Connell's Special - Sgt. James J. Riley
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: 17 Aug 2022 2307
Connell's Special - Sgt. James J. Riley
Would love to find out more about my great-uncle James J. Riley. I recently acquired the attached photo of him (on the right) and figured I would share.
Re: Connell's Special - Sgt. James J. Riley
Seems like your uncle was part of the Art Rogers crew when he commanded the 90th and who was the reason for the name Jolly Rogers.
Re: Connell's Special - Sgt. James J. Riley
From Col Rogers' memoirs.
One of my waist gunners, Sgt. Riley, had been a staff car driver in the City of Brisbane
before he convinced me he came over to fight the Japs and not to drive Colonels around. When I
asked him where he came from he replied, “Out of a coon hollow in Tennessee.” He told me he
had hunted and shot guns all of his life and had volunteered, giving up a job driving Greyhound
busses, to come over and fight Japs and instead had ended up driving a five passenger staff car
for a bunch of Colonels. He thought this was quite an injustice and knowing that I was second in
command, at that time, of a combat outfit he insisted that I give him a chance to personally kill a
few Japs before coming home. It was impossible for me to turn him down he was so sincere and
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after contacting two headquarters I had him transferred away from his soft living into the jungles of
New Guinea. There was never a time that I regretted making the effort to get this transfer
approved.
One of my waist gunners, Sgt. Riley, had been a staff car driver in the City of Brisbane
before he convinced me he came over to fight the Japs and not to drive Colonels around. When I
asked him where he came from he replied, “Out of a coon hollow in Tennessee.” He told me he
had hunted and shot guns all of his life and had volunteered, giving up a job driving Greyhound
busses, to come over and fight Japs and instead had ended up driving a five passenger staff car
for a bunch of Colonels. He thought this was quite an injustice and knowing that I was second in
command, at that time, of a combat outfit he insisted that I give him a chance to personally kill a
few Japs before coming home. It was impossible for me to turn him down he was so sincere and
36
after contacting two headquarters I had him transferred away from his soft living into the jungles of
New Guinea. There was never a time that I regretted making the effort to get this transfer
approved.
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: 17 Aug 2022 2307
Re: Connell's Special - Sgt. James J. Riley
Thank you for sharing, Bob! Where might I find a copy of Col. Rogers memoirs?
Re: Connell's Special - Sgt. James J. Riley
The significance of Connell's Special is that it is the first B24 with a nose turret in combat.
In 1942 Art Rogers noted the problems with the glass house socket guns in the nose of the B24 and was working on putting a turret in the nose while station at Willow Run just prior to deployment to Hawaii.
In The Wartime Journals of Charles A Lindberg he talks about facilitating a meeting between Major Rogers and Mr. Ford that started the process where 24s were manufactured with nose turrets.
Connell's Special had a nose turret installed in theater in Australia so your uncle was part of this.
In 1942 Art Rogers noted the problems with the glass house socket guns in the nose of the B24 and was working on putting a turret in the nose while station at Willow Run just prior to deployment to Hawaii.
In The Wartime Journals of Charles A Lindberg he talks about facilitating a meeting between Major Rogers and Mr. Ford that started the process where 24s were manufactured with nose turrets.
Connell's Special had a nose turret installed in theater in Australia so your uncle was part of this.
Re: Connell's Special - Sgt. James J. Riley
Second historical note for Connell's Special
Rogers in his memoirs says that he felt the olive paint was of no value. The crackled paint and the weight of the painted was detrimental to the performance so he had the paint removed from his plane and was able to demonstrate an increase in performance which resulted in the B24 being manufactured without the olive paint. They were originally hesitant to deploy the plane in combat because it would standout and might get more attention from the Japanese.
Rogers in his memoirs says that he felt the olive paint was of no value. The crackled paint and the weight of the painted was detrimental to the performance so he had the paint removed from his plane and was able to demonstrate an increase in performance which resulted in the B24 being manufactured without the olive paint. They were originally hesitant to deploy the plane in combat because it would standout and might get more attention from the Japanese.