside their aircraft.  All hatches were closed, raising the B-24's interior temperatures to over one hundred degrees.  It was no wonder that many of the bomber crews were in their underwear.  Once the aircraft began climbing to the cooler air, the men would don their heavy flying suits.

To be continued...

Death In The Sand: The Lady Be Good, continued

By

Scott Schwartz

During this gritty lunch period, pilot Bill Hatton and his crew were seeking the advice of other aircrews - this being their first combat mission.  Hatton and his crew had just found out that they'd been assigned to the Lady Be Good.

The men were particularly pleased with the their ships name; Lady Be Good evoked images of upscale clubs and "classy" ladies.  For his part, Hatton was thrilled that Lady Be Good was a brand-new, or nearly brand-new aircraft that had never been flown in combat.  As such, it was sure to "Be Good" by operating reliably, and of course, bring its crew home safely.....

More to follow. 

Liberator Down: The Lady Be Good..

The first attacks on Naples would be launched by B-17's at 9:55 AM local time.  Ultimately, the B-24 Liberators were to reach their targets at approximately 8:00 PM-right around sunset.

Lady Be Good's crew started their morning on a cold, miserable day. Rainfall during the night had turned Soluch's runway (which was composed of sand) into a muddy mess.  Attempting to take off under such circumstances in a B-24 that was laden with bombs and gasoline was frightfully dangerous.  Nonetheless, ground crews got the aircraft ready for flight, and the B-24 crews, having been briefed about the mission, were eating lunch.

Lunch was not at all pleasant; for a sandstorm had begun.  Howling winds buffeted men and tents alike.

To be continued.

Liberator Down:The Lady Be Good, continued....

By 

Scott Schwartz

Naples, Italy was a major re-supply center for German and Italian forces in Tunisia, at the time that Mission 109 was being planned.  

The attack on this important target was to take place in several stages, throughout the day.  

To be continued on Nov. 25, 2013.

Liberator Down: The Lady Be Good, continued...

By

Scott Schwartz

New Boston, Ohio native, Staff Sergeant Vernon Moore was the other waist gunner, as well as the assistant radio operator aboard the aircraft.  He was fond of reminding people that he and Roy Rogers were from the same city.  Not surprisingly, Moore loved Western movies, and, at twenty-one years of age, he was the youngest member of Lady Be Good's crew.

Mission #109 was set to commence on April 3, 1943.

More to follow.

B-29 "Doc".. in the Mojave Desert...

Boeing B-29 being towed from the China Lake Naval Weapons Station to Inyokern Airport.  I took this photograph in 1998.  This aircraft, known as "Doc"- as in one of the Seven Dwarfs-is now in Wichita, KS, where its restoration to flying condition is to be completed.

Photo by Scott Schwartz.

Liberator Down: The Lady Be Good, continued.

By 

Scott Schwartz

One of the waist gunners was Staff Sergeant Guy Shelley.  Shelly was also an assistant flight engineer aboard the Lady Be Good, and he loved to wear his striped locomotive engineer's cap.  Hailing from Harrisburg, PA, Shelley was a Protestant; he was also known for having quite a bit of stamina.  No one knows if he was wearing his railroad cap while flying on his last mission.

To be continued.

Liberator Down: The Lady Be Good, continued.

By 

Scott Schwartz

Lady Be Good’s tail gunner was Staff Sergeant Samuel Adams.  Although a Protestant, Adams shared one thing in common with Hatton; they were the only two crew-members who were married.  Unlike Hatton, however, Adams had a child-a son by the name of Michael.  Twenty four years of age at the time of  Lady Be Good’s last flight, Adams was actually a replacement for the original tail gunner, who’d failed to return from leave. 

To be continued... 

Liberator Down: The Lady Be Good....

By

Scott Schwartz

Hatton’s flight engineer was Technical Sergeant Harold Ripslinger.  Ripslinger doubled as a gunner, and his home town was Saginaw, Michigan.  Like co-pilot Toner, Ripslinger was an enthusiastic Catholic.  Twenty-two years years-old when he was posted to Hatton’s crew, Ripslinger was an athletic, determined young man.  He was eager to go overseas, and he badly wanted his first combat mission to be successful. 

    

 Technical Sergeant Robert LaMotte was Hatton’s radio operator, and he was also a gunner.  Twenty five years-old at the time of the  Lady Be Good’s disappearance, LaMotte was another Catholic, and he had six siblings.  La Motte graduated high school in 1936 and worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps prior to the United States’ entry into World War Two.

