Donald Dale Pippitt
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Handwritten caption on reverse: '20/12/43 C, 152. 152/RF WD154. 392BG B-24 after heavy flak at Bremen 12/20/43.'
Printed caption on reverse: '27267 USAF - England. After "dishing it out" in a hectic mission over Occupied Europe, this B-24 Liberator bomber of the U.S. Army 8th Air Force proved it could "take it" as well by safely returning to its base in Britain in spite of the serious damage to the tail structure. Appropriately enough, this craft is named "El Lobo" (The Wolf). U.S. Air Force Photo.' Roger Freeman Collection
IWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Object Number - FRE 8031 - The damaged tail of a B-24 Liberator nicknamed "El Lobo (The Wolf)" of the 392nd Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: '20/12/43 C, 152....
Donald Pippett served as a tail gunner with the 392nd Bomb Group. He was killed on 20 December 1943. Lost from B-24 42-7510 'El Lobo' in accident with another B-24 in formation. The tail of the aircraft was severed and Don Pippitt fell from his position in the tail. His body was found near Texel Island, Holland.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: El Lobo
- Unit: 392nd Bomb Group 579th Bomb Squadron 2101st Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Dodge City, Kansas | 26 May 1916 | |
|
Died |
Isle of Texel, Holland | 20 December 1943 | Excerpt from Find-a-Grave Memorial Narrative: "Researcher Hans Nauta has learned that the tail turret was found at a small dune valley called Moesvlakje near beach pole 14 in the dunes called Westerslag on the west side of Texel Island. S/Sgt Pippitt's body was found and identified the same day and buried the next day in the local cemetery of the village of Den Burg." |
|
Other Incident Account |
20 December 1943 | Excerpt from Find-a-Grave Memorial: "All reports agree that S/Sgt Pippitt's tail turret and the plane's starboard rudder were suddenly severed from the rest of the plane and that he fell to his death. The accounts differ, however, on what caused the tail turret to be cut off. According to one story, at approximately 1130 hours, B-24 #42-7494 from the 446th Bomb Group was hit in the #4 engine by a direct flak burst while flying over Texel Island, The Netherlands. The propeller flew off, spun through the air, and cut off El Lobo's tail. S/Sgt Charles A. Piper, aboard 2/Lt Higgins' aircraft, remembers it differently. He thought El Lobo got caught in the slip stream and abruptly lost speed. In fact, it looked to him like the plane was flying backward. It went directly into the propeller on the plane directly behind it. He saw the tail turret tumble down and hit the water." | |
|
Buried |
Plot H Row 4 Grave 3 |
Revisions
ABMC, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey p. 516 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
