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- The B-24D - Kickapoo, with it's regular crew, and pilot, Lt. John S. Young on the far right, before the mission to bomb Ploesti. Lt. John Young and his regular crew member's lives were spared when Group Leader Col. John R. Kane reassigned them to fly with him in his plane, Hail Columbia, on Operation Tidal Wave over Ploesti. Kickapoo crashed and burned on takeoff for the Ploesti mission, killing the two replacement pilots and all but two of it's replacement crew, Lt Russel Polivka, navigator, and SSgt Eugene Garner, gunner. - Aircraft Destroyed - Lete, Libya - 1 Aug 1943
Kickapoo's reassigned crew for the Ploesti bombing mission : ---
1st Lt. Robert J. Nespor - Pilot - (KIA) - 98th BG - Died two weeks later from his burns 2nd Lt. John C. Riley - Co Pilot (KIA) Detached Service from 93rd BG - Died from his burns
2nd Lt. Russell W. Polivka - Navigator (WIA) D.S. from 93rd BG - Severely Burned - Recovered after long rehabilitation
T/Sgt. Vaun D. Wenrich -Engineer/Top Turret (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG - Died of his injuries
T/Sgt. Armand R. Massart - Radio Op (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG - Died of his injuries
S/Sgt. George W. Lawlor - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG - Died of his injuries
S/Sgt. Edwin G. Sliwa - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG - Died of his injuries
S/Sgt. Eugene R. Garner - Gunner (WIA) D.S. from 93rd BG - Badly burned - Survived and recovered after long rehabilitation.
S/Sgt. John P. D'Armour - Gunner (KIA) D.S. from 93rd BG
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The crew standing and sitting on top of their famous B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, 'The "Squaw",' that successfully flew on 71 combat missions without a casualty. 1944
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B-24D, Kickapoo, crash at Lete Airfield - Aug 1, 1943 - Pilots Lt. Robert Nespor, Lt. John C. Riley, and all but two other crewmen were killed in action KIA when the airplane crashed and burned on takeoff. Aircraft lost. Crashed on takeoff for the Ploesti mission. Number 4 engine failure. - 8 KIA / 2 WIA. 1 Aug 43.
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B-24D, Kickapoo, originally assigned to Lt. John S. Young, 9th AF, 98th BG, 344th BS. Kickapoo, crashed and was lost on takeoff for the Ploesti mission. Both replacement pilots, Lt. Robert Nespor of the 98th BG and Lt. John C. Riley of the 93rd BG, and all but two of the replacement crewmen for the Ploesti mission were KIA. - the first casualties of Operation Tidal Wave over Ploesti, Romania. Aug 1, 1943
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2nd Lt. John Clark Riley from the 8th Air Force, and the 93rd Bomb Group was assigned to fly as a replacement copilot with his command pilot, Lt. Robert Nespor, in John Young's regular airplane, Kickapoo, for the large Ploesti mission. Kickapoo suffered a catastrophic failure of it's number 4 engine on takeoff for the mission and crashed in flames, killing Lt. Nespor, John Riley, and all but two of their replacement crew - killed in action, 8 KIA, 2 WIA - RTS. They were the first of over three hundred casualties on Operation Tidal Wave, before the mission had even started. August 1, 1943.
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B-24D - Capt. John S. Young's article, "Over The Target", in the "Air Force" magazine, 1944.
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 in the 98th Bomb Group and the 344th Bombing Squadron, who were from Texas, all of whom arrived in North Africa in late 1942. This B-24D was Lt. Young's second regularly assigned aircraft, now flying out of Berca, Benina, and, Lete Airfields at Benghazi, Libya in the Mediterranean theater of World War II in 1943. His first B-24 was shot down by German fighters earlier that year in an air fight with German fighters off the coast of Malta. Lt. Young named this second B-24D, Kickapoo, after the magical liquor, "Kickapoo Joy Juice" in Al Capp's famous cartoon, "Lil Abner".
Later, in June of 1943, Lt. Young and most of his regular crew from the, Kickapoo, were reassigned by Col. John R. Kane to fly with him on Operation Tidal Wave, the huge mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti Romania, as his crew and copilot in the 98th Bomb Group's lead ship, Hail Columbia, renamed by Kane for his alma mater, Columbia University. Kickapoo, was reassigned to another of the 98th's 344th Bombing Squadron's pilots, his friend, 1st. Lt. Robert Nespor, who was still recovering from dysentery, and Lt. John C. Riley, Nespor's replacement copilot, reassigned from the 93rd Bomb Group, with the rest of the replacement crew also from the 93rd Bomb Group, for the Ploesti mission.
But, on the morning of the mission, fate dealt Lt. Nespor, Lt. John Riley, their crew, a very bad hand, when Kickapoo's number 4 engine failed and caught fire just after getting airborne. Command Pilot Lt. Bob Nespor, , and crashed and were killed while desperately and heroically trying to save their valuable ship, instead of bailing out or ditching it into the Mediterranean Sea.
