Delivery flight from India to Canada for museum use. DND photo.

Built at Willow Run as 44-50206 on 5 Dec 44, this B-24L was ferried under Lend-Lease from Montreal to Bamrauli in June 1945. Received by Air Command SEA, it was sent to No. 99 (Madras Presidency) Sqn at Dhubalia. Detached to Cocos Is, the B-24 made shipping strikes, bombing runs and SAR to Java, Sumatra and Burma. At the end of the war RAF B-24s were dumped at Chakeri. Refurbished by HAL and flown by the RIAF, the bombers equipped No. 5, 6 and 16 Sqn. The IAF was the last and longest user of the B-24 from 1948-68. This B-24L HE807 from No. 6 Sqn "Dragons" was donated to the RAFM in 1974.

ex Indian AF B-24 on delivery to Canada for preservation. Canadian Armed Forces photo

ex USAAF 44-50206, RAF KN751 and Indian AF HE807. Most Liberators that were delivered to the RAF in the Far East took the Azores trans Atlantic route and than via Africa to India. The SNAKE addition to the serial indicated this aircraft was on delivery to the Far East and was not to be retained in the Middle East while on transit.

A surprise announcement after the day's air displays had ended: a flyby of a B-24 on delivery for display at the RAF Museum! I had already packed my camera and almost missed this shot. Admittedly not a very good shot, but so far this has been one of the last flights of a B-24 in the UK.

Transitting through from India on its way to a Canadian museum. Photo taken as a schoolboy with a very cheap camera, sorry for the quality. Photo was found during a recent house move. Originally built for the RAF as KN820, afterwards it served with 5 and 6 Squadrons of the Indian Air Force. It is now displayed in the Canadian National Aviation Museum in Rockville and is painted in a maritime colour scheme as 11130.

Transitting through from India on its way to a Canadian museum. Photo taken as a schoolboy with a very cheap camera, sorry for the quality. Photo was found during a recent house move. The aircraft was originally KN820 of 355 Squadron, RAF. Then it served with 5 and 6 Squadrons, Indian Air Force. It is now displayed in the Canadian National Aviation Museum, Rockville. It is painted in a maritime colour scheme as 11130.

This was one of 296 B-24s completed at Willow Run during Dec. 1944 and given the USAAF serial 44-50206. Allocated to the RAF, as KN751, under the Lend-Lease agreement she was ferried to India and saw action in SE Asia until the Japanese surrender. She then went on to serve with the Indian Air Force, as HE807, in a maritime patrol role for almost twenty years. In 1974 she was flown to the UK after being donated by the Indian Govt. to the RAF Museum. The SNAKE suffix to the serial indicated that the aircraft was on delivery to the RAF in South East Asia.

Moved from the RAF Museum, Cosford Collection where I had first seen this beauty, to the Bomber Command Hall at Hendon. The SNAKE suffix to the serial indicated that the aircraft was on delivery to the RAF in South East Asia and was not to be kept in the Middle East. The nose carries a plaque to commemorate the fact that the aircraft was presented by the Indian Air Force.

The SNAKE suffix to the serial indicated that the aircraft was on delivery to the RAF in South East Asia and was not to be kept in the Middle East. The aircraft carries markings on the nose, presented by the Indian Air Force to the RAF Museum. I was lucky in that other aircraft had been moved around on the day of my visit allowing an unobscured view. It has since been moved to Hendon.