UPL 39169
IMAGELt. Harold Korger was the navigator on the B-24D, Liberator, heavy bomber, 41-11825, Hail Columbia, on Operation Tidal Wave, the mission to destroy the German held oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, in 1943. Hail Columbia, was named and piloted by Col. John Riley "Killer" Kane and Lt. John S. Young from Dallas Texas, on the mission. Note the four extra .50 caliber fixed nose guns, visible in this photo, which were added to the the lower front plexiglass nose of the five lead aircraft on the Ploesti mission to strafe and suppress the German flak guns ahead of the bombers, as they made their low level bombing runs into the Ploesti oil refinery area. Hail Columbia, and all of it's crew members, including Lt. Korger, survived the Ploesti mission with over 150 counted flak holes in their airplane, yet, with no life threatening injuries to anyone on board. Knowing they could not return to their base at Benghazi, Libya, with their aircraft so heavily damaged by the German anti aircraft flak hits over the Astra Romano Refinery complex, Group Leader and Command Pilot Col. John Kane, and his navigator, Lt. Norman Whalen, decided to try to fly south to the island of Cyprus, and crash landed in the dark, on the British air base at Nicosia, August 1, 1943. Hail Columbia, was wrecked and written off, crash landing at the British air base, August, 1,1943. The next day, as the men inspected their wrecked airplane that had carried them into the burning hell of a bombing mission, and brought them safely home, there were tears in the eyes of their, normally, stoic Commander, John "Killer" Kane. Aug, 2,1943. That's how the men often felt about their airplanes that enabled them to accomplish their missions, then brought them home and saved their lives.
Connections
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Units
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Hail Columbia - Little Chief Big Dog - Grumpy
- Unit: 376th Bomb Group 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
Locations
- Site type: Airfield
Revisions
Removed associations not depicted in the image. Associated content should be added to the AIRCRAFT and/or PERSON records.
Removed associations not depicted in the image. Associated content should be added to the AIRCRAFT and/or PERSON records.
Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Personal Archives - John S Young Jr
Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Personal Archives - John S Young Jr
Removed associations not depicted in the image. Associated content should be added to the AIRCRAFT and/or PERSON records.
Black Sunday - Michael Hill ----- Personal Archives - John S Young Jr
Removed associations not depicted in the image. Associated content should be added to the AIRCRAFT and/or PERSON records.
Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- Into The Fire - Duane Schultz ---- TogetherWeServed.com ---- FindAGrave.com ---- Personal Archives - John S. Young