42-40608 - The Vulgar Virgin
Object Number - UPL 46544 - Some of the crew of Vulgar Virgin
Turner's B-24D, 42-40608, was painted on it's top and the sides of it's fuselage and engines, in the Army' standard olive drab, for it's original assignment to the ETO.
The B-24D, named, The Vulgar Virgin, 42-40608, was allocated to the 8th Air Force, and assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 328th Bomb Squadron as a replacement.
It was temporarily detached (TDY) to the 9th Air Force, in Benghazi, Libya, for Operation Tidal Wave. t make it back to his home base at Benghazi, Lt. Turner decided to fly south to Turkey and managed to fly as far as Chorlu, Turkey, where he did land safely with no casualties to his crew. He, his crew, and his bomber, were interned by the Turkish Air Force. INT-TURK. 1 Aug 1943. MACR 335
After the Ploesti mission, Lt. Turner and his navigator escaped captivity in Turkey, and with help from friendly partisans, were able to return to the 8th Air Force and the 93rd Bomb Group, in Britain.
After returning to Britain, three months later, Lt. Turner was flying another B-24D, 42-63988, named, Birmingham Blitzkrieg, and was shot down by an FW-190 fighter over the North Sea, close to Helgoland Island, after a mission to Bremen, Germany. Lt. Turner and his crew were reported missing in action (MIA) and later reported killed in action (KIA). 19 KIA. Nov 13, 1943.
