RELUCTANT LIZ (PIC 2)

NAME	TP	-	M#	SER	-	BLK	-	MF	SERIAL #	AF	BG	BS	SC	RCL/#	V#-P	PHOTO CREDITS
RELUCTANT LIZ	B	-	24	H	-	1	-	DT	41-28596	15	449	718	~	38	00-2	GEORGE ELLISON

Port (Left) Side - Lost 4 Apr 44, ROU - MACR 3701 - Pilot William C. Bontly, Jr.

Contributor - Lt. Col. Craig Rainey via Roger Blair Shortridge
Mr. Shortridge's Uncle, 2nd Lt. George Ellison (Bombardier - Standing far right). The crew pictured above is the Raymond Drewelow Crew (90th BG/319th BS). Although it has been established that this crew probably trained on this ship, it is not the aircraft that they took to the SWPA. The Drewelow crew was declared MIA 5 Mar 44, (MACR 3307) on a mission to Hansa Bay, New Guinea. The wreckage of their aircraft, (42-41135), and the remains of the crew, was discovered in Jan 1991. The crew was returned to the USA, to be interred at Arlington in Dec 2001.

Info Contributor - Mark Coffee
Delivered to Bruning, NE, 19 Oct 43, as one of the original 61 planes of the 449th BG and assigned to William Bontly's crew. The first few attempts to fly this plane were aborted, for various reasons, and one of the crew said "this ship is reluctant to fly!". This became her name, along with "Liz", who was Bontly's wife. RELUCTANT LIZ flew 22 missions before being downed by fighters 4 Apr 44, over Bucharest, Romania with 2 KIA, 8 POW. She was one of 7 ships lost that day, by the 449th Bomb Group, in a 90 minute air battle with an estimated 100+ fighters, which earned the 449th BG the first (of two) Presidential Unit Citations.