Merrill E Demas
Military
Object Number - UPL 28472 - Merrill Demas wedding photo 1944 after returning to the states.
SSgt. Merrill Demas flew on the low level Ploesti mission aboard the B-24D, Tarfu, as the tail gunner. He came home with shrapnel in his back from this mission. He was first assigned as a waist gunner, then, later, was a tail gunner for his remaining missions.
SSgt. Demas flew with these B-24 pilots :
Roper - 4 missions on, Yardbird - Exterminator
Cowart - 2 missions on, Thar She Blows
Hurd - 9 missions on, Tarfu - Queenie
Sedevic - 2 missions on, The Valient Virgin
Kemp - 8 missions on, God Bless Our Ship
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 329th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 329th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17038482 / O-?
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot / Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 329th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19077459 / O-?
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 329th Bomb Squadron 330th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 93rd Bomb Group 329th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16058971 / O-672885
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 8 March 1943
- Date: 1 August 1943
- Official Description: 177 B-24’s, of IX Bomber Command (including Heavy Bombers on loan from Eighth AF) are dispatched to bomb oil refineries at Ploesti and nearby Campina. The operation (TIDALWAVE) is costly, 54 planes and 532 airmen being lost, but damage to the targets...
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Berka, al Birkah
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
South Barre, Vermont | 11 May 1917 | |
|
Died |
South Barre, Barre, VT, USA | 4 April 2005 |
Revisions
Punctuation, details added. - Kickapoo
Added details - Kickapoo
Personal family history and records
Mission specifics from various sources, research and family documents.
From our family collection
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ploesti by Dugan & Stewart
