B-24 "Bonnie Belle" question (308th Bomb Group, CBI)

DaveG · **Posted:** Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:08 pm

The guy in the middle is L. Robert Queener, bombardier on the Bonnie Belle. The guy on the far right is Leonard A. "Shine" Robinson.

This is a very cool coincidence but I would like to find out more about the plane for my friend: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35497

Can anybody help with more info or more pictures of the Bonnie Belle?

Thanks

DaveG · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 11:25 am

Robert has his father's A-2 with this patch on it:

another pic of the Bonnie Belle I found online:

\

Dave G

SHAEF1944 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:50 pm

Another R-hand side shot, with the bomb painted on, missing in pic above.

http://www.b24bestweb.com/bonniebelle1.htm

DaveG · **Posted:** Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:26 pm

thanks, SHAEF...and if you look closely, I think you can see the faint outline of that bomb just to the left of the "B" in "Belle.
The serial number on that site says 42-40103; Baugher shows that as:

40103 lost Dec 20, 1943. MACR 1651

but I don't have any info on the loss. Robert never mentioned the loss of the plane. By the way, he showed the picture linked in the first post to his mother, who instantly recognized his father in the picture! She knew the picture and had seen it before. Robert will be getting together what he can (pictures, records, etc.) and we'll share them here. I know there is some interest in this Bomb Group.

DaveG

kaisebra · **Joined:** Wed May 04, 2011 2:17 pm **Posts:** 2

I have a few pictures of this B-24 with my father and some of his crew. Dad flew with the 308th, 425th on the " China Doll ". There are a few pictures with names written on them and the area that they were taken. http://rkofflyingtigers.webs.com/ Some of the pictures are on a web site I made up for Dad. If I can't get them on this site you can find them there.

DaveG · **Posted:** Wed May 04, 2011 5:25 pm

awesome! Thanks for sharing, and I hope you don't mind me posting that particular picture here.

I'm making my way through the other pictures you've posted at that link; I'm sure that there are many B-24 fans here who have seen some of those images before but there are several that are brand new to me. This one looks mighty painful...the caption is "loose prop."

wendovertom · **Posted:** Wed May 04, 2011 5:30 pm

Love to hear more on the 308th - they were one of the first B-24 groups to train here in Wendover and sadly, they seem to have no Group Association other than the 14th AF Association.

Tom P

kaisebra · **Joined:** Wed May 04, 2011 2:17 pm **Posts:** 2

For some reson I can't download any pictures on to this site. I have pictures that Dad took of a few B-24s of the 308th, like China Doll, Chug-A-Lug, Belle Star, Shoot-N-Star ,the Frendlin, Bonnie Belle, Nip Nipper..... Dad( Robert Kaiser ) was a flight engineer in China from early 1943 untill late 1944. I could not get all the pictures on the web site I made for him so you have to go to the links page and click on the 308th, 425th picture bucket and you can find a lot more. I just came across some film in negatives in a box of stuff Dad had set aside. These pictures have never been seen, and I can't wait to get them out to everyone. I would love to put them on this site if, I could just figure it out......

PS. That is my father standing next to the " Bonnie Belle" taken in 1943 Kunming, China.

http://rkofflyingtigers.webs.com/

DaveG · **Posted:** Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:37 am

DaveG wrote:

The serial number on that site says 42-40103; Baugher shows that as:

40103 lost Dec 20, 1943. MACR 1651

but I don't have any info on the loss. Robert never mentioned the loss of the plane.

DaveG

A new (to me) picture of the Bonnie Belle showed up recently on Facebook on a B-24 page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/b24bestweb/):

Does anybody here know the final disposition of this plane?

Mike Bates · **Posted:** Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:08 pm

DaveG · **Posted:** Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:48 am

Thanks for the picture, Mike!

irememberbam · **Joined:** Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:39 pm **Posts:** 1

please visit the "Nose Art" page of my website - dainthecbi.com - for more photos. also consider joining us on Facebook -facebook.com/groups/308thBG.

Regards,

Mike

VitaminP · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:57 pm **Posts:** 1

On Dec.20, 1944, B-24D 42-40103 BONNIE BELLE (14AF 308BG 374BS) was involved in a mid air collision with C-46 41-12397 over Chengkung, the home base of the 374th & 375th BS. Both planes fell into Chengkung Lake with all hands.

crew of BONNIE BELLE:
(crew not 14AF 308BG - plane apparently transferred to ATC and converted to C-87 or C-109)
Pilot 1st Lt. Robert M. Bowen
Copilot 2nd Lt. Jean F. Delonge
Navigator 2nd Lt. Louis E. Turner
Cargo Chief Pfc. James F. Torpey
Radio op Pvt. Fred F. Giellissen

crew of C-46:
Pilot 1st Lt. Henry C. Stevenson, Jr.
Copilot 2nd Lt. John F. Tone, Jr.
Engineer Cpl. Joseph P. Hatzenbeller
Radio op Pfc. Robert E. Boyer

The B-24 with the chewed up cockpit is B-24D 42-41142 THUNDERBIRD II (14AF 308BG 375BS). On Apr.1, 1944, the pilot pulled up the landing gear before the plane was airborne. One of the props dug into the ground and "walked" into the fuselage, severing his leg.

Jack Gross
son of S/Sgt. Herbert Gross, 14AF 308BG 375BS, flight engineer/gunner on 42-73243 VITAMIN P II and other B-24s in China, 1943-1944.

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B-24 "Bonnie Belle" question (308th Bomb Group, CBI)

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