Editing Consolidated B-24 Liberator (section)

===USAAF===

====Introduction to service, 1941–1942====
[[File:B-24 Liberators at low altitude.jpg|thumb|upright|left|B-24s bomb the [[Ploiești]] oil fields in August 1943.]]
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) took delivery of its first B-24As in mid-1941. Over the next three years, B-24 squadrons deployed to all theaters of the war: African, European, China-Burma-India, the Anti-submarine Campaign, the Southwest Pacific Theater and the Pacific Theater. In the Pacific, to simplify logistics and to take advantage of its longer range, the B-24 (and its twin, the U.S. Navy PB4Y) was the chosen standard heavy bomber. By mid-1943, the shorter-range B-17 was phased out. The Liberators which had served early in the war in the Pacific continued the efforts from the Philippines, Australia, Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal, Hawaii, and Midway Island. The Liberator peak overseas deployment was 45.5 bomb groups in June 1944. Additionally, the Liberator equipped a number of independent squadrons in a variety of special combat roles. The cargo versions, C-87 and C-109 tanker, further increased its overseas presence, especially in Asia in support of the XX Bomber Command air offensive against Japan.

So vital was the need for long-range operations, that at first USAAF used the type as transports. The sole B-24 in Hawaii was destroyed by the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] on 7 December 1941. It had been sent to the Central Pacific for a very long-range reconnaissance mission that was preempted by the Japanese attack.

The first USAAF Liberators to carry out combat missions were 12 repossessed LB-30s deployed to Java with the [[11th Bombardment Squadron]] ([[7th Bombardment Group]]) that flew their first combat mission in mid-January. Two were shot up by Japanese fighters, but both managed to land safely. One was written off due to battle damage and the other crash-landed on a beach.

US-based Liberators entered combat service in 1942 when on 6 June, four LB-30s from [[Hawaii]] staging through [[Midway Atoll|Midway Island]] attempted an attack on [[Wake Island]], but were unable to find it.<ref>Lord 1967, p. 279.</ref> The B-24 came to dominate the heavy bombardment role in the Pacific because compared to the B-17, the B-24 was faster, had longer range, and could carry a ton more bombs.<ref name="levine1992" >Levine 1992, pp. 14–15.</ref>

====Strategic bombing, 1942–1945====
[[File:Bombing of Concordia Vega oil refinery in Ploești by USAAF B-24s, 31 May 1944 — restored.jpg|thumb|15th Air Force B-24s attacking the [[Vega Refinery|Concordia Vega Oil refinery]], [[Ploiești]], Romania fly through flak and over the destruction created by preceding waves of bombers, May 31, 1944.]]

On 12 June 1942, 13 B-24s of the Halverson Project (HALPRO) flying from Egypt attacked the Axis-controlled oil fields and refineries around [[Ploiești]], [[Romania]]. Within weeks, the First Provisional Bombardment Group formed from the remnants of the Halverson and China detachments. This unit then was formalized as the 376th Bombardment Group, Heavy, and along with the 98th BG formed the nucleus of the IX Bomber Command of the [[Ninth Air Force#World War II|Ninth Air Force]], operating from Africa until absorbed into the Twelfth Air Force briefly, and then the [[Fifteenth Air Force#World War II|Fifteenth Air Force]], operating from Italy. The Ninth Air Force moved to England in late 1943. This was a major component of the [[United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe|USSTAF]] and took a major role in strategic bombing. Fifteen of the 15th AF's 21 [[USAAF bombardment group|bombardment groups]] flew B-24s.

For much of 1944, the B-24 was the predominant bomber of U.S. Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF) formerly the [[Eighth Air Force]] in the [[Operation Pointblank|Combined Bomber Offensive]] against Germany, forming nearly half of its heavy bomber strength in the ETO prior to August and most of the Italian-based force. Thousands of B-24s flying from bases in Europe dropped hundreds of thousands of tons of [[Bomb#High explosive|high explosive]] and [[Incendiary bomb#Development and use in World War II|incendiary bombs]] on German military, industrial, and civilian targets.

The [[44th Bombardment Group]] was one of the first two heavy bombardment groups flying the B-24 with the 8th Air Force in the fall/winter air campaigns in the European Theater of Operations.<ref name="44th BG History"/> The 44th Bomb Group flew the first of its 344 combat missions against the Axis powers in World War II on 7 November 1942.<ref name="44th BG History"/>

[[File:B-24 Liberators over Bratislava, Slovakia on 16 June 1944.jpg|thumb|15th Air Force B-24s attacking the [[Slovnaft|Apollo oil refinery]] in [[Bratislava]], [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovakia]], June 16, 1944.]]

