John Clark Riley Jr
Military ROLL OF HONOURBlack Sunday - Michael Hill
2nd Lt. John Clark Riley was a B-24D pilot in the 9th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 330th Bomb Squadron at Benghazi, Libya, in the Mediterranean theatre (MTO) during WWII. Lt. Riley and his command Pilot Robert Nespor from the 98th Bomb Group, and the rest of his crew were reassigned from the 93rd Bomb Group and were all placed on temporary duty (TDY) with the B-24D, Kickapoo, and the 98th Bomb Group for the deadly mission to destroy the German oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. Lt. Riley was assigned to be the copilot aboard Kickapoo, with Bob Nespor, the command pilot, from the 98th Bomb Group. During the takeoff run for the mission, their plane, Kickapoo, had a massive #4 engine failure and caught on fire. Nespor and Riley, turned their failing bomber out over the sea, jettisoned their bombs, and were trying to make the second of two approaches back to the Lete runway when they began losing power from their last three engines, on short final approach to the Lete runway. On short final, losing power, they sank into a hard landing, bounced, and drifted left into a concrete post, hitting it with the left wing, and cartwheeled into the ground in flames. Both pilots, and all but two of the crewmen, were badly burned in the crash and died of their injuries. Lt. Riley was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his bravery and sacrifice on the Ploesti mission. 1 Aug 1943
Awards: AM, PH, EAME, American Campaign Medal.
Due to the abort after take-off and subsequent crash, Lt. Nespor's crew did not receive mission credit and their names do not appear in the official AAF History Roster of Personnel for DFCs.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron 567th Bomb Squadron 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18124310
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33278362
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 344th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18051855 / O-435980
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 330th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16006213 / O-?
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 1 August 1943
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Oklahoma, USA | 9 February 1919 | Son of John Clark and Inez [Locke] Riley. |
Died Killed in action |
Benghazi, Libya | 1 August 1943 | Crashed shortly after take-off for the 1-Aug-43 low-level Ploesti, Romania mission. She lost an engine just after getting airborne and then caught fire while banking back toward the field to land, then a wing touched the ground and she smashed into a concrete pole and burst into flames. KIA. |
Other Assigned |
Benghazi, Libya | 1 August 1943 | Assigned to 344th BS, 98th BG, 8th AF. |
Oklahoma, USA | |||
Buried |
Fort Scott National Cemetery Fort Scott, Bourbon County, KS | Interred Fort Scott National Cemetery Fort Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas | |
Buried |
Hamburg Cemetery Hamburg, Ashley County, AR | Memorialised Hamburg Cemetery Hamburg, Ashley County, Arkansas |
Revisions
Ploesti - An Anatomy Of A disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - An Anatomy Of A disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Ploesti - Anatomy Of A Disaster - Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ---- Black Sunday - Michael Hill ---- John S. Young, Jr. - personal archives
Brought together information from duplicate record added by user Kickapoo from Black Sunday , by Michael Hill
Consolidated Kickapoo's biographies into one narrative, and made corrections and added further information from Ploesti Roster, < a href="https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1120128/john-clark-riley">Find a Grave, Sortie Reports for the Ploesti mission held in Roger Freeman's document collection , in which the circumstances of the crash are widely reported, and Fortress Ploesti by Jay Stout.
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia