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B-24 42-40402 The Sandman 345th BS 98th BG.
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B-24 Liberator, 42-40402, THE SANDMAN
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The B-24D Liberator, 42-40402, The Sandman, in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombardment Squadron. Piloted by Lt. Robert Sternfels flying on his bomb run over White IV at Ploesti. Aug 1, 1943. -- NOTE : This version of this iconic photo is the correct version of this photograph with the smoke stacks of White IV on Sternfels' right rear side. This iconic photograph is often printed in reverse, in error, due to it's reversed appearance on Time Magazine's cover after the Ploesti mission in 1943.
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B-24D - The Sandman, piloted by Lt. Robert Sternfels in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron - Flying through the fires and explosions of White IV behind Col. John Kane and John Young in, Hail Columbia - at Ploesti, Rumania, August 1, 1943 - NOTE : This most iconic photograph of WWII is often published reversed. But this version is the correct one, with Lt. Sternfels beginning a bank to his left to miss an object in his way. 1 Aug, 1943.
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The B-24D, The Sandman, was flown on Operation Tidal Wave by Lt. Robert Sternfels, and returned safely after bombing it's assigned target. 1 Aug 1943. The aircraft crashed and was lost after the Ploesti mission. Lost 19 Dec 43, ITA - MACR 1641 - Pilot John W. Viers
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B-24D - The Sandman - Pilot Lt. Bob Sternfels, Lt. Barney Jackson, and Crew. 1943
The B-24D Liberator bomber, named, The Sandman, was named, and flown, by Lt. Robert Sternfels and his co-pilot, 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 German held oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The Sandman and it's crew survived the Ploesti mission. Lt. Sternfels was assigned to fly in Flight 4, the fourth line behind Flight 1 of the 98th Bomb Group's airplanes, and behind the Group Leader, Col John Kane's Lead aircraft, Hail Columbia. But he was, apparently, reassigned, during the mission, to move forward and fly in Flight 1, three planes to the right of Hail Columbia, taking Lt. Robert Nespor's place after Lt. Nespor crashed Johnny Young's airplane, the B-24D, Kickapoo, on takeoff for the mission. After Lt. Sternfels bombed his target at, White IV, The Sandman, hit a barrage balloon cable, which struck the prop of Sternfels' #3 engine, the inboard RH wing engine, causing a major tear in the RH side of the plane's fuselage, with scratches and damage to the plane's prop blades. Lt. Sternfels joined up with his group leader, John Kane's crippled airplane, Hail Columbia, and followed him south, as they made their escape away from the flak guns and fighter airplanes of the German and Romanian air defenses south of Ploesti. Sternfels followed Col. Kane, in Hail Columbia, Lt. Royden Lebrecht, in The Squaw, and Lt. Gilbert Hadley, in Hadley's Harem, through Turkey, and across the Mediterranean Sea to the British airbase at Nicosia, Cyprus, where they landed safely, minus Lt. Hadley and his crew, behind Col. Walter Stewart in, Utah Man, and Lt. Royden LeBrecht flying, The Squaw. As they approached Cyprus, Gilbert Hadley turned back to the Turkish coast in the dark, low on gas and engine oil. Col. Kane and his co-pilot, John Young, crash landed and wrote off, Hail Columbia, after landing short in the darkness, and hitting a ditch that the British had dug across the airbase's runway threshold. Lt Hadley tried to ditch his, Hadley's Harem, just off the Turkish coast, but was trapped and drowned in the crushed cockpit of his wrecked bomber as it sank in the ocean, with two more of his flight officers killed by flak over their target. 3 KIA. 7 INT-TURKEY. Lt. Sternfels gave Col. John Kane and Lt. John Young, a ride in, The Sandman, back to their base at Benghazi after the Ploesti mission. 1-Aug-43.
