Shady Lady (aircraft)

Shady Lady was a Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft that in August 1943 flew one of World War II's longest bombing missions, from Darwin in Australia to the oil refineries at Balikpapan in the East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, Indonesia.

Shortly before running out of fuel on the return flight from the target, Shady Lady was crash-landed on a remote salt pan in northern Western Australia after flying for 16 hours and 35 minutes. With help from the people in the Aboriginal community, Shady Lady was eventually repaired and flew back to base.

Shady Lady was part of the 380th Bombardment Group which flew B-24 bombers in the South West and Western Pacific areas in WWII. Known as the "Flying Circus" and "King Of The Heavies", the 380th Bombardment Group went overseas in April 1943 and was placed under the control of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and assigned to the Australian North West Area Command operating out of Darwin, Northern Territory.

On 19 February 1942, 10 weeks after leading the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese bomber pilot Mitsuo Fuchida, flying from the same aircraft carrier - attacked Darwin.

The Japanese air raids on Darwin, often called the "Pearl Harbor of Australia" used more aircraft, sank more boats and dropped more bombs than at Pearl Harbor and dealt a psychological blow to the Australian population, just weeks after hostilities with Japan had begun.

Australia was determined to strike back and therefore welcomed the arrival in Australia in 1943 of the American 380th Bombardment Group and its long-range Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft.

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Wikipedia