USAAF 376th BG, 512th BS, #42-72843 "Strawberry Bitch", Benghazi, Libya, Ploesti Raid, August 1943
One of the Mediterranean Theatre of Operation's (MTO) most famous B-24's was 'Strawberry Bitch'. Depicted here in the camouflaged desert pink scheme applied to North Africa based Liberators in 1942-43, it wears a command stripe around its fuselage. 'Strawberry Bitch' survived the legendary Ploesti Raid of August 1943. A combined Liberator force from the Ninth and Eighth Air Force left North Africa destined for the giant German refineries at Ploesti, dedicated to destroying as much of these as possible and handicapping the German ability to fuel its combat forces. Despite suffering heavy losses, the mission was a massive success and inflicted vast amounts of damage on major portions of the oil fields. Of the one hundred and seventy-nine Liberators that left forty-three were lost and a further fourteen aborted. Five hundred and thirty two aviators lost their lives.