23/09/2026
THE SAGA OF "BIG TIME OPERATOR"
By George DuPont (448th)
Allen Bowman was crew chief of 712th
B.T.O. (Big Time Operator). a Disney cartoon of "Jose Carioca" was painted on the
B24's nose.
As the war progressed, B.T.O. kept going on missions and coming back.
Slowly
they accumulated, and proudly each one
was to become a small yellow bomb symbol
painted under the pilots window.
The aircraft was in dull, dirty war brown paint and
together with the grime, dirt and mud of
months of use, presented a woeful appearance.
A new crew fresh from the states looked
searchingly for some vital signs of life under her dirt encrusted hide and finally in
hopeless dejection turned to Allen and in
sheer horror exclaimed, "My god! This
ship is long overdue for the graveyard."
Allen looked at this young, clean shaven
wild eyed Lieutenant and replied, "I'll tell
you what, Sir. You and your crew take her
upstairs and if you don't like the way she
flies, Bail Out! She knows her way home!"
B.T.O. had more than 119 missions at
the end of the war,
Allen Bowman and B.T.O. led the
448th back to the states — the only ship to
last the war from our group.
Credit... DuPont Via The 448Th Collection
