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This photo is the B-24D, 'THE VULGAR VIRGIN' - SN #41- 24198 - 9th Air Force, 98th Bomb Group, 344th Bomb Squadron, flown by command pilot Lt. Wallace C. Taylor. Lt. Taylor, flying in the center of Flight Five, the last of the four flights behind Col. John Kane in 'Hail Columbia', entered a wall of smoke over White IV behind 'Hail Columbia' and several other B-24s. When the small group of B-24s exited the smoke, 'THE VULGAR VIRGIN" was gone. It was shot down and lost Over the Astra Romano refinery after taking two direct flak hits. Approaching the smoke cloud, Lt. Taylor called for bailout over White IV. He was the only one of the four crewmen who bailed out at the low altitude of approximately 200 to 500 feet, who survived and became a prisoner of war - POW. The rest of the crew were KIA - August 1, 1943

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note - Another B-24D flown on the Ploesti mission, was also named, 'THE VULGAR VIRGIN'. It was aircraft SN #42-40608 from Britain and the 8th Air force - the 93rd Bomb Group - and the 328th Bomb Squadron. It was flown by Lt. Claude Alvin Turner from the 8th Air Force. Lt. Turner and his crew survived the Ploesti mission, were hit by flak over their target and flew to Chorlu, Turkey, where they landed and were interned after the Ploesti mission, Aug 1, 1943. Lt. Turner and his navigator escaped from the Turks and returned to the 8th Air Force after the Ploesti mission.

After returning to Britain, Lt. Turner and his crew were shot down and KIA over the North Sea, Nov 13, 1943.

Connections

Units

  • 9th Air Force

    9th Air Force

  • 98th Bomb Group

    98th Bomb Group

    Group
    The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942. ...

  • 344th Bomb Squadron

    344th Bomb Squadron

    Squadron
    The 344th Bombing Squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24...

People

  • Wallace Taylor

    Military | Major | Pilot
    Lt. Wallace C. Taylor was assigned to 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 9th Air Force in the USAAF in WWII. He flew the B-24D bomber named, 'The Vulgar Virgin' # 41-24198 on the famous bombing mission to destroy the German oil...

Aircraft

Locations

  • Lete

    Military site : airfield

Edit entry 

Collection name
John Simmons Young Collection
Object number
UPL 46441

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
04 April 2021 11:50:36 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

Best Web - B-24 - '41-24198' ----- Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Date Contributor Update
04 April 2021 11:46:18 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

Best Web - B-24 - '41-24198' ----- Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Date Contributor Update
04 April 2021 11:44:51 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

Best Web - B-24 - '41-24198' ----- Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Date Contributor Update
04 April 2021 11:41:39 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

Best Web - B-24 - '41-24198' ---- The Great Ground-Air Battle of August 1, 1943 - James Dugan & Carroll Stewart
Date Contributor Update
04 April 2021 11:40:57 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

Best Web - B-24 - '41-24198' ---- The Great Ground-Air Battle of August 1, 1943 - James Dugan & Carroll Stewart
Date Contributor Update
04 April 2021 11:37:44 Kickapoo Changes to caption and person associations
Sources

Best Web - B-24 - '4124198' - 'The Vulgar Virgin' ---- The Great Ground-Air Battle Of August 1, 1943 - James Dugan & Carroll Stewart
Date Contributor Update
14 February 2021 11:28:56 Kickapoo Changes to person associations and aircraft associations
Sources

B-24 - Best Web - # 42-40608
Date Contributor Update
07 February 2021 09:34:47 general ira snapsorter Changes to caption
Sources

Association to the mission removed. The picture does not depict the mission. The mission should be associated to the specific aircraft record.
Date Contributor Update
06 February 2021 21:53:44 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

B-24 - Best Web - #42-40608 - Lt. Claude Turner
Date Contributor Update
06 February 2021 21:27:28 Kickapoo Changes to caption and aircraft associations
Sources

WWII Photos - #41-24198
Date Contributor Update
31 January 2021 00:03:20 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

The Great Ground-Air Battle Of 1 August 1943 - James Dugan & Carroll Stewart
Date Contributor Update
30 January 2021 23:51:29 Kickapoo Changes to caption, person associations, place associations and mission associations
Sources

Personal Archives - John Simmons Young Jr
Date Contributor Update
29 January 2021 19:01:26 Kickapoo Changes to caption, person associations and mission associations
Sources

B-24 - Best Web
Date Contributor Update
29 January 2021 04:27:30 Kickapoo Changes to caption, person associations and mission associations
Sources

Black Sunday - Michael Hill
Date Contributor Update
20 December 2020 12:16:17 general ira snapsorter Changes to mission associations
Sources

Association to the mission removed. The picture does not depict the mission. The mission should be associated to the specific aircraft record.
Date Contributor Update
20 December 2020 02:16:13 Kickapoo Changes to caption
Sources

Military B-24 Aircraft # 41-24198 The Vulgar Virgin
Date Contributor Update
20 December 2020 01:45:41 Kickapoo Changes to aircraft associations and mission associations
Sources

B-24 aircraft - #41-24198 - The Vulgar Virgin
Date Contributor Update
20 December 2020 01:43:15 Kickapoo Created entry with collection, caption and unit associations
Sources

B-24 aircraft - #41-24198 - The Vulgar Virgin

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