223 Squadron Liberator TS532 - B-24D or B-24J...?

[wwrsimon]

Hello everyone

I'm trying to unravel a mystery about R.A.F. Liberator TS532 6G-N of 223 Sqn.

Here are two links to a couple of photos of 223 Sqn Liberator TS432 6G-N on Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldbuc...-e162c8-bFTJTF

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldbuc...-e1bGms-7HQk8J

It's captioned as a B-24J, U.S. serial number 42-40380. However, the book "Special Ops Liberators" by Steve Bond and Richard Forder lists it as B-24J-160-CO, ex 42-40350 of the 861st BS/493 BG. To add to the confusion, it seems that both 42-40350 and 42-40380 are from a batch of B-24D-53-CO aicraft:

http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_2a.html

So, is 42-40380 possibly 44-40380, a B-24J-160-CO:

http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.html

44-40380 was formerly 'Kentucky Kloudhopper' which "flew 3 combat missions with the 493rd BG before being transferred to the 803rd BS (Composite) and thence to the RAF 100 Group." See photo and details here:

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/19659

Obviously if this is TS532's earlier incarnation, it had a new oval-shaped blister window installed to replace the smaller rectangular one in this photo.

To further muddy the waters, on the rear quarter view photo on Flickr the serial on the fin seems to read 240380 - is this simply a mis-applied serial on the fin? I have a copy of the book "Consolidated Mess" and wondered if it's a was possibly a B-24D with a nose conversion, or is in fact a B-24J?

Regards

Simon