Although the B-24 #545 carried no name it was known as Dancing Dolly. The original art work was inspiration from the Esquire Magazine calendar for October 1945 painted by Alberto Vargas. It is another example where Joe added a South Pacific theme to the original art work which had a blank background. Here he added a beach, surf and a coconut tree that could be found not far for the tropical air field on Morotai Island.

In July 1944 this plane left California for the Pacific and assigned to the 307th Bomb Group. On 3rd October, Lt Owings' crew took the B24 to strike Balikpapan and was hit by flak and attacked by fighters, one of which was claimed as destroyed. However, the crew sustained six wounded during the battle, including co-pilot Lt King. By April 1945 the plane was commanded by Capt. Lester B. Briggs. During one mission the plane received combat damage from a Japanese fighter. It sustained some 40 holes during the attack. "Dolly" then suffered a collapse of its main gear upon landing. Fortunately no one was killed during the attack or the crash landing. The only ones injured were the flight engineer on board and the tower operator who jumped from the control tower and broke his leg as the plane skidded towards the tower.

Known Mission List

Date	Pilot	Target	Notes
15 Jul 1944	Dooley	Yap	Hit by 20mm. Destroyed "Zeke"
2 Aug 1944	Green	Yap Island AD	R/E (S)? - gas leak
3 Oct 1944	Owings / R F King (wia)	Balikpapan	6 WIA. Destroyed "Zeke". Hit by flak
10 Oct 1944	? / R F King	Balikpapan	Destroyed "Zeke"

 

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© Ray Bowden 2 December 2023