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| USAAF 5th AF 3rd BG |
Aircraft History Built by North American Aviation (NAA) in Inglewood. Constructors Number 82-5432. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as B-25C Mitchell serial number 41-12797. Ferried overseas via Hickam Field then across the Pacific to Australia. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 38th Bombardment Group. Nicknamed "Bird Dog". Ferried overseas piloted by Lt. Pavich from Hickam Field then across the Pacific. While landing at Nadi Airfield on Fiji, the right landing gear failed to extend and this bomber was damaged and repaired before arriving in Australia. Assigned to Brigadier General Kenneth N. Walker, Commanding Officer (C.O.) of 5th Bomber Command as his personal aircraft. He nicknamed it "Red Headed Gal". The nose art depicted a red headed woman. During late 1942, this B-25 operated from Garbutt Field at Townsville and 7-Mile Drome near Port Moresby. On October 12, 1942 took off from 7-Mile Drome to Garbutt Field near Townsville piloted by General Kenneth N. Walker. Aboard were Captain Fred P. Dollenberg and war correspondent Vern Haugland in a who survived bailing out of B-26 "Yankee Clipper" 40-1521 and was being transported to Australia for hospitalization. After Brigadier General Kenneth N. Walker went Missing In Action (MIA) aboard B-17F "San Antonio Rose" 41-24458 on January 5, 1943, this bomber was reassigned and apparently continued service as a transport for command officers. A latter photo of the plane shows it stripped of olive drab paint to bare aluminum. Later, this bomber was damaged in an accident and officially condemned on June 11, 1945. Ultimate fate unknown, likely scrapped or otherwise disappeared. References USAF Serial Number Search Results - B-25C 41-12797 "12797 condemned after accident Jun 11, 1945" Letter from New Guinea (1943) page 132: "On October 12 [1942] Brigadier General Kenneth N. Walker and his pilot, Captain Fred P. Dollenberg, of Philadelphia, flew me to Australia in the general's B-25 bomber, 'The Red Headed Gal', and on to a hospital the next day. I [Vern Haugland] made the trip on a stretcher in the rear section. General Walker did the piloting much of the way." Thanks to Edward Rogers and Douglas Walker for research and information Contribute
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