The discovery made front page news in many papers in summer of 1959 when Lady Be Good was found in the desert. I was very young and I've followed the story for over 40 years. One of the crew who bailed out had a parachute malfunction and was killed instantly. The rest of the crew never found his body (miles away) and never knew what happened to him....
Have been fascinated by this story for years. Thanks for posting the pictures. By the way, the damage done to the story by the spelling and grammar butchering really detracts from the presentation. Maybe next time have someone who knows English look it over before posting.
Bailout was at approx. 0200 in darkness. Had the crew bailed out with their shearling flight suits, they could have survived the cold desert nights. Local tribesmen had poked around the crash site for years and had told the British Petroleum surveying crews of it years before, but none ever ventured there, instead telling USAF Air/Sea Rescue stationed at Wheelus AFB, Libya. They mounted the recovery expedition with the help of British Petroleum and discovered the wreckage.
A tragic story of war. The Lady Be Good flew out of Soluch in the late afternoon, bombed Naples at 1930hrs, then radioed that their ADF was out. Trying dead reckoning back, they overflew their base and far south into the Libyan desert. Believing they were still over the Mediterranean, they bailed out without most of their survival gear. British surveyors were aware of the crash site back in 1950, but no one investigated it before the USAF team attempted it.
Yes Shatner was in the story. They used a B25 for the plane in the movie, can't think what it was called but, remember it so well even though I only saw it once maybe 25-30 years ago.
The crew bailed out several minutes before the Lady crashed. One of the crew members parachute failed to open, so at least he did not suffer the same fate as the rest of the crew. Rest in peace brothers.
Theres on of these lying on Portsalon beach in Donegal near me, it ran out of fuel in 1943 and landed on its belly on the sand. I broke a piece off its no.3 engine cowl and wear it round me neck as a lucky charm! they all survived tho...
This B24 is held in a compound in Libya and should now be urgently sought after by the USA.
In the book I read it is mentioned that the desert appears like ocean at night and hence the difficulty of navigating visually. If you have not read the book(s), then you should as it's a great read and very touching.
@mj268364-Thnx for this post. The music is well suited. Meaning no disrespect to the crew,I could not understand the navigators error until I read "A Wing and A Prayer"by Harry H. Crosby. Crosby,who eventually became Group Navigator writes with candor of his early efforts as a novice to navigate a bomber. There is NO substitute for experience. Curiosity,not criticism ask why the pilots kept flying after the ETA? Their sacrifice outweighs any judgement from us.The mystery is haunting indeed.
To WW2Files: Hunter - Lt. Toner wrote "No Help Yet. Very Cold Night." on the morning of the 12th. He put the diary and fountain pen back into the pocket of Lt. Hatton's shirt, which he was using as extra cover, then he took out his Rosary from his uniform and rolled over on his side while clasping the Rosary between his hands. He died later that day still hold his Rosary..
I saw a story on the history channel that said they never even pulled out their navagation equipment. they were on their first mission and were just gonna follow the rest of the group. due to the dirt strip they flew off of alot of the bombers had engine problems and had to turn back. after awhile they were the lead and had no idea where they were.
A point that is glossed over is that this crew did not just 'get lost'. The navigator stopped navigating after reaching the primary target Naples as shown by his logs. He was either grossly negligent or mentally or medically incapacitated. The pilots failed in their duties by not keeping even a rough estimate of the return flight time. Just that action alone would have gotten them fairly close to home base.
This is a fantastic work my friend, this is something that has been on my mind for over 20 years. I have been working on the location of Vernon on and off for the last 10, one day he will be found once more and the boys will be reunited. God bless them all.
Thank you. I remeber reading about this as a kid, and I was just sitting here and that name popped into my knoggin. Its been a long time...ex-sp4/e-4 USA
the saddest part of this video is reading the diary, you may wonder, if you read it, he says "no help yet, no help" was he going to right more or did he die writing it,,
@snorky500 plane in Tobruq east Libya in a military compound. It was moved from crash site some years ago...here coords for crash site 26°42'52.02"N 24°01'21.27"E google earth
@snorky500 it was located in this very remote desert area so not many visitors but yes, anything that can be removed would have vanished.The main structure rests at Tobruq (look here at these coords to see where it is 32°05'04.66"N 23°58'03.85"E google earth) next to Rommel command post.If you look at these coordinates you will see 2 photos posted of the remains of the plane as it is now
@Olinolan190 some died together. i believe 1 of the crew was missing when they ditched but i can't remember. you saw the bodies to gether they were unable to continue walking so those able walked on and died in the dunes.
