Capt Earle P Durley Jr went to England as a member of the 8th Air Force, 2nd Air division, 20th Combat Wing, 448th Bomb Group, 712th Bomb Squadron, Crew #16. They flew the Southern Route to England, leaving Harrington Airfield in Kansas on 15-Nov-1943 to Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, FL; Puerto Rico; Trinidad; Belem, Brazil; Natal, Brazil; Dakar, French West Africa; Marrakesh, French West Africa; St Maugen, England and finally landing at Seething Airfield, England on 02-Dec-1943. Capt Durley was the pilot of Crew #16. Capt Durley flew the 1st mission of the 448th on 24-Dec-1943 and the 100th mission of the 448th on 21-Jun-1944. He completed his 30th mission 27-Jun-1944. His crew was a lead crew and because of the stress they could only fly every 3 days, taking a little longer than some of the other crews. While on a mission to Cherbourg, France 21-Jan-1944 in B-24H (41-29208) a target marker went off in the a/c forcing four gunners to bale out. Ford, Hackney, Stemmerman, and Walker were replaced by Cook, Espich, Maker, and Pixley. Capt Durley also helped train members of the 491th Bomb Group when they came to England in May of 1944. Capt Durley and his crew was transferred to the 491th at Metfield on 27-May-1944 and returned to the 448th at Seething on 13-Jun-1944. Capt Durley's crew helped with formation training and was a lead crew on on the 491st's first mission on 2-Jun-1944. They lead 3 mission while they were with the 491st including the mission on D-Day.