8th Air Force
Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945.
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B-24 42-94812 'Little Warrior' shown with Pilot John Jay Oling (standing third from right) at Mountain Home, Idaho, before flying the to the UK. John Jay Oling (490th BG/850th BS) confirms that he flew this plane to England. At no time was it ever called "Little Lakassaky". The crew did want to put on a somewhat risqué name but their concept was squashed as being too bold. The crew then came up with the 'Little Warrior' design which was quickly approved. The crew hired a sergeant to paint the design on the nose. It turned out so poorly that Lt Oling removed it and repainted the nose art himself. It remained unchanged until the day that Lt. Hansen's crew went down with the plane.
Connections
Units
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490th Bomb Group
Group
The 490th Bomb Group, like the 486th and 487th Bomb Groups transitioned from flying B-24 Liberators to B-17 Flying Fortresses, which were used in combat missions from late August 1944. Based at Eye, Suffolk, the Group were focused in the early months... -
850th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
People
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John Oling
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot
Flew B-24H #4294812 'Little Warrior' and chose the Indian nose art for the Liberator -
John Oling
Military | Pilot
Member of Oling crew
Aircraft
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42-94812 'Little Warrior'
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 850BS, 490BG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to 862BS, 493BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Fallersleben; flak hit holed fuel tanks/lines causing conflagration, flames from cockpit to rear of bomb bay. Crew Lt's J.H. Hansen, S.A...
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2019 21:51:53 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with caption, unit associations, person associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
