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The B-24D, Liberator, 41-11819, Raunchy, in the 344th Bombardment Squadron, in the 98th Bombardment Group, and the 9th Air Force. Crashed and was lost on the low level bombing mission to Ploesti, Romania. The airplane was hit by flak explosions and was damaged over it's target, The Astra Romano refinery complex,. Already hit and damaged by flak, it was, finally, downed by an explosive charge on an anti aircraft barrage balloon cable, which contacted, Raunchy's, wing and blew it off of the plane, which crashed into the ground flames from an altitude of only 150 feet. 8 KIA. 2 WIA-POW. 1 Aug 1943.
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The B-24D - Raunchy - B-24- D-CO - 41-11819 - 9th AF - 98th BG - 344th BS - Pilot Lt. Samuel R. Neeley and Copilot - Lt. Herman H. Henslee - KIA. Lost on Operation Tidal Wave. 1 Aug 1943. 10 KIA. MACR 169
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Lt. Sam Neeley's B-24D, Raunchy, and it's crew. Pilot Lt. Sam Neeley is in the front row, second from right, smiling. Lt. Neeley and most of his crew were killed (KIA), over Ploesti, after, Raunchy, snagged a barrage balloon cable on their right wing, pulling an explosive charge on the cable down, which detonated on contact with the wing and almost blew the wing off, crashing the airplane into the ground engulfed in flames. Lt. Neeley and seven of his crewmen were killed in the crash. 8 KIA. Two crewmen, SSgt Schiffmacher and SSgt Nick Allen, survived the crash and were captured wounded. 2 WIA - POW. August 1, 1943 1
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B-24D - Raunchy - Mechanics /Gunners crewmen. 1943
The B-24D Liberator, Raunchy, 41-11819, was in the 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 9th Air Force, based at Benghazi, Libya, North Africa, in early 1943.
Raunchy, was flown by Lt. Sam Neeley, in Flight 1, of the B-24Ds in the 98th Bomb Group's planes on Operation Tidal Wave, over Ploesti, Romania. Raunchy, was destroyed, and 8 of it's crew, including Pilot Lt. Sam Neeley and his copilot, Lt. Herman Henslee, were killed in action. KIA, with 2 exceptions, the plane's radio operator, Sgt. William Schiffmacher and waist gunner, Nick Allen, both of whom survived the airplane's crash, though badly burned, and were captured - 2 WIA-POW. Operation Tidal Wave, the mission to destroy the German held oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, was one of the most daring and desperate bombing missions of WW II. The 98th Bomb Group took 67 percent casualties over their refinery targets. Lt. Samuel Neely, close friends with both Col. John Kane and Lt. John Young, who were flying the Element Lead B-24D, Hail Columbia, off to Neeley's right side, in the center of Flight 1, was one the one hundred, or so, airmen killed on the Ploesti mission. Raunchy : 8 KIA - 2 WIA-POW. 1 Aug 1943
Lt. Neeley, and his crew, flew in Flight 1, the 1st wave (Flight 1) of the 98th Bomb Group's bombers attacking White IV. Command Pilot Lt. Neeley was flying at tree top level on the far left side of Flight 1. Raunchy, had already been heavily hit by the AA flak guns when the plane flew into a smoke column and hit a barrage balloon cable immediately after his bomb release. One of Raunchy's wings struck, but did not break the cable, and pulled down an explosive charge attached to it's cable, onto the airplane's wing. The explosive charge detonated when it hit the wing, partially folding it and sending the bomber crashing down to the ground, killing Lt. Neeley and most of his crew, who died instantly. Somehow, and by some kind of miracle, Sam Neely's radio operator, Lt. Bill Shiffmacher, and one of Neeley's waist gunners, Sgt. Nick Allen, were badly burned, but survived the crash and were rescued to became POWs at Ploesti. Most of the dead crew members' remains were never found, recovered, or identified because of the extensive fire having totally burned up, Raunchy, the airplane, and the crewmen inside. 1 Aug 1943. MACR 169.