I remember watching this story on Climax Theater. I was 9 years old home alone and it scared the bejeebers out of me. It was a new discovery then. This is a very tough way to die, but thank you for commemorating these men.
Was there a B/W film made of this crash ? I seem to remember watching a film years ago were a bomber crashed in the desert and the crew survived or so they thought ! The crew were now ghosts and when each member was found they disappeared and one member of the crew was left because rescuers could not find his body. I would like to get hold of this film again, but my search always comes to a dead end ! Cheers.
This is Fascinating, it has always captured my imagination of that plane and what the men went through this program was shown on History channel called The Ghost Plane of the Desert which i have here , you done a fantastic job of portraying the men and what they went through, well done and Thankyou!
Great video. I read the book as a kid and also a few years ago. Where did you get the photos of the skeletal remains? None of these were in the original book. Thank you very much!
Very good. I`ve read the story.. I belive five of the men managed to walk only a few miles,, but a few others carried on, with one making it around 70 miles. Amazine story.
My dad was in the Air Force and we lived in Libya in the very early 60s. There was a monument to the "Lady Be Good" on base and it was represented by one of the bent up propellers. It was a pretty big deal then. Events come and go quickly in our current pop culture that something such as that would never be noted as Paris or Kim would surely be more important.
@alwaysopen According to folks I've talked to, that propeller was in front of the base chapel at Wheelus AB. When Gadhafi threw the US out in '68-'69, the prop was supposedly moved to Wright-Patterson AFB...although if you look down on Google Earth, you can still make out the basic outlines of what was Wheelus.
My grandfather was a B-24 pilot; flew out of Attlebridge with the 466th.
I found the house my family lived in off base on Google earth. I found the beach we used to swim at as well as the elementary school I attended. I have been looking at those Google images for years. It kind of broke my heart when those idiots started bombing Tripoli as it is a beautiful place. Yet another piece of my childhood I will never see again.
Sad, beyond all measure. If only the youth of today could know how their freedom and liberty was paid for by the youth of yesterday. That they have no interest makes it all the more sad.
@logancody05 Amen. This generation is totally being infused with a society broken ... no real value is celebrated any longer. True core principles are mocked ...
why are there instruments missing out of the dashboard in the cockpit if it has lain undiscovered? someone must have found it
2001johnnytheboy 1 week ago 2
The discovery made front page news in many papers in summer of 1959 when Lady Be Good was found in the desert. I was very young and I've followed the story for over 40 years. One of the crew who bailed out had a parachute malfunction and was killed instantly. The rest of the crew never found his body (miles away) and never knew what happened to him....
lbarton22 1 week ago
did i here some where that the plane was taken 2 a musem
ballygeale1 2 weeks ago
@ballygeale1 Yes,it is still in Lybia,in a storage area.They had new pictures of it in Sport Aviation magazine resently.
davidfw190 1 week ago
i never knew of this... is the "lady be good" still out there in the desert?
fabulousprofound 1 month ago
Enjoyed this. Thanks.
N8229Y 1 month ago
lot of spelling errors
boats752 2 months ago
And whats about the remains of Vernon Moore?So nowdays his is still missing in action?
ied86 2 months ago
is it correct or not that they went of course due to faulty navigation equipment not pilot error
paulboon 2 months ago
Have been fascinated by this story for years. Thanks for posting the pictures. By the way, the damage done to the story by the spelling and grammar butchering really detracts from the presentation. Maybe next time have someone who knows English look it over before posting.
Nothing personal. Just sharing my point of view.
trugm9 2 months ago 2
God Bless these men's souls.....
Greenhornet270 3 months ago
All of the aircraft that received parts scavenged from this wreck also came to bad ends. Bad Karma on this poor old girl.
356butch 3 months ago
Bailout was at approx. 0200 in darkness. Had the crew bailed out with their shearling flight suits, they could have survived the cold desert nights. Local tribesmen had poked around the crash site for years and had told the British Petroleum surveying crews of it years before, but none ever ventured there, instead telling USAF Air/Sea Rescue stationed at Wheelus AFB, Libya. They mounted the recovery expedition with the help of British Petroleum and discovered the wreckage.
madcitymcflyer 3 months ago
A tragic story of war. The Lady Be Good flew out of Soluch in the late afternoon, bombed Naples at 1930hrs, then radioed that their ADF was out. Trying dead reckoning back, they overflew their base and far south into the Libyan desert. Believing they were still over the Mediterranean, they bailed out without most of their survival gear. British surveyors were aware of the crash site back in 1950, but no one investigated it before the USAF team attempted it.
madcitymcflyer 3 months ago
incroyable histoire humaine ,triste fin pour ces jeunes soldats morts au nom de la libertee ! gardons en memoire leurs histoire .
yankee3448 3 months ago
Yes Shatner was in the story. They used a B25 for the plane in the movie, can't think what it was called but, remember it so well even though I only saw it once maybe 25-30 years ago.
shrekward 3 months ago
@shrekward
The movie was called 'Sole Survivor.'
