Background 287 American-made B-24s were flown by the
Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War. They were used to equip seven bomber squadrons, an operational training unit and two independent flights. They were operated as bombers, used in covert operations, and after the war were used to repatriate prisoners of war to Australia. The RAAF flew B-24s until 1948. In due course the Liberators, as with many other ex-military aircraft, were often sold for scrap or for their new owners to use as sheds.
Liberator "Bunny Hop/Flying Wolf" 42-41091 The B-24D Liberator with Serial Number 42-41091 was built in San Diego by Consolidated, and flown to Australia via Hawaii to be deployed in New Guinea for the campaign against the Japanese. During an armed reconnaissance over Wewak on 23 December 1943, it was attacked by two Japanese fighters; with the hydraulics shot-out and two of the crew injured, it was unable to return to base and instead force-landed at Faita Airfield. During the war it was stripped of usable equipment, and the rest of the wreckage was left where it had landed (part of which can still be seen). It was originally named "Bunny Hop", but was carrying the name "Flying Wolf" at the time of its final flight. In the late 1990s its wings were recovered by the B-24 Liberator Restoration Fund for use in the restoration of B-24M Liberator A72-176.
Liberator A72-176 A72-176 (RAAF number) / 44-41956 (USAAF Number) was a B-24M Liberator delivered to the RAAF. It was not used in combat, but was used at
RAAF Station Tocumwal as a training aircraft for new B-24 crews. It was scrapped in 1948 and it was sold to George Toye, a Moe photographer who transported the
fuselage to his property in
Moe, Victoria to live in while he was building his home. He later used the fuselage as a wood shed, and after that it simply sat in his backyard. The first part of the Liberator was a hubcap found at the former
RAAF Station Tocumwal in
New South Wales. ==Founding of the Liberator Memorial Fund==