ROWE MISSION #8 - 3 October, 1944, Tuesday

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the cross-hairs on the target. At the exact point
computed by the sight, the bombs would be
released to put them on the target. It may sound
simple, but it took 18 weeks to train the men to
operate the bombsight. With accurate wind reports
a bombardier could really smother the target.
The B-24 was produced at five different
factories; Consolidated at San Diego, California
and Fort Worth, Texas, North American Aircraft
at Dallas, Texas, Douglas Aircraft at Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and Ford Motor Co. at Willow Run,
Michigan. Liberators produced by all the companies
totaled 19,256, in a number of versions, the
most produced variant being the "J" model. In
comparison there were 12,677 B-17's built. The
B-24 proved itself in every theatre of the war in a
wide variety of missions and deserves its
reputation as one of the great aircraft of World
War II. It was not only the most produced aircraft
of World War II, but of all time. In the Pacific,
Liberators gradually replaced the B-17, largely
because of its extensive range. For most of the
early years of the War, the B-24 and its Navy
STRUCTURAL TOUR OF THE B-24
B-24s IN PRODUCTION AT SAN DIEGO
counterpart, the PB4Y-1 Liberator, were the only
American heavy bombers covering the seas from
Alaska to India. The later PB4Y-2 Privateer, a
modified B-24 with a single, tall vertical tail, was
generally considered the Navy's most deadly
bomber. There were two other versions of the
Liberator, the C-87 Liberator Express personnelcargo
transport and the C-109 Flying Tanker.
They helped make history "flying the hump" in
the China-Burma-India theatre of operations.
Liberators were everywhere the action was.