Racy tomato

Hello,
I am looking for pics of the racy tomato. My wife's grandfather was a gunner on the racy tomato.
Thank you
Mark

 

Are you talking about the B-24 from the 718th Squadron, 449th BG?

 

The one that sunk in the Adriatic on Christmas Day 1944, and all 9 crew were killed? If so, I've found some pictures that may be of interest.

 

After an exhaustive internet search of about 15 seconds, I found these links (assuming we're talking about a plane?):

http://www.b24bestweb.com/racytomato1.htm

http://www.b24bestweb.com/racytomato2.htm

http://www.b24bestweb.com/racytomato3.htm

It looks like one of the forum members, mcoffee, provided the info in the above links. He should be able to provide more details if he sees this thread.

http://forum.armyairforces.com/4278266-Racy-Tomato-m213119.aspx

 

You're wife's grandfather may be one of these men, if the gunners are shown here.

 

LOL. I like the first line.

 

I believe those are members of the Willard Bills crew. George Ditzhazy, copilot is wearing the officer's cap.

Racy Tomato was named by the Al Isaacs crew. Isaacs was a Disney artist and painted the nose art. The Isaacs crew flew many of their missions aboard but finished their tour in September '44. Several 718th crews flew this aircraft. It was lost with the Frederick Orchard crew aboard.

 

Welcome to the Forum, Mark.

 

The men in the photo above:
Rodger Meek, Navigator; Donald Lundvall, F/E; Willard Bills, Pilot; George Ditzhazy, CP; Wayne Huffman, (R/O of Betzen crew); Edward O'Brien, TG.

Both the Bills and Betzen crews were assigned to the 718th Squadron on 12 July 44. Huffman was not aboard when the Betzen crew crashed on takeoff on 15 August killing all aboard. The Bills crew bailed out over Yugoslavia on 26 July and their nosegunner was killed when his parachute malfunctioned. All others returned to duty. Huffman replaced the nosegunner on the Bills crew.

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

Thank you to ones with information that was helpful.


I was looking to the forum for additional photos, thinking maybe I would find a few more that are not easily found by doing a google search. Or ones that someone might have from a family member who served with the 449th. I am sure everything is not available by using google for 15 seconds, and by asking on a forum, maybe be able to find a photo of my wife's grandfather who has passed away.

Thanks for the idea of using an internet search engine....would not of thought of it.

 

Do you know what crew he was part of? Either the crew or her grandfather's name would increase the possibilities of finding a photo.

 

Well I'm sorry if the information we gave was unhelpful, but you don't have to be such a smart-aleck about it. When you don't specify what you're looking for, what you get might not be what you want, surprisingly.

 

To the Original Poster: Please accept my apology for the flippant way I started my comment, it wasn't helpful or welcoming to a new member. The best way to learn here is by asking questions.

I don't know if you're aware of it but there looks to be a 4 volume series of unit histories for the 449th, although I can only find concrete info on III and IV.

III: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GWZEJY/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3485488446&ref=pd_sl_34eoy80lhm_e

IV: http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Effort-History-449th-Group/dp/B00411LODQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1CJD61TBSMWCT0X8GPVS

Write down the info on each book, title, author (449th BG Assoc.?), publisher, date of pub, etc and go to your local library. They can look these books up, contact a library which has a copy and get it sent to you via your library. I've done it several times and it works great, should take a week or two.

There are also two books (Vol. III and another) listed here, item #2 seems to be different than the above two, could be volume II?:

http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_bks&q=grottaglie%2C+and+Home&fq=dt%3Abks

Vol. IV is also available in the PX on the 449th.org website.

Good luck!

 

Hi was your wife’s grandfather on Al Isaacs crew? He was my grandfather.

 

My grandfather was Al Isaacs.

 

Racy Tomato with an escort of 31st FG P-51's, fall of '44.

 

Do you have any photos from your grandfather's service?

 

I do and my mom may too. I will take pictures when I get home and post them.