41-11761 - Sleepy - The Squaw
Into The fire - Duane Schultz
The B-24D Liberator bomber, 41-11761, was first named, Sleepy, by the men in the 8th Air Force and the 93rd Bomb Group in the U.K. It was, later, renamed, The Squaw, by it's Command Pilot, Lt. Royden LeBrecht, after being transferred to the 9th Air Force and the 98th Bomb Group at Benghazi, Libya. Lt. LeBrecht flew, The Squaw, on the famous Ploesti bombing mission, returning safely to Nicosia, Cyprus, after joining up with and covering several shot up and damaged straggler B-24s, including, John Kane's, Hail Columbia, Lt. Gilbert Hadley's, plane, Hadley's Harem, and Lt. Robert Sternfels', The Sandman. LeBrecht, then, flew, The Squaw, back to home base at Benghazi, Libya, a day, or so, later. After the Ploesti mission and the completion of his combat tour, Lt. Lebrecht and his crew returned to the U.K. and, then, to Fort Worth, Texas, USA, flying, The Squaw, for a national war bond tour with Lt. Walter Stewart , flying, Bomerang, and Lt. John Young and his crew, flying, The Blue Streak, respectively, on the tour. 1944
The Squaw, was in the 9th Air Force (The Force For Freedom) - the 98th Bomb Group (The Pyramiders) - and the 343rd Bomb Squadron. The Squaw, was flown on the Ploesti mission by Lt. LeBrecht, and returned safely to Nicosia, Cyprus, providing armed escort cover for a small group of the 98th Bomb Group's flak damaged stragglers, Hail Columbia, and Gilbert,"Gib", Hadley's plane, Hadley's Harem, which was running so short of fuel and engine oil that Hadley had to turn back from following the group of stragglers all the way to Cyprus. Approaching the Turkish coast, the last of his three running engines seized up, and he crashed just off the southern coast as he was descending to ditch his plane in the ocean, killing Hadley and all but two of his crew. Aug 1, 1943. The Squaw, flown by Lt. LeBrecht and his crew, with, The Blue Streak, and, Bomerang, flown respectively, by Lt. John Young, and Lt. Walter Stewart, all flew from the U.K back to Fort Worth, Texas, a few months after the Ploesti mission for a nation wide war bond tour to the Consolidated factories. 1944
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18065645 / O-726423
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 343rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18052906 / O-2043731
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: Ninth Air Force
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 345th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-665360
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: Ninth Air Force
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer
Places
Missions
Aircraft
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Other Survived Ploesti |
1 August 1943 | B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, The Squaw, flew on the Ploesti mission, returning to Cyprus, piloted by Lt. Royden Lebrecht. 1 Aug 43 | |
Other Assigned |
343rd Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force. | ||
Other War Bond Tour |
B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, The Squaw, returned to Fort Worth, Texas, USA for a war bond tour. |
Revisions
Black Sunday-Ploesti - by Michael Hill Best Web - B-24 - 41-24311 - Hadley's Harem --- Best Web - B-24 - 42-40765 - Valient Virgin ----- USAAF AIRCRAFT MARKINGS AND CAMOFLAGE 1941 - 1947. The History of USAAF Aircraft Markings, Insignia, Camouflage, and Colors by Robert D. Archer & Victor D. Archer
Black Sunday-Ploesti - by Michael Hill Best Web - B-24 - 41-24311 - Hadley's Harem
Added " aka " in the "Nickname" field as a separator to aid readability.
Changed the order of the nicknames per info in the Description section.
Changed all instances of aircraft name into sentence case to as per best practice for accessibility.