Liberator Down- The Lady Be Good, Continued.

By

Scott Schwartz

In civilian life, he was a bank clerk.  He was the man who was responsible for getting Lady Be Good to and from her targets, yet the entries on his navigation log were spotty in some cases, and incorrect in others-which may have indicated has state of mind on the mission.  Navigator Dp Hays (Hays never received an actual first name- the other crew members called him “Deep”) apparently was an austere, unsmiling man from Sedalia, Missouri, whose quiet demeanor and partial baldness made him seem to be older than his twenty four years.  After attending community college for two years Hays joined the Air Corps in January of 1942.

Lady Be Good’s bombardier was 2^nd Lieutenant John Woravka.  Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Woravka was twenty six years old in 1943.  He sent a cable from the base in Africa to his brother.  It was Woravka’s last message to is family.  In the message, he told his brother not to worry.

Liberator Down- Death in the Desert-Continued....

By 

Scott Schwartz

Toner, at the age of twenty seven, was the eldest member of the crew.  There were striking differences between Toner and his pilot, Hatton.  Whereas Hatton was a relaxed type, whose leadership and flying skills were good, but not outstanding, Toner was the most experienced aviator in the crew.  What was more, was that he was known for his courage and his “get-the-job-done” attitude. 

Coming from a broken home, Toner had always wanted to be a pilot.  The problem was that he was not a great student, and this disqualified him from service with the U.S. Army Air Corps, which he’d tried to join in 1940.  Not one to give up easily, Toner joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.  There, he learned to fly.  Once the U.S. had entered the war, Toner re-applied to the U.S. Army Air Corps- and this time, he was accepted.  The Air Corps made Toner start pilot training from scratch, despite his having over two hundred hours of flight time, at this point.  Still, by the time that he was posted to Hatton’s crew, Toner had roughly seven hundred hours of flight time- which was quite a bit more than Hatton had accumulated. 

Besides being the most experienced aviator in Hatton’s crew, Toner was one of the most religious; he was a devout Catholic who attended Mass and Confession on a regular basis.  Little did he know that his faith would shortly be tested.....   

Death In The Desert: The Lady Be Good...

By 

Scott Schwartz

Most writers and historians typically refer to those who manned combat aircraft as “the crew”, “the pilot”, etc.  Therefore, it is easy for us to forget that these aircrews were individuals, with thoughts, loved ones, dreams, and desires.  Accordingly, the crew of the Lady Be Good will be “introduced” to the reader, as follows:

Pilot:  1^st Lt. William Hatton.  Hatton was born in New Jersey, but he was raised in Whitestone, NY.  He received a Jesuit education as a youth, and he received a Liberal Arts degree from Fordham University.  At one point, he’d considered becoming a dentist.  At the time of the Lady Be Good’s first combat mission, Hatton was twenty-six years old. 

With eight siblings, Hatton came from a happy home, and from an upper middle-class family.  By most accounts, he was a compassionate and warm young man.

War was on the horizon when Hatton graduated from college, in 1940.  Accordingly, he joined the U.S. Army  - as an infantryman – and served for one year.  Hatton was discharged on December 1, 1941.  Six days later, of course, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  This time, Hatton joined the Army Air Corps.  During his physical examination, doctors discovered spots on his lungs.  As it turned out, the spots were found to be the result of sand he’d ingested during his infantry days at Virginia Beach.  With treatment, the spots cleared, but Hatton never got over his disdain for sand. 

Although he was originally trained to be a fighter pilot, Hatton found himself assigned to B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.  He never did learn the reason for this mysterious switch.  Nonetheless, while training to fly heavy bombers in Florida (during 1942), Hatton married a girl from his home town of Whitestone, NY, by the name of Amelia Jarsky.

Hatton’s sister, Elizbeth Henry paid him a visit during his bomber-training days- in August, 1942.  It was during their time together that Hatton told his sister that he had no desire to fly B-24’s, because they were difficult to bail-out from.

As previously mentioned, Hatton did come from a happy home, but his father was a rather stern sort, who prohibited any of his children from driving his brand-new La Salle automobile. The man relented, when Hatton told him that he’d been given command of his own aircraft.

An easy-going, modest fellow, Hatton believed that his co-pilot, 2^nd Lt. Robert Toner should have been the pilot instead of himself.

