454th. 737th, B-24 "Yakamaw"

The solider is my grandfather, and this is what I have so far:
 
Clifford L. Benson, Jr  s/n 31262704
Crew#4748
B-24(H) s/n 42-78367
 
1. I'm hoping to find more information on this crew #4748, and their missions.
I know it ended with this plane going down on Aug.17th during the Ploeski mission.
 
2. i have this attached picture, which was sent from him to my grandmother, you can see from the blurb that they intended on using this for the nose art, and suggested the name to be "DEFENSELESS". Along with what I have in MY POSSESSION, I have this:  http://www.seniornet.org/ww2/gallery/memories/quentin/overseas.shtml 
(which i cherish dearly, as it mention my grandfather more than once, AND I have photos of some of these men including the author of the memoirs)
 
in the second paragraph you can see it says that he remembered this art work well, he recalls painting it. I was under the assumption my grandfathers crew flew in a B-24 (H), in Mr. Petersons memoir it says
B-24(J).
 
NOW FOR THE QUESTION!
Does it look like theres more than one plane here? It doesnt seem as though my "defenseless", is the same as the "yakamaw"?  
 
pretty sure thats all thats bugging me about this search at this time. Thanks for any help :)
 
 
 
Kristen

I apologize,... I see that now.  I guess it didnt make sense to me, for them to take the time to paint it only to ferry it and give it off to another group, but thanks for pointing it out to me. I dont suppose theres any links out there that let you search by plane name? Im dying to see it actually painted. I understand what Im asking for though :)
 

Thats what I thought. I almost wish I didnt see the story with the same name, I would have assumed it just didnt get painted, but i cant stop hearing him say "i took this time to paint our ship". One last attempt before I drop it :)
 
THANK YOU FOR THAT LINK, this excites me, i can sleep sound assuming its one of these.
http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pin-Ups-AlbertoVargas03.htm
So is it safe to say, no missions were done with this group until after that transfer of planes? (i really wish i could see a list of missions?)

Kirsten,  For the nose art, you  need only "consider" those B-24s that were in the 15th AF, which narrows down the list quite a bit.   No guarantees.  :-)

I think 25kingman49 is referencing the the Ploesti raids of 1943 based out of North Africa (altho the MACR referenced is for the 1944 raid), whereas trickyfancy/Kristen is referring to the August 1944 Ploesti raids by the 15th AF which was stationed in Italy at that time.  The Petersen log also references the invasion of France which was a little earlier in Aug 1944.  The 301st Bg of the 15th AF lists a mission to Ploesti on August 18th, 1944, as their last Ploesti mission.

I cant tell you how grateful I am that you found this. (i suppose i should start typing everything in to youtube huh?) Im starving for information that brings me closer to a man I adored tremendously, that spoke nothing of the war once he was home.
I recently watched the WWII in HD, documentary and was disappointed that they only spoke of the refinery bombings once briefly, and barely even mentioned B-24's. SO THANK YOU!!
 
Heres a question, I have the telegrams that explain he was missing, then the letter stating he was found. My father insists, (and i see no proof either) that he was not a POW, regardless of being MIA. I wonder where he was?

Kristen,  The Membership here has done  a good job so far assisting you in tracking down some of the information you are seeking.  In reference to the "Nose Art," I have found no pix in the http://www.b24bestweb.com/ link for either Yakamaw or Defenseless as yet. There is a reference in Forman's B-24 Nose Art Directory to a B-24G-16-NT for 42-78367.  Remember that all aircrafts are listed by their serial numbers and there is no specific book or link that I have found containing an "alpha listing by nose art" as it ir considered "unofficial," it changed and there were so may duplicates.  In reference to Ploesti, the info here is correct in that the majority of missions to Ploesti in 1944 were from Italy by the 15th AAF using newer vatiants of B-24s. In our search, the B-24s would have been either "G"s, "H"s or "J"s while the earlier 8.1.43 would have been strictly "D"s.  Scott's map in post #13 is a good lead, but the trail then goes cold.  Hopefully someone will have some personal knowledge going forward.

Kirsten,
 
Here is a G Earth map showing the locations involved; given the location of the bailout and crash site although walking was undoubtedly involved, I would assume there would also have been a boat or aircraft involved in their return to base.
[H] Bari, Italy Foggia Airfield Complex
[T] Ploesti, Romania; TARGET
[C] Trikkala, Greece Approx area of crash and bailout
 
Scott  

Why they ended up in Greece is unclear; as they were on their own and no longer with the group several possibilities come to mind. Flying characteristics of the flak damaged Liberator, evasion from enemy aircraft, avoiding ground defense anti-aircraft locations. All things considered, the flight crew did a pretty good job of almost getting them home. The details of their ground adventure returning to base would make a good book. The reality is that similar stories of this type would also be true for every aircraft that was shot down, all with different outcomes.
 
Scott   

Scott
Thanks for the reference to the videos. I can't believe I haven's seen them before.  So many of us yearn to gain some understanding of what it was like for our boys (and family members) to go up time after time, encountering flak and fighters to and from the targets.  I've done a great deal of reading of first hand accounts, but the videos add yet another dimension.  So young and so brave.  It never fails to amaze me.
Thanks again.
Trudy