For those who may not know, James (Jimmy) Stewart was the operations
officer for the 445th bomb group which flew B-24's. He arrived in
England via the South America to Africa to Scotland route in late
1943. Even though his position did not require he fly with the
squadron, he never the less did so, eventually flying 20 missions
including some of the toughest: Brunswick, Bremen, Frankfurt,
Schweinfurt and the 1000 plane raid to Berlin. Stewart actually had
300 or so hours prior to enlisting in the Air Force before Pearl
Harbor. He volunteered for combat.

The B-24 was considered to be a more difficult airplane to fly than
the B-17. The narrow Davis wing just did not perform as well at
25,000 feet as did the larger wing of the B-17. The B-17 was an older
design, but it was easier to fly. The B-24 was tough to fly in
formation because at high altitude it mushed and responded poorly to
the controls.

George McGovern was another unheralded B-24 pilot who flew out of
Foggia Italy.

Corky Scott