Military site : airfield
British Mallala Airbase Benghazi, Libya 1942
B-24D Liberator, 42-40776, named, Old Blister Butt, in the 8th AF, the 389th BG, and the 564th BS. Pilot Robert L. Wright and crew. Flew on 1st Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid, returning safely to Libya. Maj Howard J. LaLonde is 3rd from left, rear row.
Wheelus Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Kingdom of Libya. At one point it was the largest U.S. military facility outside the United States with an area of 20 sq miles right on the coast off Tripoli. The base had its own beach club, the largest military hospital outside the US, a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley and a high school for 500 students. The base also had its own radio and TV station as well as a shopping mall and fast food chain outlets. At its height it had over 15,000 military personnel and their dependents on base. Wheelus Air Base was originally built by the Italian Air Force in 1923 and was known as Mellaha Air Base. Today the facility is known as Mitiga International Airport.
Prior to the war, the airbase was constructed in 1923 and used by the Italian Air Force. In 1933 the roads around the air base and the neighbouring Mellaha Lake became the new home for the popular Tripoli Grand Prix motor race.[1]
Mellaha was used by the German Luftwaffe during the North African Campaign, with the Germans using it for short range recon units, as well as coastal and naval recon units. Special weather recon units also existed at Mehalla. The main Luftwaffe unit stationed at the base was the 2nd Staffel of the Aufklärungsgruppe (H) 14 or 2.(H)/14.
The squadron was equipped with twelve single-engined Henschel Hs 126, an aircraft with 2-man crews, which could cover approx 710 km, with a maximum speed of 360 km/h, as well as three Fieseler Fi 156 Storch liaison aircraft, and a Junkers Ju 52 for transport of men and materiel.
The airbase was captured by the British 8th Army in January 1943.
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The US Army Air Force began using Mellaha as a base in January 1943. It was used by the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the 12th Air Force for B-24 bomb missions into Italy and southern parts of Germany.
In addition, Mellaha Field was used by Air Transport Command. It functioned as a stopover en route to Benina Airport near Benghazi or to Tunis Airport, Tunisia on the North African Cairo-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel.[2]
On 15 April 1945 Mellaha AAF was taken over by USAAF’s Air Training Command. It was renamed Wheelus Army Air Field (AAF) on 17 May 1945 in honor of USAAF Lieutenant Richard Wheelus who had died earlier that year in a plane crash in Iran.
Not yet known
Group
Constituted as 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 Oct 1942 and activated in Palestine on 31 Oct. Began combat immediately, using B-24 aircraft. Operated with Ninth AF from bases in the Middle East, Nov 1942-Sep 1943, and with Twelfth AF from Tunisia...
Military | Colonel | B-24 Command Pilot | 376th Bomb Group
Norman Appold graduated from the Aviation Cadet Training Program in 1942, commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. After completing pilot training, he served as a B-24 pilot in the 376th Bomb Group Association, completing 63 missions.
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Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Commanding Officer 93rd Bomb Group - B-24 Command Pilot | 93rd Bomb Group
Lieutenant Colonel Addison Baker was the Commanding Officer of the 93rd Bomb Group from May 17, 1943. He was killed in action (KIA) over Ploesti during Operation Tidal Wave on 1 August, 1943.
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Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 93rd Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW)/ crashed on 8/1/43 while TDY to 9th AF for Ploesti Raid in B-24 'Pudgy' 42-40613 Prisoner of War (POW) in Rumania.
Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Lieutenant General | B-24 Command Pilot - Squadron Commander - Commanding Officer | 376th Bomb Group
Keith Karl Compton was an American Air Force Lieutenant General who was Vice Commander in Chief, in the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command. He flew as the Element Lead Aircraft's Command Pilot with Gen. Uzal Ent, the Ploesti Mission...
Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24 Bombardier | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. Donold Di Coscoe was a B-24D bombardier on the B-24D Liberator, 41-11817, Stinger, assigned (TDY) to the 415th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, in the 9th Air Force. He participated in Operation Tidal Wave, the bombing mission to destroy the...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 376th Bomb Group
Scott Farrington served as a tail gunner with the 515th Bomb Squadron of the 376th Bomb Group. He flew on the crew of Donaldson Hurd, flying 'Dopey Goldberg', during the Ploesti raid on 1 Aug 1943. He was shot down with Hurd over Foggia Italy a couple...
Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24D Co-Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
2nd Lt. Ronald Lee Helder was a B-24 pilot in the 8th Air Force, the 389th Bomb Group, and the 564th Bombing Squadron in WWII. He flew as Co-pilot with his friend, Command Pilot Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes, in the B-24D Lt. Helder called, Ole Kickapoo,...
Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24 Command Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
Lloyd Herbert Hughes Jr., better known to his friends, as "Pete," flew his fifth mission, as pilot of a B-24D Liberator bomber in an attack against the Axis oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania. He was killed August 1, 1943 when his plane was severely...
Military | Colonel | B-24 Bomb Group Commanding Officer / B-24 Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
John Riley Kane was a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps and later the United States Air Force. He received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor, in World War II, for his leadership, courage, and heroism for...
Military | First Lieutenant | B-24 Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
1st Lt. Robert James Nespor, Jr. was a B-24D bomber command pilot in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bombardment Group, "The Pyramiders", and the 330th Bombing Squadron, based at Benghazi, Libya, in North Africa. He was assigned to fly on the huge mission,...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, named, The Duchess, was in the 8th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 330th Bombing Squadron in Britain. - Transferred temporarily (TDY) to the 9th Air Force in North Africa and flew on Operation Tidal Wave to bomb the oil refineries...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, 41-24226, Joisey Bounce, was assigned to Pilot Lt. Walter Travis Stewart of the 330th Bomb Squadron, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 8th Air Force, for the large mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. Col. Stewart changed his...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator bomber, named, The Sandman, was flown by Lt. Robert Sternfels and his copilot, Lt. Barney Jackson, in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 345th Bomb Squadron, on Operation Tidal Wave, the famous mission to destroy the...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, Brewery Wagon, flew on the famous bombing mission to destroy the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. It was shot down by flak and an ME-109 as it was approaching it's target over Ploesti. Two of the crew were KIA, eight became POW's. MACR...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, named, Hadley's Harem, was Lt. Gilbert Hadley's personal airplane and the one he flew on the mission to destroy Hitler's oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, in 1943. As Hadley was approaching his target refinery, code named, "White IV",...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, 42-40664, Teggie Ann, should not be mistaken for the B-24D, 41-23754, also named, Teggie Ann, in the 8th Air Force. Later it'd name was changed to, Little Lady. ...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, Hail Columbia, 41-11825, was assigned to the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron. It was first assigned to the 344th Squadron's CO, Col. John R. Kane's, personal aircraft until Kane became the 98th Bomb Group's...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, 42-40071, named, Margaret Ann II, was assigned to the 8th Air Force, TDY to the 9th Air Force in north Africa, the 44th Bomb Group, and the 68th Bomb Squadron and was flown by Lt. Coleman Whitaker on the Ploesti mission, returning...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, 41-11768, named, Kickapoo, was piloted by Lt. John S. Young from Dallas, Texas as part of the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron, which arrived in North Africa in early 1943. This airplane was...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, 41-24040, What's Up Doc ? - Big Operator, started out on Operation Tidal Wave, the Ploesti oil refinery bombing mission, piloted by Lt. Hoover Edwards. Aircraft aborted near the island of Corfu with turbo supercharger problems. ...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
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| 29 April 2019 13:44:08 | Kickapoo | Changes to media associations |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 December 2018 04:25:34 | Kickapoo | Changes to media associations |
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Personal Archive |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 November 2016 22:35:53 | 466thHistorian | Created entry with name, known as, latitude, longitude, usaaf from date, usaaf to date, construction date and history |
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