To be continued...

Death In The Desert: The Lady Be Good, Continued...

By 

Scott Schwartz

Hatton’s crew had been in Africa since before March 12, 1943, and Hatton’s “combat experience” had consisted of flying as co-pilot in a different Liberator, on a mission that was aborted due to poor weather.  He also flew several familiarization flights over the sand-dunes that were south of the field, with his assigned crew.  After this, Hatton and the rest of his crew were deemed to be ready for combat.  All they had to do was wait for a mission.

Most writers and historians typically refer to those who manned combat aircraft as “the crew”, “the pilot”, etc.  Therefore, it is easy for us to forget that these aircrews were individuals, with thoughts, loved ones, dreams, and desires.  Accordingly, the crew of the Lady Be Good will be “introduced” to the reader, as follows:

My dear readers:  As usual, I'm taking a break from Friday through Sunday.  This article will be continued on Monday.

-Scott

Death In The Desert: The Lady Be Good- Continued....

By 

Scott Schwartz

Eighteen days later (they were delayed in Trinidad, because Rose clipped some trees with a wing-tip while parking the aircraft), 1-24301 arrived at Soluch Air Field in Libya. 

Because the new Liberator bombers were so desperately needed by the Ninth Bomber Command, the arriving aircraft were usually taken from the crews who flew them in and re-assigned to experienced combat crews.  Consequently, Sam Rose never saw 1-2401 again.

Of course, “experience” can be a relative term.

After being inspected and serviced, 1-24301 was assigned to a crew who consisted of the following men:

1^st Lt. William J. Hatton-pilot.

2^nd. Lt. Robert F. Toner, co-pilot.

2^nd Lt. Dp Hays, navigator.

2^nd Lt. John S. Woravka, bombardier.

Technical Sgt. Harold S. Ripslinger, flight engineer/gunner.

Staff Sgt. Samuel E. Adams, tail gunner.

Staff Sgt. Guy E. Shelley Jr., waist gunner/assistant engineer.

Staff Sgt. Vernon L. Moore, waist gunner/asst. radio operator.

To be continued...

Death In The Desert: The Lady Be Good- Continued...

By 

Scott Schwartz

Lady Be Good was officially known as a B-24D with an assigned serial number of 1-2401.  Coming off the San Diego assembly line in 1942, 1-2401 was destined for service in the African desert.  Accordingly, it was ferried to Fort Worth, Texas, where it was outfitted for the combat conditions it would eventually operate under.  Once the aircraft was ready for combat, it was flown to Topeka Kansas.  There, 1-2401’s first crew was officially assigned to the aircraft.    

Her first pilot, Second Lieutenant Samuel D. Rose, originally named the aircraft “Bugs Buggy” and wrote this name in chalk on the fuselage.  The rest of the crew didn’t like the name, and when the rain washed the chalk away, the name was not re-applied, and the airplane left the United States as just one more non-descript B-24 Liberator.  At least, that’s one version of the story.  After the war, Rose’s navigator asserted that a member of Rose’s crew came up with the idea of naming the aircraft Lady Be Good.  Regardless, 1-24301, along with six other B-24’s started the long flight to North Africa on March 8, 1943.

Death In The Desert...

By

Scott Schwartz

Oh Lady Be Good

Listen to my tale of woe,

It’s terribly sad, but true,

Each evening I’m awfully blue.

I must win some winsome miss,

Can’t go on like this,

I could blossom out, I know,

With somebody just like you, so,

Oh sweet and lovely Lady Be Good,

Oh Lady Be Good to me.

I’m so awfully misunderstood,

So Lady Be Good to me.

Oh please have some pity,

I’m all alone in this big city,

I tell you I’m just a lonesome babe

In the wood, so Lady Be Good to me.

-Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern.

Returning from their first combat mission, the crew of the brand-new B-24 was in trouble.  It was just after midnight on April 5, 1943.  While en route to the Army Air Force base at Soluch, Libya, the pilot, First Lieutenant William J. Hatton, radioed that his automatic direction finder was not working.   He asked for a radio vector to the base.  The B-24 was flying directly to the base, from Naples, Italy.  But, because it had only a single antenna, the radio direction finder at the base was unable to tell its operators whether the aircraft was heading toward or away from the base.  Apparently, the crew of the B-24 never saw the flares that were fired by base personnel.  The B-24-which had been named Lady Be Good-flew onward toward oblivion.