B-24D Liberator "Strawberry Bitch"

B-24D Liberator S/N 42-72843 "Strawberry Bitch" is on display indoors in the World War II Gallery of the Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, near Wright-Patterson AFB.

It was assembled at the Consolidated plant in San Diego, and later ferried to Europe to join the 9th Air Force in Cairo, Egypt. Daniel Rice was the pilot whose crew accepted delivery of the new B-24, ferried her overseas, and delivered her to the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group.

The bomber then flew over 50 combat missions from North Africa during September of 1943 thru June of 1944 with the 512th Bomb Squadron of the 376th BG. It took part in and survived the Ploesti oil refinery raid of August, 1943.

Each aircraft of the 376th was assigned a Recall Code (RCL), painted on its nose and vertical tail. Strawberry Bitch was assigned RCL 24.

The plane was selected for preservation after World War II, and stored beginning in 1946 at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base boneyard in Tucson, Arizona. It was flown from Tucson to the Air Force museum for restoration and display in Dayton in May of 1959.

The B-24 is painted pink desert camouflage as it was during its World War II campaigns in North Africa.

B-24 Liberator "Strawberry Bitch" Photographs

B-24D Liberator "Strawberry Bitch" at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

B-24 Liberator "Strawberry Bitch" at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

U.S. Army B-24D-160-CO Liberator, Serial Number 42-72843, Recall Code 24

U.S. Army B-24D Liberator, Serial Number 42-72843

Left front fuselage view of the B-24D Liberator "Strawberry Bitch"

Left fuselage view of the B-24D Liberator "Strawberry Bitch"

Nose art on the B-24 Liberator "Strawberry Bitch" at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton

Tail section of the B-24 Liberator "Strawberry Bitch" showing RCL 24

Tail section of the B-24 Liberator "Strawberry Bitch" at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

List of Other Surviving B-24 Liberators

Of the massive numbers of Liberators that were built, only thirteen are known to exist around the world, either on display (10), under restoration (1), or airworthy (2).

In the United States, only two aircraft are airworthy, and six complete airplanes are on static display, for a total of eight B-24 Liberator survivors, shown below listed by state. Other Liberators are on display around the world.

In the United States
Model	S/N	Name	Location	Status	City	ST
B-24J	44-44175	Bungay Buckaroo	Pima Air & Space Museum	Static Display	Tucson	AZ
B-24M	44-41916	Shady Lady	Castle Air Museum	Static Display	Atwater	CA
B-24J	44-44272	Joe	Fantasy of Flight Museum	Static Display	Polk City	FL
B-24J	44-48781	Rupert the Roo II (former Louisiana Belle)	Global Power Museum Barksdale AFB	Static Display	Bossier City	LA
B-24J	44-44052	Witchcraft	Collings Foundation	Airworthy	Stow	MA
B-24D	42-72843	Strawberry Bitch	National Museum of the U.S. Air Force	Static Display	Dayton	OH
B-24A	40-2366	Diamond Lil	CAF at Dallas Executive Airport	Airworthy	Dallas	TX
B-24D	41-23908	Unnamed B-24	Hill Aerospace Museum	Static Display	Ogden	UT

In Other Countries
Model	S/N	Location	Status	City
B-24L	44-50206	Royal Air Force Museum	Static Display	London, UK
B-24M	44-51228	Imperial War Museum	Static Display	Duxford, UK
B-24L	44-50154	Canada Aviation and Space Museum	Static Display	Ottawa, Canada
B-24J	44-44213	Indian Air Force Museum	Static Display	Delhi, India
B-24M	44-41956	Former RAAF Werribee Aerodrome	Under Restoration	Victoria, Australia