The B-24D named, Old Baldy, was assigned to the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 345th Bomb Squadron, USAAF. Aircraft was lost, Failed To Return (FTR), with Lt. John J. Dore Jr.'s crew, after the bombing mission over Ploesti, Romania. Old Baldy, was shot down and lost near it's bombing target, the Astra Romano refinery complex, code named, White IV.



As Lt. Dore's B-24, Old Baldy, approached White IV, at 200 miles an hour and at a very low altitude, he took a direct hit by a Romanian manned 88mm flak gun directly in front of him and about thirty feet below him, and caught on fire. As he continued into the smoke and fires at White IV, now, hopelessly on fire from the wings back. Lt. Dore, emergency toggled his bombs into the fire below, and pitched his plane upward in a bid to gain some altitude. The plane started to fall off on the right wing, hit the ground, and slid into the 88 flak gun beyond the refinery fence in a huge ball of flames, killing, both, the entire airplane's, and the flak gun's crews.



In Roger Freeman’s “The Ploesti Raid: Through the Lens” book, page 128, the author succinctly states: “…flown by 1st Lieutenant John J. Dore, Jr. and crew of 10, briefed to fly slot No. 5 on the left side of Flight 4, attacking, White IV, Dore started being hit by flak, and took the direct hit from an 88mm flak gun directly in his path, and caught fire. Reportedly, Lt. Dore, knowing his situation was hopeless, deliberately crashed his doomed bomber into the 88mm Romanian manned gun emplacement ahead of him that had made the kill shot into his B-24, Old Baldy, a few miles beyond the refinery. Six members of the enemy gun crew, Lt. Dore, and all nine airmen in Dore's bomber were killed in the crash. Only four bodies were identified." 4 Killed in Action (KIA). 6 Missing In Action (MIA). 1 August, 1944. MACR 223.