An original cadre ship acquired 1 November ’43 and assigned to Grimmer’s crew who flew her overseas in December ’43. The pilot named her after a girl friend in Topeka, just before leaving for overseas. Crew chief Sgt. Rudolph Lesquere. The “Belle” was downed over Bucharest, Romania, on the 4 April ’44 Presidential Unit Citation mission with Kendall’s crew aboard Ì 2 KIA and 8 POW. MACR 4205.