The first B-24 loss over German territory occurred on 26 February 1943. Earlier in the war, both the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force had abandoned [[daylight bombing]] raids because neither could sustain the losses suffered. The Americans persisted, however, at great cost in men and aircraft. In the period between 7 November 1942 and 8 March 1943, the 44th Bomb Group lost 13 of its original 27 B-24s.<ref name="44th BG History"/> For some time, newspapers had been requesting permission for a reporter to go on one of the missions. [[Robert Post (journalist)|Robert B. Post]] and five other reporters of ''[[The New York Times]]'' were granted permission. Post was the only reporter assigned to a B-24-equipped group, the 44th Bomb Group. He flew in B-24 41-23777 ("Maisey") on Mission No. 37 to [[Bremen, Germany]]. Intercepted just short of the target, the B-24 came under attack from [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War II)|JG&nbsp;1]]'s [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]s. ''[[Leutnant]]'' [[Heinz Knoke]] (who finished the war with 31 kills) shot down the Liberator. Post and all but two of the 11 men aboard were killed. Knoke reported: "The fire spread out along the right wing. The inboard propeller windmilled to a stop. And then, suddenly, the whole wing broke off. At an altitude of 900 metres there was a tremendous explosion. The bomber had disintegrated. The blazing wreckage landed just outside [[Bad Zwischenahn]] airfield."<ref>Weal 2006, p. 16.</ref>

[[File:B-24 Destroyed.jpg|thumb|A B-24M of the [[448th Bombardment Group]], breaks in half after attack by a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]] jet fighter]]

A total of 177 B-24s carried out the famous second attack on Ploiești ([[Operation Tidal Wave]]) on 1 August 1943. This was the B-24's most costly mission. In late June 1943, the three B-24 Liberator groups of the 8th Air Force were sent to North Africa on temporary duty with the 9th Air Force:<ref name="44th BG History"/> the 44th Bomb Group joined the 93rd and the 389th Bomb Groups. These three units then joined the two 9th Air Force B-24 Liberator groups for low-level attack on the Romanian oil complex at Ploiești. This daring assault by high-altitude bombers at treetop level was a costly success. The attack became disorganized after a navigational error which alerted the defenders and protracted the bomb run from the initial point. The 44th destroyed both of its assigned targets, but lost 11 of its 37 bombers and their crews. Colonel [[Leon W. Johnson]], the 44th's commander, was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] for his leadership, as was Col. [[John R. Kane|John Riley "Killer" Kane]], commander of the 98th Bomb Group. Kane and Johnson survived the mission but three other recipients of the Medal of Honor for their actions in the mission—Lt. [[Lloyd H. Hughes]], Maj. [[John L. Jerstad]] and Col. [[Addison E. Baker]]—were killed in action. For its actions on the Ploiești mission, the 44th was awarded its second [[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Distinguished Unit Citation]].<ref name="44th BG History"/> Of the 177 B-24s that were dispatched on this operation, 54 were lost.<ref name="44th BG History"/>

====Radar/Electronic warfare and PGM deployment====
[[File:Phoenix-Deer Valley Airport-Wings of Freedom-B-24 J Liberator-7.JPG|thumb|The bomb bay of a surviving B-24J Liberator in 2016]]

The B-24 advanced the use of electronic warfare and equipped Search Bomber (SB), Low Altitude (LAB) and Radar Counter Measure (RCM) squadrons in addition to high-altitude bombing. Among the specialized squadrons were the 20th RS (RCM), 36th BS (RCM), 406th NLS, 63rd BS (SB) SeaHawks, 373rdBS (LAB) and 868th BS (SB) Snoopers.

The [[36th Bombardment Squadron]] was the Eighth Air Force's only electronic warfare squadron using specially equipped B-24s to jam German VHF communications during large Eighth Air Force daylight raids. In addition, the 36th BS flew night missions with RAF Bomber Command's own electronic warfare unit [[No. 100 Group RAF|100 Group]] at [[RAF Sculthorpe]]. Radar Counter Measures (RCM) was code-named Carpet, however, this should not be confused with agent and supply drops, code-named "Carpetbaggers".