B-24D, Raunchy - 41-11819 - Lost on the low level mission to Ploesti, Romania, and Failed To Return (FTR). Lt. Sam Neeley hit a barrage balloon cable over his target, White IV, and was impacted by an explosive charge attached to the balloon cable, which exploded and partially blew, Raunchy's, wing off, crashing the plane flying from an altitude of 150 feet. Raunchy, crashed into a field killing Lt. Neeley, Copilot Lt. Herman Henslee, and most of the rest of his crew in the crash and fire, except two. The only two survivors of the crash were the radio operator, SSgt. William W. Schiffmacher and waist gunner, SSgt. Nick Allen, who both survived the crash, along with the other Americans taken prisoners.
B-24D Raunchy's Crew Over Ploesti:
1st Lt. Samuel R. Neeley - Pilot - KIA
2nd Lt. Herman H. Henslee - Copilot - KIA
1st Lt. Joel I. Corn - Navigator - KIA
2nd Lt. Eugene L. Rodgen - Bombardier - KIA
TSgt. Karl T. Edelen - Engineer/Top Turret Gunner - KIA
SSgt. Robert P. Schultz - Gunner - KIA
SSgt. William W. Schiffmacher - Radio Operator - WIA-POW
SSgt. Alfred D. Cason - Gunner - KIA
Sgt. Nick A. Allen - Gunner - WIA-POW
- Note : The surviving Ploesti airmen prisoners in Romania were rescued by U.S. Army and U.S. Army Air Corps personnel and were flown out of Romania, and back to safety, some months later, in a special operation (Operation Gunn) by U.S. Army Air Force B-17s sent to rescue them from the approaching Russian army. 31 Aug 1944.
Service
Aircraft
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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, Raunchy, 41-11819, was in the 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 9th Air Force, based at Benghazi, Libya, North Africa, in early 1943.
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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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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, 41-11768, named, Kickapoo, was Lt. John S. Young's regularly assigned B-24D, after his 98th Bombardment Group moved out of Egypt, to the air bases at Benghazi, Libya. John Young was from Dallas, Texas, like so many of the men...
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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, 42-40629, The Scorpion, in the 8th Air Force, the 389th Bombardment Group, and the 565th Bomb Squadron, flew on Operation Tidal Wave, the bombing mission on the oil refineries, piloted by Lt. Kenneth M. Caldwell and Col. Jack Wood...
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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
The 344th Bombing Squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24...
People
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Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | B-24 Gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Sgt. Alfred David Cason was a gunner on the B-24D, Raunchy, flown on Operation Tidal Wave by Lt. Sam Neeley. Both Lt. Neeley and Sgt. Cason were Killed In Action (KIA) over Ploesti when their B-24D, Raunchy, hit a barrage balloon cable explosive. 1...
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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 | First Lieutenant | Radio Operator | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. Raymond B. Hubbard was assigned to the 9th Air force, the 98th Bombardment Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron in Libya, North Africa, 1943. He flew in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying as a Waist Gunner and Radio...
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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 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...
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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 | Flight Officer | Co-Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
2nd Lt. James Rex Lindsey was Lt. Gilbert Hadley's co-pilot on Hadley's B-24D, Hadley's Harem, in North Africa. He participated in, and had completed his part of the bombing mission, Operation Tidal Wave. But, Lt. Lindsey and Lt. "Gib" Hadley were...
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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-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 |
FTR Failed To Return |
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1 August 1943 |
Lost on the Ploesti oil refinery bombing mission. Immediately after bomb release the A/C struck an AA barrage balloon cable with an attached explosive device, which, upon detonation, heavily damaged one of it's wings. 8 KIA, including Sam Neeley. 2 POW. The radio operator and a gunner survived the crash and became prisoners. 2 POW. Pilot Samuel R. Neeley KIA Ploesti. 1 Aug 43. MACR 169.
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Assigned |
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In the 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, "The Pyramiders", in the 9th Air Force, "The Force For Freedom".
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