hello Crew. I have a photo of Lady be good with my dad she was at walker field kansas. On Pops photo she has more bombs painted on her and one big Bomb painted on her.. Its a cllear good shot with i could post for you. feel free to contack me. My Dads name was Harry Batagios
I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused...The bomber "Lady Be Good" that crashed in the desert was a B-24, not a B-29. Are you saying that there was a B-29 with the same name? If so, I would be interested in finding out that story. Thanks! :)
this plane is now in a military compound at Tobruq, eastern Libya near Egyptian border. It was moved from crash site (26°42'52.02"N 24°01'21.27"E) a number of years ago.When fighting ends soon maybe you can go visit,Benina airport at Benghazi opening soon for flights from Tunis Air and Turkish
termikesmike Do you happen to know the name of the man standing in front of the plane in the begininng picture??? My grandfather painted Nose are during world war II we have been told that he may have painted this particular one we are not sure but the guy resembles pictures of my Grandpa but just wandered if that was a crew member or the guy that had painted the nose art work on the plane some names that would be helpful is Jake Sanders Nicknamed Red in the service army air corp
Ill have my mom and aunts dig up pictures or anything they can find I do realize the man in the picture probably isnt may grandfather maybe he just looks an awful lot like him but as far as the painting goes I will see what I can dig up if i find anything that may be interesting to you in research ill send it your way Thanks a million :)
"Lady Be Good" was also Bill Hatten's crew of the 376th (B-24) flying out of Soluch, Libya in April, 1943, which never returned from its mission to Naples. The AAC presumed them dead. The US didn't search the desert though... The crew evidently tried to walk back to their base perishing in the Calancio Sand Sea a week later. BP discovered the remains of five airmen then later assisted in the location of 3 more in the summers of 1958 and 1959. 8 of the 9 were found. ...Very haunting.
Did they over fly their base? Wow. It looks like some 15 years went by before anyone ever returned to the region of the desert where they were found. No one ever searched the desert? I'm a little confused. My grandfather was stationed at Pearl in 1940. He was an oiler on the USS Enterprise. I'm teaching American Pacific history but this desert story seems very interesting.
You can learn about the entire mission at various sites; Why the Americans never flew into the desert to see if maybe they did overfly their base is a frustrating fact of war. The crew survived with a half canteen of water long enough in 130F day time temperatures with near freezing temperatures at night but the help never came; Incredibly their remains were found 85 miles NW of the crash site. Diaries indicated all wanted to die by their fifth day out. 3 went on but died a few days later.
One crew member was found 26 miles NW of the camp site; Another, more incredibly, had made it another 30 miles before he collapsed. The ninth man was never found. You talk about EFFORT-
Their memorial reads: "In memory of nine who made the desert a sanctuary."
This is inspirational stuff- my problems amount to nothing when I think about these guys.
thanks, interesting - remember him saying they went 'through' the mountains, they couldn't actually fly over 'em .
should be a site where all the planes are identified by name,with photos of the 'nose art' -just found one of "The Black Widow" with crew- painting of a lady in a spider's web.
It was a popular song "Lady Be Good" during the war. The other "Lady Be Good" was a B 24 that ,crashed in the Libyan Desert. It was found in 58'/59'. All but one crew member was found in 60'.
@termikesmike I have info about this plane My grandpa was the right gunner and is pictured with the crew.
in fact we have a book the pilot wrote all about their time in the war.
this says it was lost at sea I'm not sure aobut that they made it out of the war. It could have been lost after the war or maybe in Korea my grandpa didn't now what happend to it.
Thanks for clearing that up Mike...whatever info you can find please send my way because I am very interested. Have a good one!
RosesForLadyBeGood 3 weeks ago
hello Crew. I have a photo of Lady be good with my dad she was at walker field kansas. On Pops photo she has more bombs painted on her and one big Bomb painted on her.. Its a cllear good shot with i could post for you. feel free to contack me. My Dads name was Harry Batagios
consultus4 1 month ago
@consultus4
please post any info you can,thanks
termikesmike 3 weeks ago
I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused...The bomber "Lady Be Good" that crashed in the desert was a B-24, not a B-29. Are you saying that there was a B-29 with the same name? If so, I would be interested in finding out that story. Thanks! :)
RosesForLadyBeGood 1 month ago
@RosesForLadyBeGood
yes, as you can see in the photo, that's a B-29 with same name!
i'm still trying to find more info - my Dad passed away at 80 in 1996.
termikesmike 3 weeks ago
this plane is now in a military compound at Tobruq, eastern Libya near Egyptian border. It was moved from crash site (26°42'52.02"N 24°01'21.27"E) a number of years ago.When fighting ends soon maybe you can go visit,Benina airport at Benghazi opening soon for flights from Tunis Air and Turkish
BludShotiiiiis 5 months ago
you're reffering to the 'famous' B-24
termikesmike 3 weeks ago
termikesmike Do you happen to know the name of the man standing in front of the plane in the begininng picture??? My grandfather painted Nose are during world war II we have been told that he may have painted this particular one we are not sure but the guy resembles pictures of my Grandpa but just wandered if that was a crew member or the guy that had painted the nose art work on the plane some names that would be helpful is Jake Sanders Nicknamed Red in the service army air corp
jkschmidt83 3 years ago
good question, bottom line - don't know .
