How a WWII Bomber Became a 'Photo of Death'

This is the story of B-24 Liberator "Extra Joker" and how she became a photo of death. Extra joker was a part of the 451st bomb group based out of Italy, and was shot down in 1944. This was made using the World War II flight simulator War Thunder. Hope you enjoy! Please like, comment, and subscribe. #WW2 #WWIIHistory #WarThunder

Want to fly with me in one of these great WWII flight sims? Join my discord!
If you want to support TJ3 History and get access to special VIP content, please check out these awesome links!
TJ3 History Merch Store!

Follow me on social media for updates!

[CarrieMickelson]

The Tail Turret Gunner of this plane, Sgt. Oscar W. Bateman, was my grandfather. My mother was eight months old when he was KIA, she is now 79 years old. My dad came across this video last night and shared it with my sisters and me. This video is greatly appreciated by my mother and our family as we learned things we did not know. My mom has cherished those photos all these years, they gave her a piece of her daddy and his bravery. Tommy will never know how much he did for her.

[henrys.]

My uncle who flew in a B-17 as a "ball gunner" is one of the few remaining alive of WW2 is Remarkably healthy 100 year old. He flew 30 "Sorties" in Europe. His name is Ignacio "Nick" Sanchez. 🇺🇲

[Farbar]

The father of a friend of mine was a navigator on a B-24 and he made it home after the war. He rarely, if ever, spoke about his experiences. But one time he and his wife were visiting his son...my friend...who was stationed with the US Army in Germany and one day they went on a driving trip in the Wiesbaden area. They drove past two particular places...an industrial area and a large train yard...and he mentioned that they had bombed both sites 30 years earlier. He was glad to see that those spots had been rebuilt and were active. He said nothing else after that.

[TJ]

Historical notes - First off guys, please forgive me. I definitely say "but" too much in this script, but by the time I realized it, it was already upload time. I'll try to improve that in the future. Secondly, before you ask, I have no idea why "Extra Joker" was silver, but "Thunder Mug" was Olive drab, but based on all my research I do believe that to be the case here. In addition, some of the other skins may not be exactly accurate, but I did my best. Also - some have pointed out, and rightly so, that I may have over emphasized the effectiveness of the Nordon bomb sight. Some of it was propaganda, and it wasn't necessarily "new" in 1944, but rather, was seeing major combat usage for the first time.

[stulynn]

That photographer should have just got a good luck medal. The individual stories of these men and planes make these videos great Also the 24 you were in front of, Diamond Lil was the 25th B24 made out of over 18, 000

[twentypdrparrott]

I had a good friend who has long since passed on who was the top turret gunner in a B-24 over Europe. He had a little military aircraft clock mounted on a wooden block on his desk. I asked him about it and the following story flowed out: We were doing night practice touch and goes on a grass field near Walla Walla, Washington. It was raining cats and dogs. We had done several touch and goes and then we came in for the last one. The pilot misjudged the height and dropped it. I was riding in the top turret. When I woke up, I was still in the turret but 100 yards from the plane. This clock came from that plane. These scars on my arms is where they went through the plexiglass on impact."

[chgr]

It's hard to hit the "like" button for such a tragic story, but thank you so much for bringing forgotten stories back to those of us that hadn't heard of them. Thank you for all you do for bringing history back to the masses.

[brucep]

A few years ago when I read about this story I noticed one of the crew was local to me; Sgt. Harry V. Bates - ball turret gunner (KIA) Reinholds, Pennsylvania. I found his headstone in the local cemetery and pay my respects to him yearly. I realized his surviving brother was a member of the same VFW post as myself, he was a B17 radio operator, he and I would talk about his time as a B17 crew member when I would see him. Not knowing this story about Sgt Bates until after his brother passed a few years ago would have made for some interesting discussion I am sure.

[Runehorn]

My Grandpa was a gunner of the Extra Joker Crew that switched to the Thunder Mug. I looked up his journal entry on the event, its very difficult to decipher his writing, but from what I can tell, when they landed they had 150 holes in the plane they had to repair. I never really got him to tell the story of the events, but I do remember him saying he got credit for one kill that day.

[thelinkc]

My father was a tail gunner in a B-24, shot down, one man went down with the plane as it turned over. Prison camp for 8 months near the end of the war. Liberated from Stalag Luft III.

[alanquintus]

My dad was a E7 in the motor pool. While stationed in England before D-Day he told me of the time a B-17 landed after a mission. It had flak damage. They got the tail gunner out with a garden hose . God bless all those brave men for their sacrifices.

[daveranville]

In this situation my uncle was in the B-24 that was shot down before the extra joker was hit. His pane was called the "Fertile Myrtle" and he was then the upper turret gunner. His plane went down in Frankelfels, Austria and there is a whole story on his remains being returned to the U.S.

[cvisenti]

These videos are astonishingly well done in all aspects, pacing, graphics, depth of information balanced with engaging narrative.

I’m 51, had two uncles in WWII, one who stumbled seasick onto the Normandy shores, who we only learned three years ago had a little girlfriend back in England during the buildup to D Day, and she had a son by him nobody knew about, a cousin we here in Texas finally got to meet a couple years back. And the other a B-17 pilot in the Pacific who survived all the missions of his tour unscathed only to have a rookie he was training stateside clip power lines & kill them all. Gone at 24yrs old.

These videos make those times a little more tangible for me, so thank you

[Onoma]

My grandfather did 33 missions in B-17's with the 384th Air Expeditionary Group....I cannot even imagine what it was like . Different breed of men in those days

[riharikaa]

Well done from New Zealand. Knew the pictures but not the back story. Let us remember always these brave people and their sacrifices. Lest we forget.

[terrydunn]

My mom worked on the B-24 at San Diego in WW2 and one of her brothers was a B-24 pilot in the war. Her dad was a foreman at the plant.

[LarryNiven]

I had a cousin who was a navigator on a Halifax. He survived a shoot down. However, the radio operator and engineer were not so lucky. Those bomber crews were heros

[walterarroyo]

This story along with those photos gave me chills. RIP brave souls.

[liverpoolscottish]

Interesting and tragic tale- never knew about this incident. I have nothing but RESPECT for the USAAF bomber crews- brave men indeed. Greetings from across the pond!

[billclisham]

If you have driven a GM vehicle with an automatic transmission in the last 70+ years your transmission was built in the very building the B24's were built in. It's still often refered to in the area as the bomber plant.