OU812ICRUNVS 3 months ago
They gave it their all. RIP fellow airmen.
RexReam 4 months ago
Wasn`t there a film where the ghosts are playing baseball and a team comes to recover the body but they can`t find one?
xfire7 4 months ago
Wasn't a movie made about this story? I think William Shatner was in it, or something.
robertplattbell1 4 months ago
The crew bailed out several minutes before the Lady crashed. One of the crew members parachute failed to open, so at least he did not suffer the same fate as the rest of the crew. Rest in peace brothers.
bwild61 4 months ago
So it was the navigator who doomed this crew .
19thSFGA 4 months ago
Theres on of these lying on Portsalon beach in Donegal near me, it ran out of fuel in 1943 and landed on its belly on the sand. I broke a piece off its no.3 engine cowl and wear it round me neck as a lucky charm! they all survived tho...
dratsab1980 4 months ago
Thanks for putting this up!...a really well put together film. Very interesting - I had never heard this story before? Excellent work :)
rebelwithoutaporsche 4 months ago
The twilight zone based an episode on this but used a B 25.It was pretty good.
chilsam 4 months ago
A beautiful and very moving tribute to soles lost needlessly.
Thank you.
Ferret4100 4 months ago
well done ,
cornishrob123 4 months ago
This B24 is held in a compound in Libya and should now be urgently sought after by the USA.
In the book I read it is mentioned that the desert appears like ocean at night and hence the difficulty of navigating visually. If you have not read the book(s), then you should as it's a great read and very touching.
teledine 4 months ago
@mj268364-Thnx for this post. The music is well suited. Meaning no disrespect to the crew,I could not understand the navigators error until I read "A Wing and A Prayer"by Harry H. Crosby. Crosby,who eventually became Group Navigator writes with candor of his early efforts as a novice to navigate a bomber. There is NO substitute for experience. Curiosity,not criticism ask why the pilots kept flying after the ETA? Their sacrifice outweighs any judgement from us.The mystery is haunting indeed.
Flickchaser 4 months ago
To WW2Files: Hunter - Lt. Toner wrote "No Help Yet. Very Cold Night." on the morning of the 12th. He put the diary and fountain pen back into the pocket of Lt. Hatton's shirt, which he was using as extra cover, then he took out his Rosary from his uniform and rolled over on his side while clasping the Rosary between his hands. He died later that day still hold his Rosary..
B24DLadyBeGood 5 months ago
I saw a story on the history channel that said they never even pulled out their navagation equipment. they were on their first mission and were just gonna follow the rest of the group. due to the dirt strip they flew off of alot of the bombers had engine problems and had to turn back. after awhile they were the lead and had no idea where they were.
highlo3517 5 months ago
Excellent work!
Congratulations!
Greetings from Greece
uboot1967 5 months ago
A point that is glossed over is that this crew did not just 'get lost'. The navigator stopped navigating after reaching the primary target Naples as shown by his logs. He was either grossly negligent or mentally or medically incapacitated. The pilots failed in their duties by not keeping even a rough estimate of the return flight time. Just that action alone would have gotten them fairly close to home base.
KB4QAA 6 months ago
This is a fantastic work my friend, this is something that has been on my mind for over 20 years. I have been working on the location of Vernon on and off for the last 10, one day he will be found once more and the boys will be reunited. God bless them all.
markrablin 6 months ago
Thank you. I remeber reading about this as a kid, and I was just sitting here and that name popped into my knoggin. Its been a long time...ex-sp4/e-4 USA
onceANexile 6 months ago
Sad,..all due to Navigational error,.not the only time it happened during the war but possibly the most well known.
modeler308 6 months ago
the saddest part of this video is reading the diary, you may wonder, if you read it, he says "no help yet, no help" was he going to right more or did he die writing it,,
WW2files 6 months ago
The bomber wreckage still exists. Its where abouts unknown. But I have seen photos of the fuselage and the wing.
