William Anderson
Military | Major | Command Pilot | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Assigned to 67BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF.
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Ronald Stewart Allen Jr
Military
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Liberator B-24 #4240172 'Lynn Bari II', 506th BS, 44th BG, 8th AF. Flown on the August 1, 43 low-level Ploesti mission by the crew in the photo, returning safely to Libya. Rear L-R: S/Sgt George E Hartney, Lt Ronald S Allen, Capt William N Anderson, Lt Stanley F Olson, Lt Charles M Shaw, Cpl Victor A McMenamin. Front L-R: Cpl Clifford C Hurst, S/Sgt Oscar Ferkauff, T/Sgt Walter N Goodson, Sgt J R Bell, S/Sgt Allie T Hearne Jr.
Assigned to 506BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. Attached to 9AF USAAF, TDY in North Africa. Took part in Operation 'Tidal Wave', the raid on Ploesti on 1-Aug-43, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40172 'Lynn Bari II'.
Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-24 42-72857 'Star Spangled Hell'; mauled by fighters, A/C exploded 10 miles north of target. 1-Oct-43 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 51251
Awards: DFC, AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME, UN and Korean medals.
Service
People
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George Hartney
Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Assigned to 506BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. ETD Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40172. Awards: WWII Victory, EAME. -
Stanley Olson
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Assigned to 506BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. Attached to 9AF USAAF, TDY in North Africa. 24 x combat missions. ... -
Henry Scott
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40172.
Units served with
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8th Air Force
Eighth Air Force Bomber Command became the Eighth Air Force on February 1944, it oversaw bombardment of strategic targets in Europe until 1945. ... -
44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Group
The 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 15-January-1942 at McDill Field, Florida and equipped with B-24Cs. The Group moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana and acted as a training unit for the 90th 93rd and 98th Bomb Groups and flew anti... -
506th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
Aircraft
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42-40172 'Lynn Bari II'
B-24 Liberator
Flown on the August 1, 1943 low-level Ploesti mission returning safely to Libya. ... -
42-72857 'Star Spangled Hell'
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 506BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. Attached to 9AF USAAF, TDY in North Africa. Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt with Olson crew; attacked by 5 Me-109's, bomb bay and one engine ablaze, A/C peeled off while still being pursued. After all the crew...
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...
Associated Place
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Shipdham
Military site : airfield
Shipdham was built in 1941-1942, the first US heavy bomber airfield in the English county of Norfolk. It was a standard design, with T2-type hangars and a domestic site dispersed to the south east. Improvements were carried out to increase the number... -
Stalag VII-A
Other location
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Dulag Luft 12
Other location
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Benina
Military site : airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
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| Born | Muskogee, Okla | 18 November 1917 |
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Son of Ronald Stewart Sr and Mida Breckenridge [Spradling] Allen. |
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| Enlisted | Okmulgee, OK | 16 September 1940 |
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Okmulgee Oklahoma |
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| Based | Shipdham | 1943 – August 1943 |
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Assigned to 506BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. |
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| Based | Benina | August 1943 – 1 October 1943 |
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Attached to 9AF USAAF, TDY in North Africa |
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| Baled out POW | North of Weiner Neustadt, Austria | 1 October 1943 |
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Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-24 42-72857 'Star Spangled Hell'; mauled by fighters, A/C exploded 10 miles north of target. 1-Oct-43 POW MACR 51251 |
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| Prisoner of War (POW) | Moosburg, Bavaria | 1 October 1943 – May 1945 |
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Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag VIIa. |
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| Died | 17 June 1988 | |
| Buried | Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Fort Gibson, Muskogee County, OK | 20 June 1988 |
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Fort Gibson National Cemetery |
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Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 02 April 2020 20:24:08 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, suffix, service number, highest rank, biography, awards, events, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/29437512 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 07 April 2019 21:02:38 | Al_Skiff | Changes to unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Key Image ID. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:24:29 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ploesti by Dugan and Stewart, 44th BG Roll of Honor and Casualties by Will Lundy p. 136-138, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop and Hey p. 299; MACR 15251 |
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