Ghost Plane of the Libyan Desert: Lady Be Good
In April 1943, a U.S. B-24D Liberator set off from North Africa on a mission across the Mediterranean. The plane was nicknamed Lady Be Good, but her flight would be anything but that. She failed to return after her mission, and it was presumed the plane and crew were lost forever. But years after the end of World War II a discovery would be made in the Libyan Desert that would shock the world.
Following years of fighting across the harsh terrain of North Africa, in May 1943, the German and Italian forces which still remained there surrendered to the Allies. A month earlier the 514th Squadron of the 9th Air Force was stationed at the Soluch Air Base near the town of Benghazi in Libya. The location of this airbase allowed the U.S. Air Force to launch bombing missions across the Mediterranean Sea, towards Italy.
At that time it was completely under Axis control, with the push into Italy taking place later that year. In preparation for the Italian campaign, numerous targets were identified for Allied bombers to take out, in order to soften the defenses.
On the 4th of April 1943, the mission of the 514 Squadron was to bomb targets in Naples, Italy. The plan was for all the aircraft to take off in waves with the last planes needing to catch up to the rest of the group.
Lady Be Good was a B-24D Liberator with a crew of nine men. She was one of the last planes to take off that day and unfortunately, the conditions were not ideal. Strong winds from the desert had caused sandstorms which hampered the visibility of the bombers.
Many of the planes ended up returning to the airbase early due to the poor visibility. However, Lady Be Good and her crew persevered and pushed through towards Italy. But in the end, she wasn’t able to catch up to the rest of the squadron and was forced to turn around prior to her target in Naples.
On her return trip, it was dark and this is when things started to go wrong. The airbase in Libya received a radio call from the crew, which indicated their guidance system was not functioning and they needed help finding their way back.
However, the crew never received the help they needed and consequently never returned. A search and rescue operation took place but no trace of the plane was found. It was assumed there had been lost somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
In late 1958, a group of geologists working for an oil company were passing over the desert in Eastern Libya when they spotted the wreckage of an old plane.
In March 1959, the company sent a ground team to investigate. Where it was determined that it was Lady Be Good, the lost plane. U.S. military officials then began an investigation.
None of the crew were located with the crashed plane. To make matters more confusing, all the survival gear as well as the rations and water was still on the plane or close to the crash site. Further to that, the radio was in good order. Extensive searches failed to locate any remains of the crew.
A year later in 1960, more employees of the oil company would stumble upon the remains of the crew. Five of the nine crew were located in close proximity to each other but around 136 kilometers or 85 miles away from the plane. Further searches located two other members of the crew who were 32 kilometers or 20 miles away from the other group.
It wouldn’t be till much later in 1960 when the final discovery would be made with the remains of another crew member. The remains of the ninth and final crew member have never been found.
A diary was located with some of the remains which detailed the crew’s final days. It indicated the plane had become lost on its way back and finally ran out of fuel. The crew decided to bail out with parachutes, where they found themselves in the desert and began walking for help until they all eventually succumbed to the harsh desert environment.
MONDAY 5 – Start walking N.W., still no John. a few rations, 1/2 canteen of water, 1 cap full per day. Sun fairly warm. good breeze from N.W. Nite very cold, no sleep. Rested & walked.
TUESDAY 6 – Rested at 11:30, sun very warm, no breeze, spent P.M. in hell, no planes, etc. rested until 5:00 P.M. walked & rested all nite, 15 min. on, 5 off.
WEDNESDAY, APR. 7,1943 – Same routine, every one getting weak, can’t get very far, prayers all the time, again P.M. very warm, hell. Can’t sleep. Every one sore from ground.
THURSDAY 8 – Hit Sand Dunes, very miserable, good wind but continuous blowing of sand, everybody now very weak, thought Sam & Moore were all gone. LaMotte eyes are gone, everyone else’s eyes are bad. Still going N.W.
FRIDAY 9 – Shelley, Rip, Moore separate and try to go for help, rest of us all very weak, eyes bad. Not any travel, all want to die, still very little water. nites are about 35, good N. wind, no shelter, 1 parachute left.
SATURDAY, APR. 10, 1943 – Still having prayer meetings for help. No signs of anything, a couple of birds; good wind from N. Really weak now, can’t walk, pains all over, still all want to die. Nites very cold, no sleep.
SUNDAY 11 – Still waiting for help, still praying, eyes bad, lost all our wgt. aching all over, could make it if we had water; just enough left to put our tongue to, have hope for help very soon, no rest, still same place.
MONDAY 12 – No help yet, very (unreadable) cold nite.
One question was still burning in investigators minds though. Why didn’t the crew try to land the plane? Given it was full of supplies and a working radio.
It’s thought that because it was extremely dark on the night the plane went missing and the crew being completely lost. They may have actually believed they were still flying over the Mediterranean and were preparing to jump into the water.
Who knows what could have happened if they had tried to land the plane instead of bailing out. But the story of the Lady Be Good is one mystery that was finally solved, even years after the end of World War II.
