9th Air Force
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B-24D 'Hail Columbia' After Crash Landing at Nicosia, Cyprus - Aug 1, 1943 - From left : Lt. Harry Korger Bombardier - Lt. Norman Whalen Navigator/nose gunner - kneeling, second from right, 1st Lt. Raymond Hubbard Radio operator/ gunner, and crew, the next morning after the Ploesti mission, Monday August 2nd, 1943.
Connections
Units
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98th Bomb Group
Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942. ... -
344th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
The 344th Bombing Squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24...
People
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Gilbert Hadley
Military | First Lieutenant | B-24D Pilot
First Lieutenant Gilbert B. Hadley was a B-24D Liberator bomber pilot with the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, "The Pyramiders", from Texas, and the 344th Bombing Squadron, based at Cairo, Egypt, Tobruk, and Benghazi, Libya, in the Mediterranean... -
Raymond Hubbard
Military | First Lieutenant | Radio Operator
Lt. Raymond B. Hubbard was assigned to the 9th Air force, the 98th Bombardment Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron in Libya, North Africa, 1943. He took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying in B-24 Liberator #41... -
John Kane
Military | Colonel | Commanding Officer, Command Pilot
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... -
Harold Korger
Military | Colonel | Bombardier Navigator
Lt. Harold Korger was a bombardier in the 344th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force. He flew on the famous mission, Operation Tidal Wave, Aug 1, 1943, to knock out the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. ... -
Norman Whalen
Military | Major | Navigator / Nose Gunner
Norman Whalen joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. After graduating from Navigator School in Monroe, Louisiana, he received his commission as a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to the 9th Air force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron...
Aircraft
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41-11825 'Hail Columbia' 'Grumpy' 'Little Chief Big Dog'
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...
Missions
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Operation Tidal Wave
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...
Locations
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Lete
Military site : airfield
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 19 December 2020 11:31:19 | Kickapoo | Changes to caption, unit associations, person associations, place associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
personal archives - John S Young Jr |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 December 2020 14:38:46 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Removed associations not depicted in the image. Associated content should be added to the AIRCRAFT and/or PERSON records. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 December 2020 10:38:25 | Kickapoo | Changes to collection and caption |
| Sources | ||
John S Young Jr - personal archives |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 04 August 2019 20:14:46 | Kickapoo | Created entry with collection, caption, unit associations, person associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
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 |
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