Thomas R Turbaville Jr

Military
Ground personnel of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force attend to a crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759) nicknamed "Little Butch". First handwritten caption on reverse: '"Somewhere in Italy" Little Butch had seen better days.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: '2700 Gallons of GAS, 10-500 Lb bombs Pilot, Lt Massare March 29-44.' media-418263.jpg FRE 8788 Ground personnel of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force attend to a crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759) nicknamed "Little Butch". First handwritten caption on reverse: '"Somewhere in Italy" Little Butch had seen better days.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: '2700 Gallons of GAS, 10-500 Lb bombs Pilot, Lt Massare March 29-44.' Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 8788 - Ground personnel of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force attend to a crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759) nicknamed "Little Butch". First...

Thomas Turbaville served as a flight engineer on B-24 Liberators, nicknamed 'Little Butch' and 'Little Butch II'.



He documented 'Little Butch''s demise as a landing gear malfunction, hence 'Little Butch II'.

Connections

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Units served with

A B-24 Liberator (serial number 44-450443) of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force releases bombs during a mission.

451st Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

Ground personnel of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force attend to a crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759) nicknamed "Little Butch". First handwritten caption on reverse: '"Somewhere in Italy" Little Butch had seen better days.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: '2700 Gallons of GAS, 10-500 Lb bombs Pilot, Lt Massare March 29-44.'

42-7759

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Little Butch
  • Unit: 451st Bomb Group 727th Bomb Squadron

Events

Event Location Date Description

Enlisted

10 November 1942

Born

Born

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Capitalized the Words in the "Role/job" field to aid readability.

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Correspondence with Thomas Turbaville's nephew, Eric.

NARA enlistment record: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf…

Thomas R Turbaville: Gallery (5 items)

A crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759) nicknamed "Little Butch" of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force. Composite image.

Object number: FRE 8787 - A crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759)...

Ground personnel of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force attend to a crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759) nicknamed "Little Butch". First handwritten caption on reverse: '"Somewhere in Italy" Little Butch had seen better days.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: '2700 Gallons of GAS, 10-500 Lb bombs Pilot, Lt Massare March 29-44.'

Object number: FRE 8788 - Ground personnel of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air...

A crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759) nicknamed "Little Butch" of the 451st Bomb Group, 15th Air Force.

Object number: FRE 8789 - A crashed B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-7759)...

Object number: UPL 30960 - This diary belonged to my Uncle - Thomas Riley...