The Man Behind the Name
James F. Belwood picked up a new B-24G at Mitchell Field and flew the southern route to England in March 1944, where his crew was assigned to the 330th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group at Hardwick. His crew flew their first mission on April 11, 1944.
All of the original crew except their bombardier flew a total of 34 missions in 80 days, completing their tour without any member sustaining an injury. The crew logged 1,400 hours in the B-24 without losing an engine to any cause.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.
Before and after.
James F. Belwood was born February 9, 1919 in Marshall, MO. He completed pilot training in Class 43-G and B-24 transition training in Montgomery, AL. He was assigned a newly trained crew and completed phase training at Clovis, NM.
Belwood returned to the States and was assigned to Langley Field, flying B-24s for navigational trainees until his discharge in 1946. He married a girl from Norwich and began a career in insurance. Recalled to service in 1951, he completed B-29 transition training at Randolph, then went to Travis with his crew assigned to the 9th Bomb Group. He was later assigned to B-36s in the 5th Strat Recon Wing at Travis before returning to civilian life in November 1953.