American pilots of the B-24 Galloping Katie II heavy bomber No. 42-110018 from the 566th Squadron of the 389th Bomber Group of the 8th Air Army of the United States, bombing targets in Germany. On the fuselage of the aircraft there are notes of 17 combat sorties and one shot down by a German aircraft.
The first “Galloping Katie” belonged to the same military unit. American pilots Captain Charles R. Getty called the B-24 Liberator, on which he flew, in honor of his wife Catherine. During the 16th combat sortie – on the bombing of Berlin – on March 16, 1944, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire (two out of four engines failed), made an emergency landing in Switzerland, near the city of Dübendorf and was interned. At that time, Charles Getty was not on board – just before that he fell ill and fell into the infirmary for a couple of days.
After receiving the new aircraft, American pilots Charles R. Getty called him “Galloping Katie II”. The plane successfully ended the war, but its fate was tragic – it disappeared June 17, 1945 over the Atlantic during the return to the United States. Charles Getty was lucky again – in the flight that turned out to be her last, “Galloping Katie II” he was not.