The rescue of the B-24 Liberty Bomber "Shady Lady".

This story isnt about twists or strange things happening or planes disappearing.Ignoring the fact it took of on Friday the 13th, this is the story of one of the longest ever bombing runs in history, a story of luck, hardship and above all else, how different cultures can come together just to help each other out.

Shady Lady' is the epic story of the B-24 Liberator aircraft called 'Shady Lady' that set off from Darwin on Friday, 13 August 1943 on what was at that time the world's longest ever bombing mission of WWII to the oil refineries at Balikpapan, Borneo.

The plan was simple, take off from Darwin do the run and be back in time for breakfast,

USAAF B-24D Liberator, #42-40369, "Shady Lady", of the 528th Squadron of the 380th Bomb Group, made a forced landing on the tidal salts flats on the Anjo Peninsula, near Drysdale (now Kalumburu) Mission after running low on fuel

www.ozatwar.com...

Japanese air raids on Darwin, often referred to as the “Pearl Harbor of Australia,” had dropped more bombs than at Pearl Harbor, Joseph noted. RAAF intelligence figured a good way to strike back at the Japanese was to attack the source of their lubricating oils and aviation gasoline at Balikpapan on the island of Borneo.

From the time the B-24 Liberator aircraft took off from the northern coast of Australia and flew into the sinking sun that summer day in 1943, the Shady Lady endured a relentless assault on her armour in a hazardous 16-hour flight, before ultimately crash landing on a saltpan in the heart of Aboriginal country. Shady Lady and the 11 men on board survived not only the headlong tumble into the mineral-rich turf, but tropical thunderstorms, anti-aircraft blasts and a fuel tank that seemed to continually hover near “empty.” “We were stationed at Fenton Field but had to fly to Darwin about a hundred miles away to make the trip shorter,” Joseph said. “Going that distance, they never thought we could do it because it hadn’t been done before. We had to put in two extra fuel tanks and loaded the bombs in the rear.

www.warhistoryonline.com...

The sad part about the article above is the the most amazing part of the whole story wasnt told.

www.theaustralian.com.au...

On the same makeshift runway where Shady Lady's discarded parts can still be seen, Mr Maraltadj told The Weekend Australian the airmen thought his grandfather and his two friends, Johnny and Boniface, were "wild bush blackfellas" when the trio -- on walkabout and covered in ceremonial ash and clay -- finally summoned the courage to approach the stricken aircraft. When the equally nervous Americans dropped their weapon belts on the ground and shouted; "Yaa! Yaa!" believing it was a universal, indigenous greeting that meant "hail and hello", they got back a clipped; "Good morning. Hello, you boys all right?" The stunned Americans looked at each other before gunner Maurice "Slim" Powers, quipped: "He must be from Harlem!" "They got the shock of their lives," Mr Maraltadj said. "He and his mates were taught at the (then Drysdale River) mission, so they could speak good English. They would have given them a bit of a scare, I reckon."

The Aborigines along with the missionaries aided the American pilots with food water and transport back to the base, then with an epic recovery effort of the Shady Lady.

The missionaries and Aborigines played a pivotal role in co-ordinating working crews to and from the remote saltpan. Locals carried a replacement nose turret 65km overland. On Thursday, September 9, 27 days after Shady Lady staggered off Darwin runway, the bomber returned safely to Fenton airbase. She would not see combat again, while Craig and his crew would survive the war.

A British company has done a doco on this story, i searched for a you tube link , but i had no luck. there is a few small trailer links on vimeo.
Here is a link to the web site for the Shady lady doco page.

www.factnotfictionfilms.com...

I sincerely hope this thread reaches everyone in a positive way in these troubled times.
P101

reply to post by PLAYERONE01


That's a great story. I would have loved to see the expressions on the flight crew when they were greeted.

Just imagining it brought a smile to my face.

Even in war, there can be uplifting moments.