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Military
Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack'. 50 x combat missions. ETD
Awards: SS, DFC, AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack' with William Banks crew. ETD
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right waist gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack'.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator Gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack' with William Banks crew.
Awards: DFC (OLC), BS (3OLC), AM (5OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Waist Gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack' with William Banks crew. ETD
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Left waist gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack'.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack' with William Banks crew. 50 x combat missions. ETD
Awards: DFC, AM (4OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Captain | Co-pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack' with William Banks crew.
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Bombardier | 98th Bomb Group
Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack' with William Banks crew. ETD
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 98th Bomb Group
Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid in B-24 42-40208 'Sad Sack'.
Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942.
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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...
B-24 Liberator
Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid piloted by William D Banks, safely diverting to Cypress.
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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...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Columbus, OH | 8 March 1918 |
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Son of Thomas Dent and Ethel [Jones] Banks. |
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| Enlisted | Fort Hayes, Columbus, OH | 27 January 1942 |
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Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio |
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| Based | Benghazi, Libya | 1943 – 1944 |
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Assigned to 344BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. |
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| Discharged USAAF | 3 January 1946 | |
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Honourable discharge. |
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| Died | Dayton, Montgomery County, OH | 13 June 2010 |
| Buried | Arlington National Cemetery | July 2010 |
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Arlington National Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 06 July 2020 18:48:25 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with surname, middlename, firstname, nickname, nationality, service number, highest rank, role, biography, events, person associations, unit associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/106012309 |
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