Philip Ardery
Military | Major General | Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
Silver Star/ 2 DFCs/ 4 Air Medals/ Croix de Guerre.
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William Henry Yeager Jr
Military
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Major William H Yeager Jr, 389BG
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The insignia of the 567th Bomb Squadron, 389th Bomb Group.
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The insignia of the 389th Bomb Group.
William Yeager was the Commanding Officer of the 567th BS, 389th BG, 8AF USAAF. Bill 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-Aug-43 in B-24 'Boomerang' 42-40115. He was the Command Pilot.
Awards: SS, AM, PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Service
People
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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. ... -
Kenneth Caldwell
Military | Major | B-24D Co-Pilot - Command Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
Lt. Kenneth M. Caldwell from the 8th Air force, the 389th Bombardment Group, and the 565th Bomb Squadron took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti with Col. Jack W. Wood, on 1 August 1943, flying a B-24D Liberator, 42-40629 named 'The... -
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. -
Melvin Neef
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) while on TDY to 9th AF for Ploesti raid on 8/1/43 in B-24 'Boomerang' 42-40115. -
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...
Units served with
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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... -
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
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42-40115 'Boomerang'
B-24 Liberator
Failed to Return - Ploesti oil refinery raid 1st Aug 1943, Pilot Melvin E Neef, MACR 159.
Missions
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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...
Associated Place
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Hethel
Military site : airfield
Construction of Hethel airfield began in 1941, and was finished in late 1942. The number of hardstandings was increased from the planned 36 to 50 in 1942, in order to accommodate a full heavy bomb group. The 320th Bomb Group occupied the base for ten... -
Berca
Military site : airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date |
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| Born | San Antonio, TX | 13 August 1915 |
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Son of William Henry Sr and Adeline [Small] Yaeger. |
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| C/O of 567th Bomb Squadron | 1943 – 1 August 1943 | |
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Assigned to 567BS, 389BG, 8AF USAAF. Commanding Officer 567BS. |
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| Prisoner of War [POW] | Bucharest, Romania | 1 August 1943 – May 1945 |
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Prisoner of War [POW]. Romania. |
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| Died | San Antonio, TX | 2 January 1962 |
| Buried | Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery San Antonio, Bexar County, TX | 5 January 1962 |
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Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery |
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Revisions
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 09 January 2021 22:49:58 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, suffix, biography, awards and events |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/29417845 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 13 April 2020 00:33:02 | jmoore43 | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Added a "#" to the A/C serial # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 06 November 2019 15:03:22 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to highest rank, biography and events |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2019 01:52:04 | Dieterle | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) 99. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 January 2019 00:11:21 | Dieterle | Changes to person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) passim. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 11 April 2016 12:56:26 | Lucy May | Changes to biography, events, place associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
Brought in information from a duplicate record. Sources: |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 13 March 2015 13:24:24 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events, unit associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
AAM Database. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:28:14 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 159 |
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