snorky500 6 months ago
@snorky500 plane in Tobruq east Libya in a military compound. It was moved from crash site some years ago...here coords for crash site 26°42'52.02"N 24°01'21.27"E google earth
BludShotiiiiis 5 months ago
@BludShotiiiiis Thank you. That is the best answer anyone can give!
snorky500 5 months ago
@BludShotiiiiis I wonder how much of the plane still exists since. I know there are souvineer hunters out there that steal pieces off of it.
snorky500 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@snorky500 it was located in this very remote desert area so not many visitors but yes, anything that can be removed would have vanished.The main structure rests at Tobruq (look here at these coords to see where it is 32°05'04.66"N 23°58'03.85"E google earth) next to Rommel command post.If you look at these coordinates you will see 2 photos posted of the remains of the plane as it is now
BludShotiiiiis 3 months ago
@mj268364
This is a sad story, were they all found together or did they all die in different places?
Olinolan190 7 months ago
@Olinolan190 some died together. i believe 1 of the crew was missing when they ditched but i can't remember. you saw the bodies to gether they were unable to continue walking so those able walked on and died in the dunes.
highlo3517 5 months ago
RIP Lady Be Good. Thank you and your crew to help win this war. You made the ultimate sacrifice for your country. Thank you.
fiverats1 8 months ago
nice vid, but you need to fix up some simple spelling mistakes.
crazyknight2008 9 months ago
Short but well made doc!
Jman
Kabul81 9 months ago
great video
kayakr1 9 months ago
Very powerful and moving video of the gallant crew of the Lady Be Good.
PlumCrazyNut 9 months ago
I remember watching this story on Climax Theater. I was 9 years old home alone and it scared the bejeebers out of me. It was a new discovery then. This is a very tough way to die, but thank you for commemorating these men.
harpsichordite 10 months ago
Was there a B/W film made of this crash ? I seem to remember watching a film years ago were a bomber crashed in the desert and the crew survived or so they thought ! The crew were now ghosts and when each member was found they disappeared and one member of the crew was left because rescuers could not find his body. I would like to get hold of this film again, but my search always comes to a dead end ! Cheers.
ian8354 10 months ago
@ian8354 Try " sole survivor " parts 1 thru 9 here on you tube
2yrsleft 8 months ago
@ian8354 Try davidthebruce45@aol.com I got a DVD of the film from him
TheOldprogrocker 1 month ago
This is Fascinating, it has always captured my imagination of that plane and what the men went through this program was shown on History channel called The Ghost Plane of the Desert which i have here , you done a fantastic job of portraying the men and what they went through, well done and Thankyou!
coupedevillekid 1 year ago
Great video. I read the book as a kid and also a few years ago. Where did you get the photos of the skeletal remains? None of these were in the original book. Thank you very much!
ytqpwoeiru 1 year ago
Very good. I`ve read the story.. I belive five of the men managed to walk only a few miles,, but a few others carried on, with one making it around 70 miles. Amazine story.
xvoy2002 1 year ago
My dad was in the Air Force and we lived in Libya in the very early 60s. There was a monument to the "Lady Be Good" on base and it was represented by one of the bent up propellers. It was a pretty big deal then. Events come and go quickly in our current pop culture that something such as that would never be noted as Paris or Kim would surely be more important.
alwaysopen 1 year ago
@alwaysopen According to folks I've talked to, that propeller was in front of the base chapel at Wheelus AB. When Gadhafi threw the US out in '68-'69, the prop was supposedly moved to Wright-Patterson AFB...although if you look down on Google Earth, you can still make out the basic outlines of what was Wheelus.
My grandfather was a B-24 pilot; flew out of Attlebridge with the 466th.
Warhorse500 9 months ago
@Warhorse500
I found the house my family lived in off base on Google earth. I found the beach we used to swim at as well as the elementary school I attended. I have been looking at those Google images for years. It kind of broke my heart when those idiots started bombing Tripoli as it is a beautiful place. Yet another piece of my childhood I will never see again.
alwaysopen 9 months ago
mj268364 a book called after the battle have done several articals on this wreck ,
it has been salvaged too ,
The1200sportster 1 year ago
Sad, beyond all measure. If only the youth of today could know how their freedom and liberty was paid for by the youth of yesterday. That they have no interest makes it all the more sad.
logancody05 1 year ago
@logancody05 Amen. This generation is totally being infused with a society broken ... no real value is celebrated any longer. True core principles are mocked ...
lonewulf44 1 year ago
@lonewulf44 Dead right my friend. Sadly, you're dead right.
logancody05 1 year ago