Lady Be Good: Flight To Oblivion...

The very thing that enabled B-24's like Lady Be Good to fly was responsible for her being found.  Oil.

Lady Be Good was sighted on three different occasions by employees of British Petroleum (BP), who were flying over the Libyan desert in search of oil. The story of these men- three in particular-is intertwined with that of Lady Be Good and her crew.  For, if it weren't for these oil-seekers, the fate of Lady Be Good and her crew would never come to light.

An understanding of the political situation in Libya at the time that Lady Be Good was found, is helpful in understanding the actions of some of the personalities involved.

The year was 1958.  An aging king by the name of Muhammad Idris al-Mahdi a Senussi was ruling Libya. In fact, the country was composed of three defined regions which had been "federated" under the "guidance" of the United Nations.  But, the king ruled this federation in the manner of a totalitarian regime.

Not surprisingly, there were rumblings of dissent, and members of the king's family were suspected of opposing him.  Nonetheless, one of the king's son's was expected to be the king's successor.  This was not to be; for in 1969, a 27 year-old military officer-a Colonel by the name of Muammar al Qaddafi-led a military overthrow of the king and his government.

But, back in  1958, finding new oil reserves had become extremely important to the nations which had fought during World War Two.  The war had greatly depleted global oil supplies, and oil companies were scrambling to find new sources of petroleum.  1958 saw no less than sixteen oil companies scouring Libya in search of new reserves.

B-24 Liberator Missing: Death in the Desert...

Despite the exigencies of war, leaders of the 376th Bomb Group finally concluded that the unidentified aircraft heard droning over Benghazi shortly after midnight on April 5, 1943 was possibly Lady Be Good.  Accordingly, a search and rescue mission was launched.

Search patterns were flown by another Liberator over the course of several days, with forays 380 miles into Africa, and out over the ocean.  Not a trace of Lady Be Good or her crew were found.

The search effort lasted roughly a week.  There was a war on, after all.  Lady Be Good's crew was deemed "missing in action."  After a year, Hatton's parents were notified by the War Department that Hatton was missing and presumed dead.

For the next fifteen years, Hatton and his crew were all but forgotten, save for the crew's family members and a few former comrades.

                            Photograph courtesy of the United States Air Force.

Liberator Down: Lady Be Good..

So Lady Be Good had vanished into the ether.  Where was she?  Many of the 376th Bomb group wondered.

However, one of the tragedies of global warfare is that the concerns about the next mission-weather, fuel, and supplies take precedence over one missing aircraft.  The fact that men's lives are at stake does not change this.

Death In the Desert: Lady Be Good.

Several days later, on April 9, 1943, to be exact, a report was sent to the commanding officer of the Ninth Bomber Command.  Besides summarizing the results of the raid, the number of damaged airplanes and injured crewmen, the report mentioned that "Aircraft 64 Lieutenant Hatton and Aircraft 31 Lieutenant Iovine  (were) unaccounted for."

Prior to the aforementioned report being sent, it had already been confirmed that Lt. Iovine had landed at Malta, after running low on fuel.  So, the only "real" missing aircraft was Aircraft 64:  Lady Be Good.

Death in the Desert: Lady Be Good...

Despite navigator Dp Hays' nervousness, inexperience, and possible errors, he must have been somewhat aware of Lady Be Good's position- at least after 9 PM.  For shortly after midnight on April 5, 1943, Lady Be Good overflew (or, at least flew near) Benghazi, Benina, and the airfield at Soluch.  Indeed, Hatton's failure to find the Soluch airfield may have been the direct result of squabbling between Col. Compton and his radio crew at Benghazi regarding the type of aircraft that overflew the field that night.

Radio Operator LaMotte's sketchy log sheet does show that he made contact with Malta and Benina.  His log ends at 10:05 PM.

A crewman on a B-24 which landed at Soluch at 11:10 PM stated that he heard Lady Be Good calling for a heading.  This same person stated that it was assumed that Lady Be Good flew over Soluch and continued heading south.

Hatton's last radio call was transmitted at approximately 1:55 AM.  "Faggart 64 to Lifebuoy.  Faggart 64 to Lifebuoy.  My direction finder is not working.  Please give me a position report.  I think I'm over the Mediterranean, close to Benghazi.  Fuel almost gone.  Will have to jump soon.  Please give me a QDM."

Death in the Desert: Lady Be Good....

So, Hatton and Toner were given a bearing of 330 degrees from Benina.  It is possible that Lady Be Good had already flown south of Benina, and that the 330 degree bearing would have resulted in Hatton and Toner believing that they were still over the Mediterranean Sea.  This erroneous belief would have led them to continue flying south, in an attempt to reach Benina.

When the radio monitors at Soluch heard that lone aircraft nearby, flares were fired into the air.  But, the aircraft continued to drone southward over the desert sands, toward the Kufra Oasis.

Liberator Down: Lady Be Good...

With his calls to the Soluch airfield being ignored, Hatton appears to have also sent a coded message to the radio direction finder station at Benina.  The Benina station gave Hatton a course of 330 degrees from Benina.  Hatton should then have set his ADF radio for a bearing of 150 degrees (the opposite direction)-because Lady Be Good was, in fact, flying toward Benina.  But, did he?

Liberator Down: Lady Be Good...

Hatton plaintively asked Soluch airfield for a radio fix; it was slightly past midnight.  Even as Hatton sent his calls into the ether, Col. Compton and his radio crew at Soluch heard the sounds of an airplane passing overhead.  It has been alleged that they ignored Hatton for fear of attracting the attentions of any German night fighters.  The airplane that they heard passing overhead was probably a B-24-and a B-24's engines sounded quite different from those of the Junkers Ju-88 night fighter.  For the Ju-88's two engines were unsynchronized and made a very distinctive sound.

More to come.

Death in the Desert: Lady Be Good...

By

Scott 

Schwartz

It was 11:30 PM, and pilot Lt. William Hatton had descended below five thousand feet, so that he could see the coast.  

Activating his Automatic Direction Finder ("ADF"), Hatton was hoping to track the radio signal from Benina.  Another B-24, which had also turned back from Naples, was just landing at Soluch.  This aircraft - Liberator number 90 was the last B-24 to return to base, that night.

Apparently, Hatton was having trouble with his ADF, because the following transmission was heard by the 376th Bomb Group's commanding officer, Col. Keith Compton and his crew in the radio tower at Benghazi:  

"Faggart sixty four (Lady Be Good's radio call sign) to Lifebuoy (Soluch airfield's call sign); Faggart Sixty Four to Lifebuoy...my ADF has malfunctioned.  Please give me a QDM (navigation fix)."  

Col. Compton and his crew is also supposed to have heard the sounds of an aircraft's engines at around the same time that the radio broadcast was heard.  It was just after midnight on April 5, 1943.

More to come.

                                           Lady Be Good.  Photograph courtesy of the United States Air Force.

Death In The Desert: Lady Be Good.

Lady Be Good cruised along at two hundred miles per hour.  During the ninety minutes that passed after La Motte apparently received a bearing from the Benghazi aircraft controllers, the crew had time to think.  Hays puffed on cigarette after cigarette.  The waist hatches were closed and the guns stowed.  The crew figured that an attack by enemy fighters was unlikely.  In reality, the opposite was true.  Junkers Ju-88 night fighters patrolled on nights like these.

By 11:30 PM, Hatton was descending below 5,000 feet, so that he would be able to spot the coast.  He was sure that Lady Be Good was approaching Benghazi.

More to come.