The B-24 was the platform for the pioneering use of the Americans' [[Azon]] laterally-guidable [[precision-guided munition]] ordnance design, a pioneering [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] radio-guided munition system during World War II. The ordnance of 1,000&nbsp;lb weight, was deployed operationally by USAAF B-24s in both Europe and the [[China-Burma-India Theater|CBI theaters]]. The Eighth Air Force's [[458th Bombardment Group]] deployed the guided Azon ordnance in Europe between June and September 1944,<ref>Reynolds, George. [http://www.458bg.com/azonproject.htm "The AZON Project."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106093918/http://www.458bg.com/azonproject.htm |date=6 January 2020 }} ''458bg.com'', Retrieved: 25 December 2014.</ref> while the [[Tenth Air Force]]'s [[93rd Air Refueling Squadron#World War II|493rd Bomb Squadron]] employed it against Japanese railroad bridges on the [[Burma Railway]] in early 1945, fulfilling the intended original purpose of the Azon system.<ref>Marion. [http://www.netcore.us/1/afm/azonbomb.html "Old China Hands, Tales & Stories – The Azon Bomb."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306191038/http://www.netcore.us/1/afm/azonbomb.html |date=6 March 2012 }} ''oldchinahands''. Retrieved: 20 March 2012.</ref>

====Assembly ships====
{{Main|Assembly ship}}
[[File:First Sergeant B-24D Assembly Ship or Judas Goat.jpg|thumb|The assembly ship ''First Sergeant'' of the [[458th Air Expeditionary Group|458th Bomb Group]] at [[RAF Horsham St Faith]] had participated in [[Operation Tidal Wave]] ]]
In February 1944, the 2nd Division authorized the use of "Assembly Ships" (or "Formation Ships") specially fitted to aid the assembly of individual group formations. They were equipped with signal lighting, provision for quantity discharge of pyrotechnics, and were painted with distinctive group-specific high-contrast patterns of stripes, checkers or polka dots to enable easy recognition by their flock of bombers. The aircraft used in the first allocation were B-24Ds retired by the 44th, 93rd and 389th Groups. Arrangements for signal lighting varied from group to group, but generally consisted of white flashing lamps on both sides of the fuselage arranged to form the identification letter of the group. All armament and armor were removed and in some cases the tail turret. In the B-24Hs used for this purpose, the nose turret was removed and replaced by a "carpetbagger" type nose. Following incidents when flare guns were accidentally discharged inside the rear fuselage, some assembly (formation) ships had pyrotechnic guns fixed through the fuselage sides. As these aircraft normally returned to base once a formation had been established, a skeleton crew of two pilots, navigator, radio operator and one or two flare discharge operators were carried. In some groups an observer officer flew in the tail position to monitor the formation. These aircraft became known as [[Judas goat]]s.<ref>Freeman 1984, p. 176.</ref>

===="Carpetbaggers"====
[[File:B24-Cockpit USAF.jpg|thumb|B-24 cockpit]]
From August 1943 until the end of the war in Europe, specially modified B-24Ds were used in classified missions. In a joint venture between the Army Air Forces and the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS) code-named [[Operation Carpetbagger]], pilots and crews flew specially modified B-24Ds painted with a glossy black anti-searchlight paint to supply friendly underground forces throughout German-occupied Europe. They also flew [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|Douglas C-47s]], [[Douglas A-26 Invader]]s, and British [[de Havilland Mosquito]]s.

Carpetbagger aircraft flew spies called "Joes" and commando groups prior to the Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day and afterward, and retrieved over 5,000 officers and enlisted men who had escaped capture after being shot down. The low-altitude, nighttime operation was extremely dangerous and took its toll on these airmen. The first aircrews chosen for this operation came from the anti-submarine bomb groups because of their special training in low altitude flying and pinpoint navigation skills. Because of their special skills, they were called upon to fly fuel to [[George S. Patton|General George Patton]]'s army during the summer and early autumn of 1944 when it outran its fuel supply. When this mission was completed, it was recorded that 822,791 US gallons (3,114,264&nbsp;L) of 80 octane gasoline had been delivered to three different airfields in France and Belgium.<ref>Parnell 1993, pp. inside cover, p. 91.</ref>

The 859 BS was converted from day bombardment to these operations and then transferred to the 15th Air Force.