14th Air Force

B-24 bomber #42-73317 was lost on May 20, 1944, over the sea near the south east coast of China, after a night mission to strike Japanese shipping. The crew were: 1st Lt Donald G. Richardson, Pilot 1st Lt Frank L. Munson, CoPilot 1st Lt James P. ‘Jim\' Gilbert, Navigator 1st Lt Linus J. Austin, Bombardier TSgt Cecil L. Olson, Radio...

' B-24 bomber #42-73317 was lost on May 20, 1944, over the sea near the south east coast of China, after a night mission to strike Japanese shipping. The crew were: 1st Lt Donald G. Richardson, Pilot 1st Lt Frank L. Munson, CoPilot 1st Lt James P. ‘Jim\' Gilbert, Navigator 1st Lt Linus J. Austin, Bombardier TSgt Cecil L. Olson...

An image from the Walter S. Polchlopek collection--this is an alternative image of the crew lost on a mission on May 20, 1944. See the story of the loss of this crew here, and more about Walter S. Polchlopek here.

On May 20, 1944 the B-24 bomber 'Puck' took off on a sea sweep mission under leadership of the lanky pilot, Donald Richardson. The plane (#42-73317) and crew disappeared. The crew were: 1st Lt. Donald G. Richardson, Pilot 1st Lt. Frank L. Munson, Co-pilot 1st Lt. James P. ‘Jim' Gilbert, Navigator 1st Lt. Linus J. Austin, Bombardier TSgt. Cecil L...

A sketch of the pilot James C. Vurgaropulos who died during a mission in 1944 in China, drawn in the CBI by the Hollywood actor, voice actor, and artist Don Barclay, during his first tour of China in 1943. See more about Don Barclay here.

"Don Barclay (seated in cockpit of P-40 fighter #42-9766), celebrated American artist, whose caricatures have appeared in nearly all the publications is now on a visit to Gen. Claire L. Chennault's 14th AAF. Barclay spent many hours with the 'China Blitzers' inhabitants of 'Sweat Hill.'"

A Memorial Day ceremony in Kunming, Yunnan province, China, during 1944. Image courtesy of Tony Strotman.

B-25s fly away from just-bombed Yishan (now Yizhou) in Guangxi province, SW China, among Karst peaks during the Japanese Ichigo campaign of summer and fall 1944. Towns along the Ichigo route were bombed by American planes as the Japanese moved into them, or sometimes in advance, to deny the resources of the towns to the incoming Japanese. The Japanese entered...

A P-38 under maintenance and fueling at a base in Guangxi province in 1944, most likely a base at Guilin. August 2, 1944. Image courtesy of Tony Strotman.

American HQ in a cave in Guilin, Guangxi, China. Image courtesy of Tony Strotman.