The Sandman was later lost during a mission over Italy. FTR - ITA. 19 Dec 1943. MACR 1641 - Pilot John W. Viers
Crew of The Sandman on the Ploesti raid:
1st Lt. Robert W. Sternfels - Pilot
2nd Lt. Barney Jackson - CoPilot
2nd Lt. Anthony W. Flesch - Navigator
2nd Lt. David A. Polaschek - Bombadier
T/Sgt. William W. Stout - Flight Engineer/Gunner
T/Sgt. Frank Just - Radio Operator/Gunner
Sgt. Raymond E. Stewart - Gunner
Sgt. Harry Rifkin - Waist Gunner
Sgt. Merle B. Bowen - Waist Gunner
S/Sgt. John T. Weston - Ball Turret Tail Gunner (WIA) - 2nd degree burns on his lower
right leg
Service
Aircraft
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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, 41-24226, Joisey Bounce, was assigned to Pilot Lt. Walter Travis Stewart in the 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...
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B-24 Liberator
- The B-24D, 41-24198, in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron, was one of 2 B-24Ds in the MTO based at Benghazi, Libya, with identical nose art pictures, and both named, The Vulgar Virgin, this one, 41-24198, flown...
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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, named, Hadley's Harem, was Lt. Gilbert Hadley's personal airplane and the one he flew, with his CoPilot, Lt. James Lindsey, on the mission to destroy Hitler's oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. As Hadley was approaching his target refinery,...
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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator bomber, 41-11761, was first named, Sleepy, by the men in the 8th Air Force and the 93rd Bomb Group in the U.K. It was, later, renamed, The Squaw, by it's Command Pilot, Lt. Royden LeBrecht, after being transferred to the 9th Air...
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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...
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Units
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Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942.
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Squadron
Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force. Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil; performed trans-Atlantic...
People
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Military | Staff Sergeant | B-24 Waist Gunner | 98th Bomb Group
SSgt. Neville C. Bensen took part in Operation Tidal Wave, over Ploesti, Romania, on 1 Aug 43. He was a waist gunner in the Element Lead B-24D Liberator, 41-11825, Hail Columbia, piloted by Col. John R. "Killer" Kane and Lt. John S. Young. He survived...
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Military | First Lieutenant | B-24D Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Gilbert Ben "Gib" Hadley was born and raised in Arkansas City, Kansas. He was the son of Perry Arthur Hadley and Beulah Pearl Bacastow, born 6-May-21. Kansas was his home and enlistment state, and Cowley County was included within the archival record.
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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,...
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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, in 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...
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Military | Colonel | B-24 - B-52 Bombardier | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. Harold Francis Korger was a B-24 bombardier in the 344th Bombardment Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 9th Air Force, based in Benghazi, Libya, 1943. He flew on the B-24D, Hail Columbia, with the Element Group Leader Col. John R. Kane, on the...
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Military | Captain | B-24 Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. Royden Louis LeBrecht was a B-24D command pilot in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron. He flew his B-24D, he named, The Squaw, on Operation Tidal Wave, the large mission to destroy the German held oil refineries at...
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Military | First Lieutenant | B-24D Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Pilot Lt. Samuel Neeley was a B-24D Bomber pilot in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in WWII. He served in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron in North Africa, flying, bombing, and strafing missions, mostly...
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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,...
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Military | Major | B-24D Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. Robert Sternfels was a B-24D bomber command pilot in WWII in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bombing Group, the Pyramiders, and the 345th Bombing Squadron. Lt. Sternfels flew the famous B-24D bomber, THE SANDMAN, on Operation Tidal Wave, which sought...
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Military | Major | B-24 Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. John S. Young was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Bored with college at SMU in Dallas, and knowing the country was headed for war, he joined the Army Air Force early in 1941 and began training as an aviation cadet. He was known as "Johnny" and ...
Missions
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1 August 1943
Operation TIDAL WAVE. B-24D 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...
Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Shot Down |
Augsburg, Germany |
19 December 1943 |
Lost on a mission to Augsburg, Germany on December 19th 1943. Pilot John W. Viers, Co-Pilot William Smyser & Navigator Stanley Napierala. MACR 1641.
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