I believe this photo was taken in Egypt, and possibly the 3rd guy from the right 2nd row ?
I'd appreciate any info you have about this subject - who actually 'named' the planes/ when ?
He may have painted the more 'famous' B-24 (mentioned before ).
thanks,
termikesmike 3 years ago
Comment removed
jkschmidt83 3 years ago
Ill have my mom and aunts dig up pictures or anything they can find I do realize the man in the picture probably isnt may grandfather maybe he just looks an awful lot like him but as far as the painting goes I will see what I can dig up if i find anything that may be interesting to you in research ill send it your way Thanks a million :)
jkschmidt83 3 years ago
"Lady Be Good" was also Bill Hatten's crew of the 376th (B-24) flying out of Soluch, Libya in April, 1943, which never returned from its mission to Naples. The AAC presumed them dead. The US didn't search the desert though... The crew evidently tried to walk back to their base perishing in the Calancio Sand Sea a week later. BP discovered the remains of five airmen then later assisted in the location of 3 more in the summers of 1958 and 1959. 8 of the 9 were found. ...Very haunting.
ThePacificSun 3 years ago
Could you explain what happened in more detail?
Did they over fly their base? Wow. It looks like some 15 years went by before anyone ever returned to the region of the desert where they were found. No one ever searched the desert? I'm a little confused. My grandfather was stationed at Pearl in 1940. He was an oiler on the USS Enterprise. I'm teaching American Pacific history but this desert story seems very interesting.
Aloha.
AnnaKPOIHonolulu 3 years ago
You can learn about the entire mission at various sites; Why the Americans never flew into the desert to see if maybe they did overfly their base is a frustrating fact of war. The crew survived with a half canteen of water long enough in 130F day time temperatures with near freezing temperatures at night but the help never came; Incredibly their remains were found 85 miles NW of the crash site. Diaries indicated all wanted to die by their fifth day out. 3 went on but died a few days later.
ThePacificSun 3 years ago
I just read this-
One crew member was found 26 miles NW of the camp site; Another, more incredibly, had made it another 30 miles before he collapsed. The ninth man was never found. You talk about EFFORT-
Their memorial reads: "In memory of nine who made the desert a sanctuary."
This is inspirational stuff- my problems amount to nothing when I think about these guys.
ThePacificSun 3 years ago
I agree life's easy now. Incredible is right. Most honorable effort. Very tragic result. Thanks. Aloha. :)
AnnaKPOIHonolulu 3 years ago
that is sooooo sad they were all really handsome R.I.P you brave men and thank you
patchesmissy 3 years ago
note - there's 11 bombs and 5 camels -what do they represent ? missions and 'target confirmed hit' ?
termikesmike 3 years ago
It means they flew 11 bombing missions and 5 supply missions over the Himalayas ('the Hump")
kentamitchell 3 years ago
thanks, interesting - remember him saying they went 'through' the mountains, they couldn't actually fly over 'em .
should be a site where all the planes are identified by name,with photos of the 'nose art' -just found one of "The Black Widow" with crew- painting of a lady in a spider's web.
termikesmike 3 years ago
It was a popular song "Lady Be Good" during the war. The other "Lady Be Good" was a B 24 that ,crashed in the Libyan Desert. It was found in 58'/59'. All but one crew member was found in 60'.
Auggie56 3 years ago
I hadn't made that 'connection' :
Lady Be Good = 1924 Broadway musical by Gershwin "Oh, Lady be Good!" from musical
Lady Be Good (1928 film)
Lady Be Good 1941 MGM musical film
Lady Be Good (aircraft) = this is the B-24 found
in the desert.
Yet to find any details about this B-29.
You'd think there would be a history of every one of these bombers-haven't found any results for this "Lady Be Good"
termikesmike 3 years ago
@termikesmike I have info about this plane My grandpa was the right gunner and is pictured with the crew.
in fact we have a book the pilot wrote all about their time in the war.
this says it was lost at sea I'm not sure aobut that they made it out of the war. It could have been lost after the war or maybe in Korea my grandpa didn't now what happend to it.
Wipelstick1979 3 months ago
there was also another Lady be good lost in lybia in ww2.
crazyknight2008 4 years ago