Philip Ardery
Military | Major General | Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
Silver Star/ 2 DFCs/ 4 Air Medals/ Croix de Guerre.
...
The American Air Museum is Closed
Although the museum is currently closed, there is plenty to explore in our online archive.
The American Air Museum is a charity - Find out how you can support us
Kenneth M Caldwell
Military
-
![B-24 Liberator #42-40629 'The Scorpion' 565th BS, 389th BG, 8th AF, pilot Capt Kenneth M Caldwell [ front and centre with cap ] and crew. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid, returning safely to Libya.](http://www.americanairmuseum.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/media/media-15374.jpeg?itok=OmRCWkfZ)
B-24 Liberator #42-40629 'The Scorpion' 565th BS, 389th BG, 8th AF, pilot Capt Kenneth M Caldwell [ front and centre with cap ] and crew. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid, returning safely to Libya.
-
This video is a brief summary of the book titled "Trouble". A B-24 Liberator nicknamed Trouble was shot down over Nazi-occupied France on Jan. 7, 1944. Robert Sweatt, the right waist gunner, was the only survivor. The book gives details of the crew's first 16 missions, the fateful 17th mission, and Robert's amazing escape through France including the famous Shelburne Escape Line. The book is full of laughter and fun, as well as tears, drama and miracles.
Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40629.
Shot down by FW 190 fighters near Orleans, France on 7 Jan 44 in B-24D 42-41013 'Trouble N' Mind' Killed in Action (KIA).
Service
People
-
-
John Brooks
Military | Brigadier General | Pilot | 355th Fighter Group
Led 17 B-24s on the low level attack at Ploesti whilst with the 389th Bomb Group. ... -
Adelbert Cross
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Command Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40733. -
James Hodges
Military | Major General | Commanding General
Major General James P Hodges served as Commanding General of the 2nd Air Division from 13 September 1942 to 1 August 1944. He retired 30 September 1951. His son, James P Hodges II, served as a fighter pilot with the 56th Fighter Group. -
Robert Sweatt
Military | Technical Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 389th Bomb Group
Shot down by Egon Mayer, German ace pilot, near Orleans, FR on 7 January 1944 in B-24D #42-41013 'Trouble' Rescued by Kiebler Duplant, et. al., aided by French Underground. Only survivor of crew. Evaded (EVD) -
Jack Wood
Military | Major General | Chief of the British-American Air Component, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces Mission to Franc | 389th Bomb Group
Born in Fairbault, Minn., in 1907, we won his wings by 1929. He rose swiftly through the ranks achieving the rank of Colonel and took command of the 20th Combat Bomb Wing of the Eighth Air Force. The following November he was named executive of the... -
William Yeager
Military | Major | Pilot; Commanding Officer | 389th Bomb Group
William Yeager was taken as a Prisoner of War (POW) while on TDY to 9th Air Force for Ploesti raid (Operation 'Tidal Wave') on 1 August 1943 in B-24 'Boomerang' #42-40115. He was the Command Pilot. ...
Units served with
-
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. ... -
389th Bomb Group
Group
The 389th Bomb Group, known in more familiar terms as "the Sky Scorpions", flew strategic bombing missions in B-24 Liberators from Hethel, England. They also sent detachments to join bases in North Africa at Benghazi No. 10, Libya, between 3 July 1943... -
565th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
-
566th Bomb Squadron
Squadron
Constituted 566th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 Dec. 1942. Activated on 24 Dec. 1942. Inactivated on 13 Sept. 1945. Campaigns: Air Offensive, Europe; Sicily; Naples-Foggia; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe; Air...
Aircraft
-
42-41013 'Trouble'
B-24 Liberator
Originally assigned to the 506th BS, 44th BG, 8th AF and flew the low-level Aug 1, 43 mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. ... -
42-40629 'The Scorpion'
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator #42-40629 'The Scorpion' 565th BS, 389th BG, 8th AF, flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid piloted by Capt Kenneth M Caldwell, returning safely to Libya.
Missions
-
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... -
8th Air Force 178
7 January 1944
The industrial areas of Ludwigshaven, Germany are the primary target for this mission. The formation has three elements. The bomber gunners of the entire force claim 30-6-17 of attacking German aircraft. ...
Associated Place
-
Berca
Military site : airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Kansas City , Kansas, USA | 16 August 1914 |
|
Aug. 16, 1914 |
||
| Died | Orléans, France | 7 January 1944 |
|
Shot down by FW 190 fighters near Orleans, France on 7 Jan 44 in B-24D #42-41013 'Trouble N' Mind' Killed in Action (KIA). |
||
| Buried | East Hill Cemetery, Erie, KS 66733, USA | |
|
East Hill Cemetery, Erie |
||
Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 06 November 2019 14:15:16 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2019 01:49:26 | Dieterle | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) 99. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2019 01:42:12 | Dieterle | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) 99. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2019 01:15:25 | Dieterle | Changes to place associations |
| Sources | ||
Richard Dieterle. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2019 01:14:12 | Dieterle | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) passim. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 April 2015 09:23:14 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 April 2015 09:22:25 | Al_Skiff | Changes to biography, awards, events, unit associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:17:57 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1853 / MACR 1853, 8th AF Losses, WWII Memorial / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
||
