B-24 Liberator Ambulance?

I was searching on ebay for some Boston Red Sox stuff and typed in "B-24".  I saw this posting "B-24 Liberator Ambulance".  I am attaching the picture.  My question is this....did they have B-24's that were strictly for ambulance service?
 
Michelle

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Good evening, Michelle, and Happy Veterans Day WEEK!          One of the variants of the B-24 was the C-87 transport.  It was used quite extensively, for example, carrying supplies across the "hump" in the CBI as well as a "passenger" plane, albeit the amenities, as was used early on, for example, by Winston Churchill and later by Harry Truman.   I have been gleaning through indicies of my books and could not find a specific reference on a quick search, although I have read examples of them being used to "transport wounded" in the Pacific Theater.  More than likely they were modified for use, but I do not believe that San Diego or Ft. Worth produced "assembly line variants."  I know that FO WR did not!  I am looking through Al Blue's book , The B-24 Liberator, but as yet have not found a reference.  I am sure that someone else will jump in with a reply.  Best Regards!   Steven

Best Regards!
Steven P. Puhl
Willow Run Historian  (RET.)  
Home of 8685 Ford B-24 Liberators
Life Member: Yankee Air Museum

Steven,  Thank you for your response.  I'm telling you I learn something new every time I ask a question and someone responds.  I would have never really guessed that they converted some of the B-24's for other use like that.  I would have looked at the picture and thought it was bringing back a wounded crew man and the "H" on the tail was a bomb group marking.  My interest in WWII has mostly been groud troops and fighter planes but thanks to my husbands grandfather I am taking an even larger interest in bombers and trying to learn whatever I can about them.  Again thank you for your help.
 
Michelle

That is a 458th BG plane.   Darin Scorza can tell us more.

Michelle:

I have seen this photo in several publications. The most prominent was on the cover of "Fields of Little America". It has always been captioned as something like: "removing the wounded after a mission." If you look carefully at the top of the fuselage just aft of the waist window you can clearly see battle damage. The waist window on the B-24 was the most common way to take out the wounded. It was easier to lift them out on a stretcher through the open window than through the bomb bay.

A WAG on my part: like the C-46s & C-47s that flew the hump, the liberators that flew cargo were most likely pressed into carrying wounded back to Italy. Like most airlines, the AAF was loath to fly their planes empty in either direction. Critically wounded and the dead were most likely evacuated in the emptied planes. When my father made a forced landing on Vis in a shot-up B-24, they flew the crew out on a C-47. They shared the plane with a Scotts officer escorting nine of his soldiers' bodies lashed to roof (ceiling?) of the cargo area for return to Italy.

Planes were pressed into service where needed. Dad's group flew several missions to France to deliver food and fuel.

There were dedicated ambulance aircraft marked with the Red Cross, but more usual were cargo planes transporting the wounded and deceased. I've never seen a C-87 dedicated as an ambulance, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Ken

Ken Alexander
Son of 1st Lt. Clair B. Alexander Jr.
Pilot, B-24s: 10/12/1944 - 04/24/1945
15th AF, 49th Wing, 461st BG, 764th BS
Torretta Airfield, Cerignola, Italy

I was searching on ebay for some Boston Red Sox stuff and typed in "B-24". I saw this posting "B-24 Liberator Ambulance". I am attaching the picture. My question is this....did they have B-24's that were strictly for ambulance service?

 
The B-24 that appears in the photograph is definitely not an "ambulance".  The caption is in error.  This photograph appears on page 146 in Jeff Ethell's book Bomber Command.  The caption in Ethell's book reads as follows:
 
"A wounded crewman is taken out of the waist window of Liberty Lib, 458th Bomb Group, Horsham, St. Faith, mid 1944." 
 
Another view of the same Liberator appears on page 48 of the book B-24 Liberator by Frederick Johnson.  Battle damage is evident on the starboard tail fin.
 
TonyM.

Thank you all for helping me on this.  Since I didn't know, wasn't sure I had to ask.  I did look closely at the picture but still wasn't sure so I had to ask you wonderful men who would definately know better than me.  Again thank you.  Just goes to show you can't always trust what you read and see.
 
Michelle

Like most airlines, the AAF was loath to fly their planes empty in either direction. Critically wounded and the dead were most likely evacuated in the emptied planes.

 
Ken,  As I had suspected without going too deep into the search.   In Ford's book, The Flying Tigers, he makes reference to maximum use of space regardless of whether the A/C's were Gooneys or Libs.  This obviously made good sense!
 
Tony,  I had Johnson's book in hand, but, on a cursory glance, missed it.  either way Michelle got good answers.   Best Regards!   Steven

Best Regards!
Steven P. Puhl
Willow Run Historian  (RET.)  
Home of 8685 Ford B-24 Liberators
Life Member: Yankee Air Museum

The aircraft is B-24H-10-CF 41-29303 named Liberty Lib.  This picture was taken on August 25, 1944.  Refer to the Blum Crew page at this link http://www.458bg.com/crewbj117blum.htm for full story.
 

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Darin Scorza
Son of 1Lt Samuel D. Scorza
Navigator 755BS 458BG
www.458bg.com

Darin:

Thanks for posting that link. It was indeed a very interesting read.

