373rd Bombardment Squadron

American flyers pose before Consolidated B-24D-25-CO Liberator "Doodlebug," serial #41-24223. In SW China as the bomber is being refueled. During WWII.

Flyers and staff pose before 373rd Bombardment Squadron offices in China during WWII.

Mechanics pose with 373rd Bombardment Squadron HQ sign, presumably at Luliang air base, Yunnan, China. During WWII.

Sgt. Vern P. Martin posing with helmet and carbine in China during WWII. In China, mostly 1944, at only two postings, Luliang and Chenggong, near Kunming. In service period from November 6, 1942 to January 18, 1946. He was a member of 308th Heavy Bomb Group of the 14th Air force, serving in China during 1943 & 1944 "as a...

B-24 Nip Nipper in flight during WWII. (Image courtesy of Angela Keane via Alan Starcher.)

Funeral of 16th CCU cameraman Richard Dille “Dick” Arbogast in Kunming on June 2, 1944. The full crew died when their B-24 crashed into a mountain between Lingling and Kweilin in August of 1944. (It is possible most of the flag-draped boxes shown in the images here are from this same crash.) Sgt. Dick Arbogast, whom Hal Geer called "my...

Sgt Richard Dille “Dick” Arbogast, killed along with the rest of the B-24 crew during crash 28 May 1944, in China. (Photo courtesy of Vindicator I.) See background of crash here. Sgt. Arbogast was 23 years old. His family received a last letter from him dated April 10, 1944. See more of his personal story at USAAF Memoriam.

American flyers and mechs gathered around B-24 'Doodlebug' in a revetment in Sichuan, China, likely in preparation for a mission. Courtesy of https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agsphoto/id/7805.

Loss Of B-24J #42-73309 'Trouble Maker'(v1) And Crew This crew was lost on a 'routine' flight from Lingling Airbase (in Hunan province) for a short flight to a base at Guilin (in adjacent Guangxi province) on the late afternoon of 28 May 1944, departing during weather conditions 'overcast with thunderstorms'. The report lists the cause of the loss as 'unknown'...