2theSEAgear.com
Our company name, 2 the SEA, dedicated to the crewmen of the “Lady Be Good”.
I think about their peril pretty much everyday.
“Lady Be Good” B-24 Bomber crew of nine, included my mom's brother, my Uncle
Staff Sergeant Gunner
Guy E. Shelley
Their story will never be forgotten
The Lady Be Good departed Soluch Army Air Field, North Africa as part of a wave of bombers assigned to targets in Naples harbor. They took off in a sandstorm and became separated from the bomber formation; the Lady Be Good continued and flew alone to the target. The bomber continued flying over the Mediterranean Sea along the correct return flight heading back toward their airbase, yet, it appears, they overshoot the landing field. The last communication with the Lady Be Good was from the pilot requesting navigational assistance.
Thinking they were still over the Mediterranean, running low on fuel, the pilot ordered his crew to jump in “2 the SEA”. Fitted with their life jackets, they bailed out and parachuted into the dark night they thought was the Mediterranean Sea. However, they have flown deep into the Sahara desert before bailing out; an area known as the "Libyan Sand Sea of Calanscio". The airmen, have in fact, jumped in “2 the SEA” of the shifting sand sea dunes. They are now faced with some of the most forbidding desert conditions on the face of the earth between them and the airfield; desert daytime temperatures reach 130 degree Fahrenheit and night near freezing.
Thinking they were not far from their airfield, the eight surviving crewmen attempt to walk out of the desert. In actuality, they were more than 400 miles from Soluch. Two chilling diaries recovered, along with the crews remains, give an account of their heroic & tragic story.
Medical experts estimated the limit a man could travel without water in these desert conditions as 25 miles, with a life expectancy of two days. But, with only a half canteen of water, these eight men pushed through 78 miles together from the Rally Point. Five of the men remained at this location as they were to weak and could no longer walk. Three men went even farther; all without shelter, for at least (9) nine days per the co-pilots diary.
Somehow, the other three men broke all records for human endurance. They found one of the three airmen had traveled 26 miles farther. They then found my uncle ........ another 37.5 miles farther in “2 the Sea” of sand, journeying a total of 115.5 miles from the bailout Rally Point. My uncles dog tags were uncovered in the sand along with his wallet and papers found in one pocket. In his other pocket they found the wallet and papers of one of the other airman. This discovery implied my uncle took these effects to give to his friends family. The third man was never found.
Lady Be Good airmen; extraordinary will to survive.
In honor of the valiant & courageous crew of the “Lady Be Good”
2theSEAgear.com
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17-year-old mystery of the “Lady Be Good”
The “Lady Be Good” was discovered in 1958 by geologists conducting an aerial survey of the desert and the crew's remains were found in 1960.
The first major article on the discovery of the “Lady Be Good” was published in LIFE Magazine:
- LIFE Magazine, March 7, 1960, pp 20-27
- Air/Space Force Mag Feb 1, 2014 pp 70-75
Books have been authored:
- "LADY'S MEN", The Story of World War II's Mystery Bomber and her Crew, by Mario Martinez
- "The LADY BE GOOD", Mystery Bomber of World War II, by Dennis E. McClendon
- "NO WAY OUT", The Untold Story of the B-24 " Lady Be Good" and Her Crew, by Steven R. Whitby
- "Last Flight of the Lady Be Good", by Jim Redman
TV/VIDEO:
- PBS Wisconsin 42 min video/lecture Feb. 20, 2014 narrated by Dick Campbell, Aviation Historian
- Armstrong Circle Theater LIVE television broadcast documentary; February 1960
- History's Mysteries aired TV Feb. 7, 2000
US Army Air Corps Crew of the "Lady Be Good"
Sergeant/Gunner Guy E. Shelley - 7th from front
Mystery of the "Lady Be Good" B-24 Liberator 64
Found 17 years later in the Sand Sea of Calanscio
