In or about 1943, full production commenced through Ford Motor Company of the B-24 in its new plant, the Willow Run facility. As production ramped up, an incredible result of one B-24 per hour was the result. Near the end of 1944, approximately 650 of the B-24 bomber were being manufactured from start to finish, making the B-24 the most produced bomber in the history of American warfare. The total production of this heavy bomber was over 18,000 units, with half of those being produced at the Willow Run Ford Facility. The average cost to produce a B-24 from start to finish in 1944 was $297,627.00 which equates to $4.44 million today.
While the B-24 was designed to fly much faster than the B-17 and had a longer flight range and could carry a much heavier bomb payload, it was very difficult to control and navigate. The forces on the controls were heavy and it was a feat to fly this machine in formation. In addition, it had a “Davis wing” with the fuselage mounted on it, making it hazardous to make any kind of an emergency landing. Due to the difficulty in flying the B-24 in a squadron formation, the lead plane was often decorated in garish colors, contained no guns or defences of any kind and carried only a skeleton crew to operate it. This lead plane was referred to as the “Judas goat” and would return to base after the formation was established.
The B-24 featured a central bomb bay which took up the entire centre of the plane. It had both front and rear compartments and a thin catwalk (9 inches wide) that could be negotiated very carefully by the crew. The only entrance and exit from the plane was in the rear, meaning that all crew members had to crawl over the catwalk to reach the front of the plane. It was such a tight squeeze that it could not be accomplished while wearing a parachute, earning the B-24 the nickname the “flying coffin”.
Just like the B-17, the B-24 featured a full armament of heavy guns, including .50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns in the nose, top, sides, tail and belly. While the ball turret of the B-17 was fixed, the B-24 featured one that could be retracted when it was not being used. Eventually, the ball turret was phased out in mid-1944 because it was found to be unnecessary.
The first B-24s were initially used in 1941 as long range transport planes, rather than combat planes. They were put into service in England to fly ferry operators back to Canada who operated the Atlantic Return Ferry Service over the Atlantic. They were later put into service as anti-submarine patrol units during the Battle of the Atlantic. As 1941 progressed, the Liberator II B-24 was introduced into service with the Royal Air Force.
A single B-24 was used during the attack on Pearl Harbour but was shot down. The intention was to use the planes as transport vehicles, but they were placed into service for full combat in 1942. In the ensuing three years, it was deployed to every combat mission and became the standard in heavy bombers, eventually fully replacing the B-17 in every aspect of combat service.
The long range capabilities of the B-24 made it especially suited for patrol duties, including anti-submarine reconnaissance, hauling heavy cargo, transporting crews and personnel to supply depleted troops overseas and tanker duties. The anti-submarine patrols were not without danger, as many of the submarines of the day were fully loaded with anti-aircraft guns, and they made it a policy to stay on the water’s surface to fight and shoot at the B-24 bombers.
