Assigned to 490th Bomb Group as one of its original cadre, Gremlin’s Roost is believed to have been painted with its nose art, along with other group B24s, at Mountain Home, Idaho prior to deployment to England. Soon after its arrival in the ETO, the Liberator was transferred to 486th Bomb Group at Sudbury and flew its first mission with them on D-Day. A total of 25 missions were flown between 6th June and 21st July which was the final sortie made by B24s of the 486BG before its changed to the B17 Fortress.

Many of the 486BG’s Liberators were then transferred to the 34th Bomb Group but “Gremlin’s Roost” went to 406th Night Leaflet Squadron to drop propaganda leaflets, flying from Cheddington and coded as J6-M. Here, it was probably painted all over in gloss black to deflect searchlights, like other 406th Liberators, thus obliterating its nose art.

It does not seem to have begun to fly leaflet missions until January 1945 but then commenced a gruelling schedule of 40 more missions. These involved trips to numerous cities across Holland, France and Germany lasting until mid-June, weeks after VE-Day. Some sources indicate "Gremlin's Roost" was assigned to Harrington, top secret base involved in dropping agents and supplies to the Resistance, but this was not the case. It did forceland at Harrington on 12 April '45 with a broken landing gear selector handle but was back at Cheddington for a mission two days later.

Known Mission List

Date	Pilot	Target	Notes
6 Jun 1944	W Dale	(2nd) Thury Harcourt (abortive)
7 Jun 1944	W Dale	Laval / Vitry MYs
8 Jun 1944	W Dale	Cinq Mars
12 Jun 1944	W Dale	Beauvais / Nivellers
14 Jun 1944	W Dale	Lille / Vendville
15 Jun 1944	W Dale	Buc AF
16 Jun 1944	W Dale	Illiers Levegue L/G
17 Jun 1944	G Ashley	Essay L/Grd
20 Jun 1944	R Clinard	(1st) Misburg
20 Jun 1944	W Dale	(2nd) Noball
22 Jun 1944	W Dale	Noball
24 Jun 1944	W Dale	Chartres AF
25 Jun 1944	W Dale	Bourges AF
27 Jun 1944	W Dale	Noball
28 Jun 1944	J C Coats	Coulommiers AF (abortive)
1 Jul 1944	W Dale	Noball
2 Jul 1944	W Dale	NoBall
4 Jul 1944	W Dale	Beaumont-sur-Oise / Creh AFs	R/E (NS) - airborne spare
5 Jul 1944	W Dale	Eindhoven AF (abortive)
8 Jul 1944	W Dale	Target Opp AF
14 Jul 1944	W Dale	Peronne	R/E (NS) - mechanical
18 Jul 1944		Saarbrucken
18 Jul 1944	W Dale	Tactical - Caen
19 Jul 1944	F A Hendricks	Saarbrucken
21 Jul 1944	Steiber	Target Opp AF	Last B24 operation for 486BG
11 Jan 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra
14 Jan 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Ailly, Eure
18 Jan 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Ailly, Eure
19 Jan 1945	W B Ferguson Jr / J P Rush Jr		Amsterdam -Rotterdam - Utrect
22 Jan 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Calais
14 Feb 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Budesheim - Schoneken - Lunebach
20 Feb 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Hilversum - Zwolle - Leewarden
2 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Hackenbroich - Koln - Lovenich
4 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Koln
5 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Emmerich - Rees - Wesel - Dorsten
6 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Dortmund - Hagen - Memscheid
7 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Gladbeck - Essen - Bolingen
8 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Linz - Bendorf - Kolbezn
9 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Nastatten - Wiesbaden - Lorch
10 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Bendorf - Lahnstein - Braubach
18 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Oppau(?)
19 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Lahnhofen - ?
20 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		? - ?
22 Mar 1945	F E Dutery / C H Cypra		Gemmersheim - Speyers - Santhofen
1 Apr 1945	M D Wilkes / W D Pickhardt		Arnhem - Loerbeek - Doesburg
2 Apr 1945	M D Wilkes / W D Pickhardt		Wipperfurth - Gummersbach - Berg Gladbach
3 Apr 1945	M D Wilkes / W D Pickhardt		Lorient - St Nazaire
4 Apr 1945	Pardue (?)		? - ?
5 Apr 1945	S Peresie / W J Smith		Rotterdam (?)
9 Apr 1945	T W Pardue / R W Huntley		Leewarden - Wilhelmshaven
10 Apr 1945	T W Pardue / R W Huntley		Ludescheid - Altema
12 Apr 1945	T W Pardue / R W Huntley		(NS) landed @ Harrington, UC gear selector handle broke
14 Apr 1945	J S Bonner / W L Morgan		Hamburg
15 Apr 1945	T W Pardue / R W Huntley		La Rochelle - Royan - Pt de Grave)
16 Apr 1945	V H Hansen / R F Kreuger		(NS) Oxygen system malfunctioned
21 Apr 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Ile d'Oleron
22 Apr 1945	T W Pardue / R W Huntley		Kiritz - Rathenow
4 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Zuiderland - Ouitenschild - Burg
6 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Dunkirk
9 May 1945	J E Bingham Jr / W L Michael		Rottrdam - The Hague - Haarlem (bomb doors froze)
14 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Buchenwald camp
17 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		The Hague - Amsterdam
19 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Marseilles AF
23 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Bad Nauheim
25 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Bad Nauheim
28 May 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Bad Nauheim
2 Jun 1945	W A Winburn / W G Pickhardt		Bad Nauheim
3 Jun 1945	R B Ogden / J T Farnkopf		Bad Nauheim
8 Jun 1945	A H Franke / A H White		Bad Nauheim
9 Jun 1945	B M Halverson / J F Palmer		Ahrweiler
16 Jun 1945	V H Hansen / R F Kreuger		Eisleben

 

© Ray Bowden 28 November 2021