41-11617 Ole King Solomon/ Dream Street Rose

Ole King Solomon, serial number 41-11617, was one of the 23 HALPRO B-24s.  Her RCL was # 12.  She was on HALPRO's first mission of June 12, 1942 to the Ploesti oilfields.

During her return, the crew diverted to Iraq, where they landed her near the RAF base at Habbaniya.  The map below shows her approximate location. (Provided by the son of Hugh Powell.)

RAF maintenance crews were dispatched to the crash site to secure the plane and bring the nose gear into the down and locked position with lumber framing.

On June 23rd Lt. Whitlock assumed command of the “Old King Solomon”. 

On June 25th, Lt. Whitlock flew the aircraft from its crash site either to RAF Fayid or the repair depot at Gura in the Eritrean hills.

Lt. Whitlock returned to the Halverson Detachment’s new base in Lydda, Palestine on July 6th.

She flew 22 missions.  When the 376th HBG was formed in November 1942, her RCL was changed to #35.  She flew another 10 missions as #35.

Following the realignment of aircraft RCLs with the various squadrons, she carried 2 different RCLs.  The first was #50, when she was damaged on the May 4 1943 mission to Reggio Italy.  When she returned to service, she was given the RCL #49.

In total, she flew 43 missions.

But that was not the end of her service.  She was transferred to the 515th squadron, given the RCL #96.  In addition, her name was changed to Dream Street Rose.  She flew no missions in this configuration.

The photo was taken after her 24th mission.

Photo from Grover Buxton

Missions Flown

Group      Date      A/C # and   Mission Target         Pilot
Mission #               letter

  1     1   6/12/1942 12 K   Polesti Romania                          James Soloman
  2   28   7/21/1942 12 K   Suda Bay Crete                          Homer Adams
  3   30   7/23/1942 12 K   Benghazi Libya                          George Uhrich
  4   32   7/25/1942 12 K   Tobruk Libya                               Martin Walsh, Jr
  5   34   7/28/1942 12 K   Suda Bay Crete                               Walter Clark
  6   36   7/30/1942 12 D   Suda Bay Crete                            George Whitlock
  7   37   8/  1/1942 12 K   Convoy Mediterranean                     Walter Clark
  8   38   8/  4/1942 12 K   Convoy Mediterranean                George Whitlock
  9   39   8/  6/1942 12      Tobruk Libya                               John Toomey
10   40   8/24/1942 12 K   Tobruk Libya                               George Whitlock
11   41   8/27/1942 12      Convoy Mediterranean                George Whitlock
12   42   8/30/1942 12 K   Tobruk Libya                               George Whitlock
13   43   9/  1/1942 12 K   Canea Crete                                    Paul Long
14   44   9/  3/1942 12 K   Convoy Mediterranean                George Whitlock
15   45   9/  7/1942 12      Convoy Mediterranean                     John Wilcox
16   46   9/  9/1942 12 K   Tobruk Libya                               George Whitlock
17   48   9/13/1942 12 K   Benghazi Libya                               Paul Long
18   49   9/16/1942 12      Benghazi Libya                     Charles Blankenhorn
19   50   9/22/1942 12 K   Benghazi Libya                          George Whitlock
20   51   9/27/1942 12 K   Benghazi Libya                               James Brereton
21   53 10/  6/1942 12 K   Benghazi Libya                               Homer Adams
22   54 10/  9/1942 12 K   Benghazi Libya                               James Sibert
23   82 12/  7/1942 35      Tripoli Libya
24   84 12/16/1942 35      Sfax Tunisia
25   84 12/20/1942 35      Sousse Tunisia
26   89   1/  7/1943 35      Palermo Sicily
27   90   1/  8/1943 35      Bizerte Tunisia
28   91   1/11/1943 35      Naples Italy
29   92   1/16/1943 35      Tripoli Libya
30   94   1/26/1943 35      Naples Italy
31   97   2/  7/1943 35      Naples Italy
32 103   3/  3/1943 35      Naples Italy
33 108   4/  2/1943 50 K   Palermo Sicily                               Charles Hinson
34 109   4/  4/1943 50 K   Naples Italy                                    Charles Hinson
35 110   4/  6/1943 50      Messina Sicily                               Charles Hinson
36 111   4/10/1943 50 K   Naples Italy                                    Charles Hinson
37 114   4/16/1943 50      Catania Sicily                               Charles Hinson
38 117   4/26/1943 50 C   Bari Italy                                         Ernest Fogel
39 119   4/30/1943 50 R   Messina Sicily                                    Ernest Fogel
40 120   5/  1/1943 50 R   Reggio Italy                                    James deVeuve
41 121   5/  4/1943 50 R   Reggio Italy                                    Ernest Fogel
42 151   8/13/1943 49 I    Weiner Neustadt Austria                James deVeuve
43 154   8/21/1943 49 I    Cancello M/Y Italy                          James deVeuve