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The crew of the B-24D - 42-40608 - The Vulgar Virgin. Lt. James Marquis - left side. They were assigned to the 8th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 328th Bomb Squadron, flown by command pilot, Lt. Claude A Turner on the famous mission to destroy the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The Vulgar Virgin, was hit twice by flak over his target at Ploesti, ruling out making it home to Benghazi, Libya. After asking his crew on the intercom what their preferences were, Turner had his navigator Lt. James Marquis set a course to Turkey, where they landed at the Turkish air base at Chorlu. The plane and crew were interned by the Turkish Air Force.
Lt. Claude Turner and his bombardier, Lt. Marquis, escaped from the Turks, and returned to Britain and the 8th Air Force (RTS).
After returning to Britain, flying the B-24D bomber, Birmingham Blitzkrieg, Lt. Claude Turner and his crew, minus James Marquis, were killed - KIA - shot down by an FW-190 fighter over the North Sea after a bombing mission to Bremen, Germany. 10 MIA. Feb 13, 1943. Later listed as 10 KIA. Feb 14, 1943.
Lt. Marquis survived the war and retired with the rank of Lt. Col. in 1960
Group
The 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 1 Mar 42 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. On 15 May 42. the Group moved to Ft. Myers, Florida, to continue advanced flight training and also to fly antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico. They...
Squadron
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | B-24 Navigator
Lt. James E. Marquis was born on February 6, 1922. After completing his navigator flight training in the U.S. Lt. Marquis, was assigned to the 8th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 328th Bomb Squadron in the United Kingdom, and was temporarily...
Military | First Lieutenant | B-24 Command Pilot
Lt. Claude A. Turner was born in Travis Peak, Texas, on Oct 22, 1919. He trained as an aviation pilot at Kelly Field and other air bases in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. After receiving his pilot's wings, Turner was assigned to the 8th Air Force,...
B-24 Liberator
NOTE - The B-24D, named, The Vulgar Virgin, 42-40608, was originally in the 8th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 328th Bomb Squadron. It was temporarily detached (TDY) to the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron, in...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
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| 19 November 2021 13:48:29 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption |
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Details added. - Kickapoo |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 19 November 2021 13:45:30 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption and mission associations |
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Added details - Kickapoo |
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| 21 October 2021 23:20:02 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption and mission associations |
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Best Web - B-24 - The Vulgar Virgin |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 October 2021 23:17:29 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption and person associations |
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Best Web - B-24 - The Vulgar virgin |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 August 2021 09:28:29 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption, person associations and mission associations |
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Best Web - B-24 - 42-40608 - THE VULGAR VIRGIN |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 07 February 2021 05:32:12 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
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Personal Archives - John S Young Jr |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 04 February 2021 00:35:23 | Kickapoo | Changes to collection, caption, unit associations, person associations, place associations and mission associations |
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B-24 - Best Web - # 42-40608 - 'The Vulgar Virgin' |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 26 December 2020 21:33:15 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with caption, unit associations and aircraft associations |
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