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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 | 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 | 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.
Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force. Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil; performed trans-Atlantic...
Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942.
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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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