Photo: Pat Schenk
Prior to becoming the 458th Bomb Group's assembly ship, First Sergeant flew under the name Thar She Blows Again in the 93rd Bomb Group. Chuck Merril and crew of the 329th Squadron flew this aircraft to Ploesti and back. The following information on the Merril crew and the photograph above come from Pat Schenk, Ploesti researcher.
What is known is that the Chuck Merril crew, 93rd BG 329th BS flew this plane to Ploesti. This became the regular aircraft of this crew sometime after their original Lib, Thar She Blows 41-23658, was salvaged March 8, 1943, hence the name Thar She Blows Again. Maxwell AFB has lost the record card for 127 so I cannot say exactly how it came to the 458th.
I have visited with members of this crew and I can say that this plane collected dozens of holes over Ploesti, including what has been described as an 88mm hit in the turret well aft of the bomb bay. No ball turrets were carried so the crew used this space to store their heavy flying clothes and other supplies. The shell detonated in those clothes and the concussion was such that it knocked all the gunners to the floor and knocked tail gunner Boyd Way from his turret. True story!
The information that I have is that the Chuck Merril crew flew a total of nine missions in 42-40127. This crew were original members of the 93rd and all survived the war except Albert Oser who was KIA while flying with a make-up crew. Two other Ploesti veterans were lost with him. Oser is unique in that he was an unofficial "ace" with six confirmed e/a destroyed and he surely has to rank up near the top of 8th AF gunners. He was the only member of this crew to get a Purple Heart on Ploesti when he was struck in the back by a flak fragment. His parachute harness stopped it, but he had a massive bruise.
The following excerpt is from the report of the 93rd's Engineering Officer after Ploesti describing the damage to 42-40127:
"Bulkhead in fuselage badly damaged by 40mm. Elevator control cables damaged, AFCE rudder, elevator and trim tab control cables damaged. Left vertical stabilizer damaged by light flak. Leading edge left wing damaged by barrage balloon cable."
The needle props are interesting. Supposedly, this change was made around B-24D 41-23970 & 42-63752. I have evidence that other planes were retrofitted in the field due to the better performance at low altitude. The PB4Y-2 Privateer [U.S. Navy] went back to these blades for that reason. 42-40128 had the wide blades so that is what made me question if First Sergeant was 42-40127. Chuck Merril did have some pull in the 329th Squadron so he must have had them changed.