Ken

Ken Alexander
Son of 1st Lt. Clair B. Alexander Jr.
Pilot, B-24s: 10/12/1944 - 04/24/1945
15th AF, 49th Wing, 461st BG, 764th BS
Torretta Airfield, Cerignola, Italy

Michelle,      I shall tack this on here as I found it interesting.  I have just finished reading Duane Schultz's Into the Fire (Westholme Publishing, 2007) about the low level Ploesti, Romania raid of 01AU43 in which 177 B-24D's participated.  I've cited several items from this very interesting book on several Threads, but in the final chapter pages 246-247, he writes about the "rescue" of 1,100 downed flyers, healthy and wounded, on 31AU44.  For this mission from Bari, Italy, 38 B-17's were retrofitted which included "being stripped of all non-essential equipment so they could carry as many men as possible.  The bomb bays were covered with plywood flooring.  there would be no seats for passengers."  This sounds to me like the next best thing to an "ambulance service."  Keep in mind that due to the  injuries from the mission itself or from their crash landings prior to internment, many of the men  may have  required   prone positions.  It was interesting that I was finishing this book and had previously read your thread.   Best Regards!    Steven

Best Regards!
Steven P. Puhl
Willow Run Historian  (RET.)  
Home of 8685 Ford B-24 Liberators
Life Member: Yankee Air Museum

Darin,
 
Thank you for posting that link.  I found the story very interesting. 
 
Steven,
 
It's ironic you mention the 31 Aug 44 "rescue".  My husbands grandfather might have been on of the rescued.  He was released from the POW camp in Bucharest on that day after 3 weeks of being a POW.  He like you mentioned was slightly wounded when he jumped from his burning plane.  From his journal his hair was on fire, he lost his boots and when he landed hurt his knees.  So I fully understand that the conditions these men were in had to be kept in mind for their trip back to their bases.
 
Michelle

Michelle,  Keep in mind that  the intent of this specific rescue mission, code named "Operation Gunn" was to bring out the 1,100 POW's from the low level raid of 01AU43.  I gather from your post that your "grandfather-in-law" may have been a more recent internee.  The book Ploesti: Black Sunday lists the majority of A/C's by s/n or "nose art" along with the crews and their status, i.e. POW, KIA, MIA etc.  You might find this a very interesting book.  It is a bit expensive, but I've seen them rather reasonably on amazon.com.  Best Regards!  Steven

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Best Regards!
Steven P. Puhl
Willow Run Historian  (RET.)  
Home of 8685 Ford B-24 Liberators
Life Member: Yankee Air Museum

Steven,
 
You would be correct that my grandfather in law was a late comer to being an internee.  He was shot down on his 36th mission his 4th to Ploesti, or as he puts it his 35th and a 1/2 mission and 3rd and a 1/2 mission to Ploesti.  The 1/2 is because he didn't get brought back on his plane.  In putting together the 5 scrapbooks of all his World War II paperwork there were quite a few newspaper articles his wife had cut out referencing the "Operation Gunn" mission.  In respect to and for my grandfather in law I have never asked him about that day.  I have a copy of the journal he kept while being held in Bucharest, it says almost all that I need to know.....like he didnt think the British could do bombing runs worth a darn.  I know from my husband and his grandmother that for a long time my husbands grandfather had nightmares about that day and around that day he gets in a very quiet mood.....everyone assumes it would be because he might be remembering what happened all those years ago.  The nightmares don't come back too often now and now he glows when he talks about any other times just not that day.
 
Michelle

Michelle, Good morning!  Now that I have a bit more information, I have included a "link" to the "book corner" sub-forum with the thread on the new book: Into The Fire.  It is a book, very factual, which is easily readable and, I would imagine, would dovetail very well with the articles you have collected over time.  Having just read it (amazon.com @$17.00 as opposed to $27.00 at Barnes & Noble), I found it interesting from the "humane" point of view as the author told the many stories of survival.  Note in the link that one poster recommends it for "youth reading."  Also I reread my earlier post, and it sounded as if any "non-01AU43 POW's" would not have been included in the rescue.  This was not the case.  Here is the link.  Best Regards!  Steven     
http://forum.armyairforces.com/m_135423/tm.htm

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Best Regards!
Steven P. Puhl
Willow Run Historian  (RET.)  
Home of 8685 Ford B-24 Liberators
Life Member: Yankee Air Museum

Steven, Good afternoon.  "Into The Fire" may be a book I have to pick up and read.  I didn't in any way think you were saying that any one not on the 1 Aug 43 raid wasn't being rescued.  I know that the pilots didn't have a list of who they were getting out and anyone not on the list was to stay.  I have realized that most people if you mention Ploesti to them and they know anything about it usually know about the 1 Aug 43 raid more than some of the others.  My husbands grandfather got to Manduria on Mother's Day 1944 and when he got shot down on 10 Aug 1944 he had already made 3 other missions to Ploesti.  I still get a kick out of how he describes his last mission as being 1/2 because he didn't complete it even though he survived being shot down.  You all on this site are a wealth of information and I am glad I found this site because of it. 
 
Michelle

I am aware of at least one case where the combat version of a B-24 was used to transport sick POWs from Japan to Okinawa shortly after the end of WWII. The POWs were carried in the bomb bay on stretchers. The plane belonged to the 867th Bomb Squadron of the 494th Bomb Group of the 7th Air force 

Don,  As you may know, the B-24 Liberator served as a multi-purpose A/C in all theatres of operation.  (I have attached  the generic link to Wikipedia.com for a quick "thumbnail" sketch (quickest one I had at hand).  I have not seen too much posted on the Site about the Lib as an ambulance, so Michelle's question from last year was a good one!  Please continue to post more information from the PTO as we are always looking for more info with which to educate those who follow us.  As an aside, the B-24 would also fall into the category of an  "Air Force One" as it was used  by "Give 'Em Hell Harry Truman" (see post #2).  Again, welcome aboard!  Best Regards!  Steven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-24_Liberator
 
 

Best Regards!
Steven P. Puhl
Willow Run Historian  (RET.)  
Home of 8685 Ford B-24 Liberators
Life Member: Yankee Air Museum