The name 2theSEA exists in honor of the courageous crew of the World War II B-24 Liberator Lady Be Good.
One of those nine young airmen was my uncle, Staff Sergeant Guy E. Shelley Jr. of the U.S. Army Air Forces — my mother's brother.
I think about his story almost every day.
A story of courage, endurance and brotherhood.
Their story deserves to be remembered.
Staff Sgt. Guy E. Shelley Jr., gunner, 7th from left
THE FINAL MISSION
On April 4, 1943, the Lady Be Good took off from a desert airfield in North Africa with a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber formation bound for targets in Italy.
Sandstorms and poor visibility disrupted the formation as the Lady Be Good continued toward the target area. On the return flight, darkness and reduced visibility obscured the airfield as the B-24 continued south.
Believing they were over the Mediterranean Sea with fuel dangerously low, the pilot ordered the crew to bail out.
They thought they were jumping into the sea.
They were not.
Into the Sea
Instead of water, they descended into an endless sea of Sahara Desert sand.
Lady Be Good as she was found
ENDURANCE BEYOND MEASURE
Eight of the nine crewmen survived the bailout, gathered together, and set out on foot across the desert.
They were actually 400 miles from their base.
A recovered crew diary records that, from the first day, the eight men had only half a canteen of water to share among them. With no shelter, they endured temperatures reaching 130°F by day and near freezing at night.
Still, they continued.
Historical sources document that the eight men walked 78 miles together across the Sand Sea.
Recovered journals show that their struggle for survival continued for at least eight days — far beyond what was believed possible with so little water in extreme desert heat.
After five could go no farther, three pressed on.
My uncle was one of them.
Air & Space Forces Magazine reports that my uncle continued another 37.5 miles beyond the point where the five men could go no farther, placing his total journey at approximately 115.5 miles from the bailout point.
When his remains were recovered, his trousers contained his own papers and wallet, along with Harold Ripslinger’s papers and billfold. The published account places Ripslinger’s recovery location approximately 11.5 miles behind him.
Finding those possessions with my uncle suggests that he carried his crewmate’s effects onward while he himself was at the very edge of survival.
A quiet but powerful measure of his character.
Crew Recovery Locations
The locations of the crew’s recovery sites shown on this map match those presented by aviation historian Dick Campbell in the PBS presentation The Mysterious Story of “Lady Be Good,” in which he uses a historical map to illustrate where the crewmen were found.
The wreck of the Lady Be Good was discovered in 1958. Crew remains and journals recovered in 1960 revealed the extraordinary story of their final days in the desert.
THE MEN BEHIND THE NAME
2theSEA is a tribute to the crew of the Lady Be Good.
To my uncle, Staff Sergeant Guy E. Shelley Jr., and to the eight men who flew beside him — you are remembered.
RSM