Us Official Photographs

B-24 Liberator in England

THE SHOW OFF SHIP - That's what the boys of a Liberator base of the U. S. Army 8th Air Force somewhere in England, call this gaudily painted Liberator bomber. Maj. John A. Hansler, Santa Monica, Calif., a squadron commander pilot, who holds the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal, walks away from the raucous Lib, which he has just returned to its base. The plane is used as a "formation" plane. Its easily seen brightly colored fuselage serves as a marker on which the other Libs "form up" before leaving the skies over England on a mission to blast Hitler's factories and troops. The "show off" returns to its base once the other planes are in formation.