Delivered Cheyenne 24/6/44; Hunter 14/7/44; Dow Fd 23/7/44; Assigned 323BS/91BG [OR-Q/V] Bassingbourn 11/8/44; 48m battle damaged Aschaffenburg 22/1/45 with Nelson Van Blarcom, ; flak KO’d two engines and cut out electrics, equipment was dumped to enable ship to limp home and crash landed Metfield A/fd; Salvaged 23/1/45. HAPPY VALLEY EXPRESS.

Small panel part stamped "43-38083" recovered from and 8th Airforce parts dump in Weybread, Norfolk. Recovered 2012. (Information from Neil Stevens)

Additional information from J. Baugher's USAAF database.

United Air Lines, Modification Center #10, Cheyenne Municipal Airport, WY 24 Jun 44. 302nd Base Unit (Staging Wing), Hunter Field, Savannah, GA 14 Jul 44. North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command, Dow Field, Bangor, ME 23 Jul 44. 

Fitted with Gee-H radio navigation system equipment. 323rd Bomb Squadron [OR*Q], 91st Bomb Group, Bassingbourn (Station 121), Cambridgeshire 11 Aug 44 named "Happy Valley Express"-- artwork of a cartoon girl reminiscent of Betty Boop in a bomb-hauling locomotive painted by Tony Starcer. Named for the flak riddled Ruhr Valley - known as "The Happy Valley".  

Battle damaged on a mission to the Siebel Flugzeugwerke aircraft factory at Halle, Germany 16 Aug 44. 

Battle damaged during a mission to the synthetic oil refinery at Sterkrade, Germany 22 Jan 45. 

The aircraft was hit by flak before, and after, bomb release in the target area, crippling No.2 and No.4 engines which could not be feathered and continued to windmill. 

Co-pilot’s oxygen system and all the systems on the right side of the aircraft were damaged and the pilot was forced to descend to 14,000ft where he hoped to be able to stay under the formation. During the flight back to England, a fire in the left wing was extinguished by chopping a hole from the bomb bay into the wing and using a hand extinguisher. Loose equipment was thrown out and the ball turret jettisoned to lighten the plane. The electrical system was disabled and the Gee box and all instruments, except the magnetic compass in the cockpit, were inoperable. In spite of the lack of navigational equipment they were able to hit the English coast at Lowestoft, and endeavoured to land at RAF Woodbridge emergency landing ground, only to find that it was zero visibility. Going over to Metfield (Station 366), Suffolk, the wheels were cranked down by hand, the brake pressure built up manually and a landing was accomplished successfully, the aircraft coming to a stop a few feet short of the end of the runway. {48 missions}. Salvaged 23 Jan 45