After jettisoning all of his bombs over the sea, Lt. Nespor requested being guided back to the field for an emergency landing, but was forced to abort and circle around due to conflicting aircraft still taking off at Lete. With Kickapoo's right wing now on fire, he made a second approach to the field from the West. While doing so, he began losing power from his remaining three engines. On fire, with failing engines, and sinking on short final approach, Nespor and Riley landed Kickapoo hard, bounced and drifted off the centerline to the left of the runway. A wing tip clipped a concrete pole next to the runway. And the plane cartwheeled into the ground and, predictably, exploded in flames, killing Lt. Nespor, his copilot, Lt. John Riley, and all but two of the rest of the crew, Lt. Russell W. Polivka, the navigator, and SSgt. Eugene R. Garner, gunner. Both men escaped and survived the crash despite severe burns and eventually returned to service after long recoveries. (RTS). Lt Nespor died two weeks later, finally succumbing to his burns. KIA. Robert Nespor and his crewmen were the first casualties of the Ploesti mission, before it had even begun. The men flying over the smoke and fire of their crash, knew that some, if not all, of the men in it would not be returning home alive, and they took the crash as a bad omen for what was to come, which it certainly was. Approximately 450 airmen from the five Bomb Groups, flying to Ploesti, would be wounded, captured, killed, or missing, before that terrible day over Ploesti was over.
Col. John Kane, Lt. Young, Lt. Harry Korger, and Lt. Norman Whalen, and all the men in Kane's plane, Hail Columbia, miraculously survived the Ploesti mission without injury in spite of over 150 counted flak holes in their aircraft. The, Kickapoo, was destroyed, and all but two of it's crew were killed in the flaming crash, just after takeoff for the Ploesti mission on the morning of August 1, 1943.
~ Kickapoo's Regular Crew in the 98th Bomb Group :
- Lt. John S. Young - Pilot - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission
- Lt. Norman M. Whalen - Navigator - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission
- Lt. Harold F. Korger - Bombardier - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission
- SSgt. Fredrick A. Leard - Waist Gunner - Assigned to Hail Columbia - Ploesti Mission
- SSgt. William Leo - Tail Gunner - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti mission
- Lt. Raymond B. Hubbard - Radio Operator - Reassigned To Hail Columbia for Ploesti
- SSgt. Joseph J. LaBranche - Ball Turret - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti
- TSgt. Harvey Treace - Engineer/Top Turret - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti
- SSgt. Nevill C. Bensen - Waist Gunner - Reassigned to Hail Columbia for Ploesti
Kickapoo's Replacement Crew for Ploesti bombing mission :
1st Lt. Robert J. Nespor - Pilot - 98th BG - Died from burns. KIA
2nd Lt. John C. Riley - Co Pilot - 93rd BG - Died from burns. KIA
2nd Lt. Russell W. Polivka - Navigator - 93rd BG - Recovered from burns - WIA - RTS
T/Sgt. Vaun D. Wenrich - Engineer/Top Turret Gunner - 93rd BG. KIA
T/Sgt. Armand R. Massart - Radio Operator - 93rd BG. KIA
S/Sgt. George W. Lawlor - Gunner - 93rd BG. KIA
S/Sgt. Edwin G. Sliwa - Gunner - 93rd BG. KIA
S/Sgt. Eugene R. Garner - Gunner - 93rd BG. WIA - recovered - RTS
S/Sgt. John P. D'Armour - Gunner - 93rd BG. - KIA
- Kickapoo, crashed after takeoff for the Ploesti mission. Aircraft destroyed. 8 KIA. 2 WIA-RTS. 1 Aug 1943. - Kickapoo, was not counted as having participated in Operation Tidal Wave.
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 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, 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 | B-24 Gunner | 93rd Bomb Group
Staff Sgt. John D'Amour was killed in action (KIA) after being reassigned as a replacement gunner, from the 93rd Bomb Group, in the 8th Air Force, reassigned to Lt. John S. Young's regular B-24D, 41-11768, named, Kickapoo, as part of the 344th Bomb...
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Military | Staff Sergeant | B-24 Gunner | 389th Bomb Group
Crew member Staff Sgt. Eugene Robert Garner flew on Operation Tidal Wave. He was assigned as part of a replacement crew from the 8th Air Force, for John Young's B-24D, Kickapoo, from the 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 9th Air Force....
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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 | Staff Sergeant | Waist gunner | 93rd Bomb Group
Crew member B-24 liberator 41-11768 'Kickapoo' of 344th BS, 98th BG, 9th AF. Crashed shortly after take-off for the August 1, 43 low-level Ploesti, Romania mission. She lost an engine just after getting airborne and then caught fire while banking back...
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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 | Technical Sergeant | B-24 Radio Operator | 93rd Bomb Group
Tech Sergeant Armand Massart was a radio operator (RO) assigned (TDY) to the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron for Operation Tidal Wave to Ploesti, Romania. He was one of the replacement crewmembers assigned to the B-24 41...
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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 | Second Lieutenant | B-24 Navigator | 93rd Bomb Group
Lt. Russell W. Polivka was a navigator, and part of the replacement crew assigned to the B-24D Liberator, 41-11768, Kickapoo, in the 344th Bomb Squadron, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 9th Air Force, for Operation Tidal Wave over Ploesti, Romania. Flown...
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Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24 Co-Pilot | 93rd Bomb Group
2nd Lt. John Clark Riley was a B-24D pilot in the 9th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 330th Bomb Squadron at Benghazi, Libya, in the Mediterranean theatre (MTO) during WWII. Lt. Riley and his command Pilot Robert Nespor from the 98th Bomb...
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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 |
Crashed |
Benghazi, Libya |
1 August 1943 |
Crashed shortly after take-off for the August 1, 1943 low-level Ploesti, Romania mission. She lost No 4 engine just after getting airborne, after jettisoning all bombs at sea, 'KICKAPOO' was guided back for an emergency landing. Due to a conflicting aircraft on the runway, 1st Lt Nespor was forced to approach the field from the West. In doing so a wing tip smashed into a concrete pole and burst into flames, killing Nespor and all but two of the crew.
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