Col. Addison Baker was the Commanding Officer of the 93rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force from May 17, 1943 to August, 1943. Baker's Bomb Group, the 93rd, was one of three bomb groups from the Eighth Air Force in Britain that were sent to Benghazi, Libya to the 9th Air Force especially for Operation Tidal Wave to Ploesti. Col. Baker was killed in action on the raid on the Ploesti oil refineries, August 1, 1943.
Col Baker took to the air for the mission piloting the B-24 Liberator, 'Hell's Wench' (#42-40994). Baker led the 93rd, as the second formation in the five-group mission of 177 aircraft. Co-piloting his aircraft was a volunteer and former member of the 93d Bomb Group, Major John L. Jerstad. When Baker's force reached the target area, the mission leader's plane, 'Teggie Ann' turned east at their first initial point and flew towards Bucharest instead of north to Ploesti. Col. Baker and second in command of the 93rd, Col Walter Stewart in 'Utah Man' immediately broke radio silence and attempted to warn the mission commander, General Uzal Ent, of this error, but when they failed to respond and turn back to Ploesti, Baker and Jerstad broke formation and led the remainder of the force back to the correct IP, and turned back toward Ploesti, maintaining his formation to bomb his target as best he could. Although he was now attacking late and from the wrong direction, Col, Baker continued to lead and hold formation, as lead ship, for the 93rd and the following groups, as his plane, 'Hell's Wench' was quickly hit hard by the deadly and accurate ground flak. As he approached their target, Baker jettisoned his bombs as both of 'Hell's Wench's wings were hit, began leaking fuel, and quickly became engulfed in flames. At almost the same time, Baker and Jerstad had to break formation and pull up to avoid mid-air collisions with bombers from Col. John Kane's 98th lead group, now arriving in the target area from the opposite direction. With his aircraft failing now and almost totally engulfed in flames, Baker and Jerstad desperately tried to gain some altitude so that his crew could escape his burning plane by parachute. But their luck had run out, and their efforts were too late to save 'Hell's Wench', as it lost speed in the climb, rolled over, crashed, and exploded in flames at White I, the Columbia Aquilla Refinery, killing Baker, Jerstad, and all of the other nine crewmen aboard.

- Col. Addison Baker's body was never recovered, he was given a memorial site in Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, Florence, Italy. Col. Baker and his copilot, Major John Jerstad, were both posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their bravery, leadership, determination, and sacrifice over Ploesti, Romania.

~ For his distinguished military career in combat, Col. Baker was also awarded The Distinguished Service Cross, The Silver Star, The Distinguished Flying Cross, The Purple Heart, The Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, a Presidential Unit Citation, The American Defense Medal, The European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a silver combat star, and The WWI Victory Medal.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Chicago, Illinois	1 January 1907
Died		1 August 1943
Buried
Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Florence American Cemetery.