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Ernest J Cox

Military

Flew as a tail gunner on the famous Ploesti raid of 1 Aug 43. The plane, B-24 42-40722 "The Little Gramper", barely made it back to its base at Benghazi, Libya, with one of its engines hit by ground fire.

Service

People

  • Thomas Baum

    Military | Flight Officer | Co-Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
    Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40722, Shot down 5 December 1943 in B-24 42-40738, "The Oklahoman." Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Leonard Boisclair

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 389th Bomb Group
    Flew Ploesti raid on 1 Aug 43 as the waist gunner on Jack Dieterle's plane, B-24 42-40722,"The Little Gramper" . One of its engines was hit by ground fire, and it barely made it back to the base at Benghazi, Libya.

  • Thomas Campbell

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 389th Bomb Group
    Flew on famous Ploesti raid of 1 Aug '43. ...

  • Marcus DeCamp

    Military | Technical Sergeant | Flight Engineer; Top Turret Gunner | 389th Bomb Group
    Survived the raid on Ploesti on B-24 42-40722,"The Little Gramper", for which he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. The plane barely made it back to the base in Benghazi with one engine damaged by ground fire.

  • Jack Dieterle

    Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
    After completing his training as a bomber pilot at Biggs Field in Texas, his squadron, the 566ᵀᴴ BS of the 389ᵀᴴ BG, was established at Hethel Field in Norwich early in 1943. ...

  • Russell Hayes

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 389th Bomb Group
    He was the waist gunner on Jack Dieterle's ship, B-24 42-40722 "The Little Gramper", during the great raid on the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania on Black Sunday, 1 August 1943. The plane returned with its crew intact but with some damage to one of...

  • Robert Hyde

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier | 389th Bomb Group
    He was the bombardier on B-24 42-40722,"The Little Gramper", on the attack on the Ploesti oil fields on Black Sunday, 1 August 1943.

  • Arthur Marsh

    Military | Lieutenant | Radio Operator | 389th Bomb Group
    Flew as the radio operator on the Ploesti raid of 1 August 1943. The plane sustained damaged to one of its engines and barely made it back to the base at Benghazi, Libya.

  • Hugh McLaren

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist gunner; ball-turret gunner | 389th Bomb Group
    Drafted into AAF in 1942 at age 20 while living in Gary, Ind. Assigned to Eighth Air Force. Assigned as gunner to B-24 crew headed by pilot Joseph H. Hardison while training at Tucson, Ariz. Later transferred to 389th Bomb Group, 565th Bomb Squadron as...

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Units served with

  • 389th Bomb Group

    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

    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

  • 42-40722 The Little Gramper

    B-24 Liberator
    B-24 Liberator 42-40723 'The Little Gramper' 566th BS, 389th BG, 8th AF, flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid piloted by Lt Jack W Dieterle, returning safely to Libya. Transferred to the 491st Bomb Group 15 May 44. Noted as War Weary repainted...

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...

Associated Place

  • 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
Born Muncie Ind
Nationality
American
Nickname
Not yet known
Service numbers
Not yet known
Highest rank
Staff Sergeant
Role/job
Tail Gunner
Awards
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
08 November 2019 12:47:29 general ira snapsorter Changes to biography
Sources

Ploesti Sortie Reports, 389th Bomb Group
Date Contributor Update
23 January 2019 21:57:50 Dieterle Changes to place associations
Sources

Richard Dieterle.
Date Contributor Update
19 January 2019 17:46:12 Dieterle Changes to biography
Sources

Bomber Crewmen Who Flew on Tidal Wave (Lincoln: Nebraska Printing Center, 2002). http://fliphtml5.com/sxwk/nhsh/basic/ —
Date Contributor Update
19 January 2019 17:19:21 Dieterle Changes to person associations, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations
Sources

Bomber Crewmen Who Flew on Tidal Wave (Lincoln: Nebraska Printing Center, 2002). http://fliphtml5.com/sxwk/nhsh/basic/
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:09:15 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ploesti by Dugan & Stewart

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