Our pilot (Arthur Kraft) picked the plane up at the Willow Run factory and had to sign a $50,000 voucher. We were a new group. In February 1944 we took off from West Palm Beach, FL, stopped in Trinidad and then on to Belem, Brazil. From there we went to Fortaleza, Brazil which was the jumping off point to fly over the Atlantic. From Fortaleza we flew to Dakar (now in Senegal). On the way to Dakar, we were past the point of no return when we were caught in an electrical storm. We were lit up like little Las Vegas! The radio operator had the trailing antenna out and lightning struck it, entering the catwalk in the bomb bay that lead to the cockpit. It completely destroyed the radios. The tail gunner was asleep on the catwalk at the time. He had GI flashlight in his pocket at the time. The lightning destroyed the flashlight and left a hole in the fuselage large enough to crawl through, but luckily the tail gunner was just stunned.

The next day we flew to Marrakesh, Morrocco where the repair of the plane took place. Then on to Shannon, Ireland and then to Attlebridge. When we arrived at Attlebridge we decided the appropriate name of the aircraft should be "Lady Lightning"! - James Bates, Waist Gunner