B-24D - "Exterminator "- RCL - H - 41 23717

The crew of B-24D Liberator (41-23717) nicknamed "Exterminator" of the 93rd Bomb Group, don their high altitude flight gear before a mission. 3 April 1943. In the centre is the pilot, 1st Lt. Hugh Roper, and gunner Earl Lemoine. Image via BL Davies Image stamped on reverse: 'passed for publication 20 Apr 1943[stamp] . 'Return to P.I.D'[stamp]. Printed caption on reverse: 'ETO HD 43 2859 Moore 8 Apr 43. The martian appearance of these clothes give these combat flyers an even grimmer appearance. Climbing into high altitude uniforms are the crew of a Liberator just about to leave its station in England for another mission over enemy territory.' Handwritten caption on reverse: '2508/RF 93 BG air crew suiting for mission.'

The B-24D, 41-23717, "Exterminator", of the 330th Bomb Squadron, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 8th Air Force. This plane and crew were flying as element lead when it collided with another plane in its element ( 121-J ) after entering a cloud bank over Bulgaria. Both planes crashed in flames in the mountains. MACR 334 "Exterminator" Crew : Capt. Hugh R. Roper - Pilot (KIA) - Oak City, UT, Capt. John B. White, Jr - Navigator (KIA - Hillsboro, IL 1st Lt. Ted Brannon - Bombardier (KIA) - Coatesville, PA, T/Sgt. Henry C. Lloyd, Jr.- Radio Operator (KIA) - Flint, MI T/Sgt. Albert L. Lee - Tail Gunner T/Sgt. Joseph L. Craighead - Waist Gunner S/Sgt. Earl P Lemoine - Gunner (KIA) - Moreauville, LA S/Sgt. William A. Defreese - Waist Gunner (KIA) - Anniston, AL Walter Stewart was not on "Exterminator" when it crashed. He is my father, Col Robert W. Stewart's cousin. Walter flew the B-24D, "Utah Man", on the Ploesti mission. 1 Aug 1943. Stewart survived the mission and the war.

Page 47 of the 93rd Bomb Group unit history. Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations). Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.