Restoration of RAAF B24M Consolidated Liberator A72-176.
In an old WWII hanger at Werribee, Victoria Australia, the last surviving RAAF Liberator is being restored by The B24 Liberator Memorial Fund Inc. It is also the only B24 in the southern hemisphere, one of only 10 left in the world from over 18,000 that were manufactured, and of 288 in Australian service.
The Fund was founded in 1995 by RAAF B24 pilot Bob Butler, and wireless/radar operator and waist gunner Eric Clark (both retired), who flew a total of 45 combat missions during WWII. Their objective: to restore a Liberator to taxiable condition as a memorial to those Australians who fought and died in them during the latter phases of WWII.
A brief history of A72-176:
A72-176 was former USAAF B-24M-10-CO 44-41956, delivered to the RAAF in January of 1945. It was built at the Consolidated plant in San Diego USA. Used as a training aircraft whilst in Australian service, she was struck off charge in March of 1948 and was stored at RAAF base Sale, Victoria. She was then purchased by George Toye of Moe, Victoria, for several hundred pounds in 1948, and the fuselage was kept under cover on his property for nearly fifty years. Unfortunately, the wings and tailplanes from A72-176 were broken up and sent to the smelter whilst George returned to collect them after delivering the fuselage on logging trucks to his property. The Army Reserve transported the fuselage, in two sections, to the restoration hanger last year.
The Fund has acquired a complete wing piece from a downed USAAF Liberator that was discovered recently in the Ramu Valley, near Papua New Guinea's north coast. It was airlifted by an Australian Army Blackhawk helicopter from the crash site to Madang, and then put on a container ship bound for Melbourne. Finally, a house transport truck brought the 33 metre long wing section to the Werribee restoration site.
As the Fund now has the major pieces to their jigsaw puzzle, they need to locate as many of the other parts as possible. For example, I know that they would dearly love some Liberator engine cowlings, and three running Pratt & Whitney DC-3 engines with props! Please write to the following addresses if anyone out there knows the whereabouts of any Liberator parts:
Judith Gilbert
Secretary B24 Restoration
Fund
PO Box 156,
Werribee VIC 3030
Australia.
Phone: (03) 9734 3222,
International: +61 3 9734 3222.
The official email
address for the B24 Fund is: b24@b24australia.com.au
The
hanger is located on the corner of Princes Hwy and Farm Rd, Werribee, Victoria.
(Melways Ref: 205 F10)
Opening hours: Tuesdays,
Thursdays, & Sundays: 9:30am - 3:30pm
Hanger Phone: (03) 9731
1263
Early model Liberators on the Ford production line.
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Begin virtual tour of the restoration
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