“The Duchess”

The Duchess was one of the Circus's original B-24Ds and, by wide acclaim in the unit, a ship that refused to die. Early in the war, flown by Captain Ramsay Potts on an anti-submarine patrol over the Bay of Biscay, it was attacked by five German fighters; Potts's gunners shot down two Junkers 88s and claimed a probable before Potts escaped into clouds. Co-pilot Delbert Hall logged 27 missions aboard her.

As Circus B Force leader flying The Duchess on the low-level Ploesti mission of August 1, 1943, Potts could not correct back onto the proper heading to Floresti after the formation's mistaken turn at Targoviste, but the aircraft came through the raid and withdrawal intact, landing safely just ahead of Thundermug with its own tanks nearly dry. By late 1943, under crew chief Herbert "Pop" Hastings, The Duchess had flown at least 30 missions without a turnback, carrying General Timberlake (with pilot Frank Llewellyn) on the November 16, 1943 raid on the Rjukan/Vemork heavy-water plant in Norway. It went on to complete 52 to 53 missions without an abort, a mark unmatched by other Circus aircraft at the time and one that outdid earlier pilots Al Asch and Darrel Sims, who had also flown her.

The run ended on February 25, 1944, on a mission to Furth. Piloted by Lieutenant David Thompson, The Duchess lost engines to flak and was set upon by fighters that damaged her controls, sending her into a spin and down east of Landau. Several crewmen survived and were captured; others were lost in the crash. Pop Hastings, grounded by the loss of his aircraft, took over a replacement, the silver-finished Maulin' Mallard.