- The B-24D, 41-24198, in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron, was one of 2 B-24Ds in the MTO based at Benghazi, Libya, with identical nose art pictures, and both with the same names, The Vulgar Virgin, this one, 41-24198, was flown by Capt. Wallace Taylor, and was in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombardment Squadron, based at Benghazi, Libya, It should not be confused with Lt. Claude A. Turner's B-24D, 42-40608, from the 8th Air Force, also named, The Vulgar Virgin, but was from the 8th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 328th Bombing Squadron, from Britain, temporarily detached (TDY) to the 9th Air Force, at Benghazi, with exactly the same nose art as Capt. Wallace Taylor's B-24D aircraft, 41-24198. On the Ploesti mission, Capt. Wallace Taylor bailed out of, The Vulgar Virgin, 41-24198, over Ploesti, was taken prisoner (POW), and survived the Ploesti mission. The rest of his crew failed to bail out in time and were killed, KIA. 1 POW. 9 KIA. 1 Aug 43.

Along with the rest of the 8th Air Force, Lt. Claude Turner's B-24D, 42-40608, had been sent from the U.K. to North Africa, in late 1942, or early 1943, temporarily detached (TDY) to the 9th Air Force in Benghazi, Libya, to help with Operation Tidal Wave, to destroy the oil refineries at Ploesti. Lt. Claude Turner, in 42-40608, from the 8th Air Force, the command pilot of, 42-40608, also flew on the Ploesti mission. Lt. Turner's, Vulgar Virgin, 42-40608, was damaged by two direct flak hits over it's target and flew to Chorlu, Turkey, and was interned (INT-TURK) in Turkey. Aug 1, 1943. Lt. Turner and his bombardier, James Marquis, escaped from the Turks, and both men returned to Britain to the 8th Air Force (RTS).
                                                                                                                                          Later, after returning to Britain, Lt. Claude Turner, was flying another B-24D, Birmingham Blitzkrieg, when he was shot down and killed (KIA) by an FW-190 fighter over the North Sea after a mission to Bremen, Germany. - Pilot Turner and all of his crewmen, minus James Marquis, who was not on this mission, were killed, KIA. 10 KIA. Nov 13, 1943.

~ Note : To add to the confusion between these two B-24Ds, 42-40608 and 41-24198, is the fact that both of the airplanes' names and nose art were exact copies of the same pin up painting, and were painted with their identical names and nose art portraits, almost exactly the same, on the noses of both airplanes. However, the 8th Air Force plane, Claude Taylor's plane, was painted overall in olive drab for it's ETO camouflage scheme. The 9th Air Force's plane, The Vulgar Virgin, Wallace Taylor's plane, was painted overall in the USAAF's sand color (faded to pink) for the MTO's camouflage scheme.

Capt. Wallace C. Taylor's B-24D, The Vulgar Virgin, 41-24198, in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, The Pyramiders, and the 344th Bomb Squadron, based Lete Air Base at Benghazi, Libya, with the same name and nose art of a beautiful scantily clad woman lying on her side talking on a telephone, with even more names on it's tail, added later : Hell From Heaven, and, Shoot You're Faded. Capt. Taylor also flew his twin named B-24D, 41-24198, The Vulgar Virgin, on Operation Tidal Wave while in the 9th Air Force's 98th Bomb Group. Taylor's target was also White IV, the Astra Romano refinery. As the two groups, the 98th and the 44th Bomb Groups, led by Col. John R. Kane and Col. Leon Johnson, respectively, approached their targets, the entire Ploesti refinery area was already on fire and compromised by the flames, smoke, and exploding delayed action bombs previously dropped by some of the planes from the 93rd and 376th Bomb Groups, completely out of the attack plan. When the 98th Bomb Group, led by Col. John Kane, and several planes following him, entered a wall of smoke and flames over the Astra Romano refinery complex, Wallace Taylor's B-24D, did not reappear coming out of the smoke. It was shot down, lost over their target, and failed to return (FTR) from the mission. The only survivor from, 41-24198, was Capt.Taylor, the only one who bailed out successfully at low altitude,and was captured, and became a prisoner. 1 POW. MACR166

On, 15 October 1945, Pilot Capt. Wallace Taylor, O-729382, was interrogated by 1st. Lt. Lucille Caldwell and the following was stated:

The Vulgar Virgin, 41-24198, was flying as lead aircraft in "E" section of the 98th Bomb Group's attack formation. Over the target, the bomber took a direct flak hit in the nose section and burst into flames. Capt. Taylor pulled out of the formation and reported, " I immediately called the nose and tail gunners over the interphone, but could not contact either one. I, then, gave the bail out order and rang the alarm bell. I saw the copilot, engineer, and assistant engineer bail out. I do not know what happened to the other members of the crew. I bailed out and landed in the vicinity of Ploesti. I left the plane after those with me were out, and it was impossible to stay any longer in the flames and heat. ”

The Vulgar Virgin, 41-24198, likely photographed at Benina, Libya, 1943, was a Consolidated B-24D Liberator, B-24-D-20-CO, part of the 9th Air Force in Libya, in the 98th Bomb Group, the Pyramiders, and the 344th Bomb Squadron. Until September, 1943, the Pyramiders remained in the 9th Air Force, and, after this date, they were under command of the 12th Air Force. Beginning on 1 November 1943, the Pyramiders came under the newly established 15th Air Force and moved to Southern Italy. But Capt. Taylor's, Vulgar Virgin, 41-24198, and its crew, were never part of these later events because they had been one of the many B-24 aircraft shot down and lost on the Ploesti mission. 1 August 1943. On that day, 47 B-24D Liberators from the 98th Bomb Group took off for the raid against the Ploesti oil refineries. Twenty six turned back, and/or were lost over their targets. Only 21 returned. (21 RTB). Capt. Taylor's, Vulgar Virgin, was flying as the lead aircraft in the 98th Group's "E" Section formation. After taking a direct flak hit in it's nose section approaching it's target, it exploded in flames. Capt. Taylor immediately pulled out of formation and ordered a bail out, but they were too low for their chutes to fully open, and Capt.Taylor, was the only one of the four, who successfully bailed out and survived. This was the crew’s fate: 9-KIA. 1-POW.  Aircraft failed to return (FTR).  1 Aug 43.  

Capt. Wallace C. Taylor, Pilot (POW)
FO Paul W. Packer, CoPilot (KIA)
TSgt. Gerald E. Rabb, Engineer/Top Turret Gunner (KIA)
TSgt. Alfred F. Turgeon, Radio Operator/Left Waist Gunner (KIA)
SSgt. Ralph M. Robbins, Gunner/Asst. Eng. (KIA)
SSgt. Louis Kaiser, Right Waist Gunner (KIA)
SSgt. Donald H. Duchene, Tail Gunner (KIA)
Sgt. Arthur B. Van Kleek, Tunnel Gunner (KIA).
1st Lt. Jack K. Wood, Navigator (KIA)
1st Lt. Robert N. Austin, Bombardier (KIA)