"Lemon drop" frame

The B-24D Liberator (No. 41-23699) nicknamed ‘Lemon Drop’ from the 68th Bomber Squadron of the 8th AF had an incredible career.

It was one of the first nine aircraft transported to England by the 68th in 1943. It took part in Operation Tidalwave on 1 August 1943 in Ploesti, the large-scale strategic bombing carried out from Benghazi in Libya by the USAAF against the Romanian oil complex in Ploiești, which was the main source of fuel for the German forces. 

Later, it was declared ‘war-weary’ and used as an assembly ship on behalf of the 44th BG. It was specially equipped to facilitate the regrouping of formations of hundreds of bombers with signal lights, pyrotechnic devices, and, of course, its incredible psychedelic paint scheme with distinctive yellow and black stripes to allow it to be easily recognised by its bomber group. 

The aircraft used in ‘Assembly Ship’ or ‘Polka Dot’ in the first assignment were B-24Ds withdrawn from the 44th, 93rd and 389th BG. The organisation of the signal lights varied from group to group, but generally consisted of flashing white lights on each side of the fuselage arranged to form the identification letter of each group. All armament and protective devices were removed, and in some cases the tail turret. On the B-24Hs used for this purpose, the nose turret was removed and replaced with a ‘carpetbagger’ nose. 

‘Lemon Drop’ thus played an active role in the formation of bomber squadrons prior to the operations of 6 June 1944.