The Lady Be Good, a B-24D Liberator bomber based at an Allied airfield near Benghazi, Libya, disappeared without a trace on April 4, 1943, on its return from a bombing raid over the Naples harbor.

The Lady Be Good was one of twenty-five aircraft that had taken off from the Benghazi airfield earlier that afternoon.

Storms had disrupted their mission.

The Lady Be Good became separated from its formation and flew alone on its return to the airbase.

Somewhere over the Mediterranean, the plane’s pilot radioed that his automatic direction finder was not working.

He asked for guidance.

The plane was given destination coordinates and flares were fired from the airfield to enhance visibility.

But the plane misinterpreted the coordinates, didn’t see the flares, and continued its flight south for many hours, flying past the airfield and traveling deep into the Libyan Desert.

And finally, when the plane exhausted its fuel supply, the nine-man crew bailed out.

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