425th Bomb Squadron

S/Sgt. Boleslaw A. Skurnowicz and a Chinese soldier at Kunming, China, during WWII. (Thanks to S. Skurnowicz for image and info!)

B-24s bombing Sinshih, an important Japanese supply in the Hunan campaign of the time. 8.6.1944. With P-51 and P-40 fighter escorts. Consolidated B-24J-35-CO Liberator "Krachy Kourier" (308th BG 425th BS; #42-73318). Consolidated B-24J-25-CO Liberator "Burma Queen" (308th BG 425th BS; #42-73253). In China, on one mission a bomber crew would "borrow" "Burma Queen" for a mission and were eventually forced...

American flyers with the B-24 "Burma Queen," serial #42-73253, of the 425th Squadron, almost certainly in China. During WWII. Unknown exactly who they are, but they might be pilot Glenn Lowe, copilot Joel Grayson, and others who usually flew the plane. In China, on one mission another crew would "borrow" this B-24 for a mission and were eventually forced to...

Radio operation T/Sgt. Boleslaw A. Skurnowicz as member of crew of B-24 during training stateside. Boleslaw A. "Benny" Skurnowicz was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania in 1921. He was one of six children of Polish immigrant parents. Polish was spoken in the home and Benny learned to speak English in elementary school. His father, a coal miner, died from Miner’s Asthma...

1st Lt. Phillips Gardner Huffman was lost on a flight on March 21, 1943, over the Hump on B-24 "The Pregnant Swan," #42-40069, while enroute from Pandaveswar, India to Kunming, China. During the flight there was no radio "advice" sent out from the crew indicating any trouble. The craft simply disappeared on this, their first, flight over the treacherous altitudes...

2nd Lt Harold Filer was lost on return flight after a bombing raid in eastern China on 13 Dec 1944. His B-24 bomber could no longer stay in the air because of flak damage and mechanical problems, and he and the rest of the crew bailed out. All of the rest of the crew eventually returned to duty, but no...

The B-24 bomber "Mud Fish" hard on its tail in China during WWII. This B-24D, serial #41-24308, was assigned to 425th Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, at Kunming on 8 Jul 1943. The plane's nose gear was knocked loose hitting a concrete runway roller during takeoff. Then, knocked clear off plane near its bombing target at Haiphong, French Indochina (Vietnam)...

The B-24 "The Frendlin" and crew in China during WWII. This B-24J, serial #42-73265 was assigned to 425th Bomb Squadron at Kunming. The plane departed Liuchow on 20 May 1944 for a planned sea sweep mission with return to Kunming. However, it was hit by enemy fire during the mission forcing the crew to bail out prior to reaching a...

B-24 bomber "C. E. 'Shack'" with crew on the ground. 425th Bomb Squadron, 308th Bombardment Group. Names painted on the nose of "C. E. 'Shack'" include those of 2nd Lt. Gordon C. Weems (copilot), 2nd Lt. Charles R. Thompson (navigator), and an unknown "Chick," who was possibly bombardier. (Info courtesy of deployment name list.) The crew apparently trained together at...

Californians of the 425th Bomb Squadron and WASC record "Yanks In The Orient" for later transmission in the US. Kunming, China, November, 1944. M.C. was Lt. Bert Parks, later of post-war fame as the M. C. of the Miss America Pageant. Photo from Robert L. Cowan.