42-110070 | American Air Museum

Nicknames: - Lady Luck - Elmer
Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
Production block number: B-24-J-130-CO
Manufacturer: Consolidated
Markings & paint scheme: The B-24J, named, Lady Luck, and, Elmer, was painted overall in the standard U.S. Army Air Force olive drab camouflage color, on the top and sides of the horizontal empennage, wings, and fuselage. The undersides of the empennage, wings, and fuselage were painted in the standard grey color. The airplane's name, Elmer, was originally painted on the RH forward nose section with no nose art. Later, on the LH side of the nose, the second of the aircraft's names, Lady Luck, was added, originally, without any nose art, but later, Lady Luck's picture of a bare breasted, scantily clad, red haired lady holding a wrench in her right hand, and a large green shamrock for good luck in her left hand, was added to the RH and LH side of the nose, covering over the name, Elmer, on the RH side. On, Lady Luck's tail was her squadron call letter, coded, Z5-K. Her RCLs, also painted the OB sides of her vertical stabilizer fins were, the letter, "K", along with her abbreviated serial number, 2110070. The plane's national insignias were white stars on blue roundels with yellow surrounding borders, later changed to red borders in late 1943, and, later still, dark blue borders in early 1944. Note : The names of the Army Air Force and Navy bombers were often shared with, and copied, by other crews and airplanes. The name, Lady Luck, and her nose art was very popular in the 8th, 9th, and 15th Air Forces, and appeared on numerous other airplanes, including B-24 and B-17 Flying Fortress bombers in the MTO, the ETO, and in the Pacific Theater, as well.

42-110070 - Lady Luck - Elmer

Object Number - UPL 27049 - B-24J - 42-110070. Lady Luck . Port / Left Side - Before Nose Art was Added. Starboard / Right side has "Elmer". RCL "E" was changed to...

The B-24J, 42-110070, was assigned to the 754th Bomb Squadron, the 458th Bomb Group, in the 8th Air Force, USAAF. The airplane crashed or was force landed on the European Continent. 10 Jan 45. Salvaged 13 Mar 45.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

458th Bomb Group

Unit Hierarchy: Group
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

754th Bomb Squadron

Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
Air Force: Eighth Air Force
Type Category: Bombardment

People

Charles Aillet

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
Role/Job: Radio Operator

George P Bradley

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 458th Bomb Group 56th Fighter Group 61st Fighter Squadron 754th Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: O-693610
Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
Role/Job: Bomber / Fighter pilot

Richard Kenneth Brush

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 12120039
Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
Role/Job: Engineer

John R Butler

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
Role/Job: Bombardier

Bartholomew Catanzaro

Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
Nationality: American
Unit: 458th Bomb Group 490th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron 851st Bomb Squadron
Service Numbers: 11136205 / O-818106
Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
Role/Job: Co-Pilot

Places

Horsham St Faith

Site type: Airfield

Aircraft

41-23778

Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
Nicknames: - Jenny - Lady Luck
Unit: 44th Bomb Group 66th Bomb Squadron

41-29128

Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
Nicknames: - Lady Luck
Unit: 446th Bomb Group 704th Bomb Squadron

Events

Event	Location	Date	Description
Other Mission to Troarn	14670 Troarn, France	18 July 1944	Mission to Troarn. 18 Jul 44. Dane crew aboard.
Other Mission to 3 x No Balls [V1 site]	France	2 August 1944	Mission to 3 x No Balls V1 site. 02 Aug 44. Dane crew aboard.
Other Mission to Dole/Tavaux	39100 Dole, France	14 August 1944	Mission to Dole/Tavaux. 14 Aug 44. Bradley crew aboard.
Other Mission to Tertre	Tertre, 7333 Saint-Ghislain, Belgium	25 August 1944	Mission to Tertre. 25 Aug 44. Bradley crew aboard. Severe Flak damage.
Crashed	France	10 January 1945	Crashed or forced landed on the Continent 10 Jan 45.
Other Salvaged	France	13 March 1945	Salvaged 13 Mar 45.
Manufactured	San Diego, CA, USA		Built at Consolidated.
Delivered	California, USA		Delivered to USAAF.
Assigned	Horsham St Faith, Norwich NR10, UK		Assigned to 754BS, 458BG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

Date16 May 2022 10:38:14

ContributorAl_Skiff

ChangesChanges to unit associations

Sources

http://www.458bg.com/group-aircraft
http://www.458bg.com/crewj149dane.htm
http://www.458bg.com/crewbradley.htm
http://www.8thafhs.com/get_one_acgroup.php?acgroup_id=52
http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html

Date2 Feb 2022 09:28:38

ContributorKickapoo

ChangesChanges to markings

Sources

Best Web - B-24J - 42-110070 - Lady Luck

Date2 Feb 2022 09:16:59

ContributorKickapoo

ChangesChanges to markings and events

Sources

Best Web - B-24J - 42-110070 - Lady Luck

Date2 Feb 2022 08:45:27

ContributorKickapoo

ChangesChanges to markings

Sources

Best Web - B-24J - 42-110070 - Lady Luck

Date2 Feb 2022 08:09:11

ContributorKickapoo

ChangesChanges to nicknames

Sources

Best Web - B-24J - 42-110070 - Lady Luck - Elmer

Date2 Feb 2022 07:46:22

ContributorKickapoo

ChangesChanges to production block number and description

Sources

Best Web - B-24J - 42-110070 - Lady Luck

Date4 Jan 2022 09:28:23

ContributorKickapoo

ChangesChanges to nicknames, markings and description

Sources

Best Web - B-24J - 42-110070 - Lady Luck

Date4 Apr 2017 17:11:35

ContributorAl_Skiff

ChangesChanges to person associations

Sources

Date4 Apr 2017 15:41:44

ContributorAl_Skiff

ChangesChanges to events

Sources

Date4 Apr 2017 14:10:20

ContributorAl_Skiff

ChangesCreated entry with serial number, aircraft type, production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, markings, description, events, unit associations, person associations and place associations

Sources