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B-24 Liberator
B-24 #4111761 "The Squaw", famed Liberator of 71 missions in the Mediterranean area, grounded and surrounded by large crowd.
Crew standing and sitting atop of the famous B-24 Liberator, #4111761 "The Squaw", that successfully covered 71 missions without a casualty.
Four gunners who protected B-24 #4111761 "The Squaw" on 35 of it's 71 missions. The gunners are looking out of the waist window of "The Squaw" with a 50 Cal next to them. Left to right: Sergeant Weir, Sergeant Givens, Sergeant Rielly, and Sergeant Guana.
Image of three aviation crew members standing below the fuselage of the famous B-24 Liberator, #4111761 "The Squaw". Above the men are the awards presented to the AAF men who successfully covered 71 missions without a casualty. L to R is: S/Sgt Paul E Davidson, Lt Clinton H. Killian, and S/Sgt Adney J Harmon.
Major Joe M. Kilgore standing next to the famous B-24 Liberator, #4111761 "The Squaw". Kilgore is looking at the list of decorations won by the crew members of "The Squaw" during it's 71 missions in the Middle East.
B-24 #4111761 'The Squaw' took part in the low level Ploesti mission and was flown by the Royden LeBrecht crew.
The Consolidated B-24 bomber #4111761 "The Squaw" is prepared for a flight to the United States. The map shows bombing missions this airplane has been on, including bombing of the Ploesti oil fields and Rome, Italy.
Lt. Royden LeBrecht's B-24D, The "Squaw" . Royden flew The "Squaw" on the desperate mission to destroy Hitler's oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. Aug 1, 1943. Both Lebrecht and The "Squaw" survived the mission. LeBrecht joined up with several straggler aircraft from his 98th Bomb Group and several of the 376th Bomb Group's pilots and planes south of Ploesti, who had followed their leader, Col. Addison Baker and broke away from Col. Kieth Compton's Lead to fly north and bomb Ploesti's refinery, "White IV", after Compton turned hid Lead aircraft away from Ploesti toward Bucharest. LeBrecht and his crew made it all the way south, following Col. John Kane's lead airplane, 'Hail Columbia', where they landed safely at the British Air base at Nicosia, Cyprus. Ploesti was Royden Lebrecht's last combat mission. After the mission, he returned to the U.S. and went on a year long war bond tour, flying his favorite B-24, 'The "Squaw" '.
B-24D 'The Squaw' 41-11761 with pilot Lt. Royden LeBrecht and the 9th AF Pilots War Bond Tour - 1943
The B-24D, ' The Squaw ' # 41-11761 Flown by Lt. Royden LeBrecht on the Ploesti mission. LeBrecht joined the group of stragglers following John Kane in 'Hail Columbia' to Cyprus and, then, home to Benghazi. LeBrecht and 'The Squaw' both survived the mission and went to the U.S. on a war bond tour 1944.
B-24 Liberator #4111761 'The Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, recovering to Cyprus, piloted by Royden L Lebrecht. On completion of its tour, returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for a war bond tour.
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to Col. Walter T. Stewart of the 330 Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, USAAF for the mission to bomb the refineries at Ploesti Aug 1,1943. Col. Stewart named this plane, 'Utah Man', to underscore his Utah Morman background to all...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, 'Hail Columbia', # 41-11825, originally served in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron. It was, first, the 344th Squadron's CO, Col. John R. Kane's, personal aircraft until Kane became the 98th Bomb Group's...
Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942.
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Squadron
Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force. Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil; performed trans-Atlantic...
Military | Master Sergeant | Crew Chief
Crew Chief on B-24 Liberator #4111761 'The Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, recovering to Cyprus. On completion of its tour A/C, returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for a war bond tour.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Gunner
Crew member B-24 #4111761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress. Returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Gunner
Crew member B-24 #4111761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress. Returned to Fort Worth, Texas, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner
Crew member B-24 #4111761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress. Returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Gunner
Crew member B-24 #4111761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress. Returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for war bonds tour with A/C.
Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24D Co-Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
2nd Lt. Ronald Lee Helder was a B-24 pilot in the 8th Air Force, the 389th Bomb Group, and the 564th Bombing Squadron in WWII. He flew as Co-pilot with his friend, Command Pilot Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes, in the B-24D Lt. Helder called, 'Ole Kickapoo',...
Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24 Command Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
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Military | Colonel | Commanding Officer, Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
John Riley Kane (January 5, 1907 – May 29, 1996) was a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps and later the United States Air Force. He received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War II, for his...
Military | Major | Pilot
Joe Madison Kilgore (December 10, 1918 – February 10, 1999) served from 1955 to 1965 as a U.S. Representative from Texas's 15th congressional district. Born in Brown County, near Brownwood in west central Texas, Kilgore attended the public schools of...
Military | First Lieutenant | Co Pilot
Co Pilot B-24 #4111761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress. Returned to USA for war bonds tour with A/C.
1 August 1943
Operation TIDAL WAVE. B24D Liberators attack the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The bombers flew low to avoid radar detection and dropped time delayed bombs. Out of the 177 B-24s that took part in the raid 167 managed to attack their targets. 57 B...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Survived Ploesti | Ploiești, Romania | 1 August 1943 |
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B-24 Liberator #4111761 'The Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, recovering to Cyprus, piloted by Royden L Lebrecht. |
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| Assigned | Benghazi, Libya | |
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343 BS, 98 BG, 9 AF. |
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| War Bond Tour | Fort Worth, TX, USA | |
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B-24 Liberator #4111761 'The Squaw' returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for a war bond tour. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 15 December 2020 10:02:34 | Kickapoo | Changes to nicknames |
| Sources | ||
John S Young Jr - personal archives |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 November 2016 04:51:38 | 466thHistorian | Changes to production block number, nicknames, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2015 18:38:12 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2015 17:20:03 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with serial number, aircraft type, production block number, manufacturer, nicknames, description, events, unit associations, person associations, mission associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
