Ronald Stewart Allen Jr
Military
Object Number - UPL 14538 - Liberator B-24D, 4240172, Lynn Bari II, in the 506th Bomb Squadron, the 44th Bomb Group, "The Flying 8 Balls", in the 8th Air Force, TDY to the 9th...
Assigned to 506BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. Attached to 9AF USAAF, TDY in North Africa. Took part in Operation 'Tidal Wave', the raid on Ploesti on 1-Aug-43, flying B-24 Liberator 42-40172 'Lynn Bari II'.
Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-24 42-72857 'Star Spangled Hell'; mauled by fighters, A/C exploded 10 miles north of target. 1-Oct-43 Prisoner of War (POW) MACR 51251
Awards: DFC, AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME, UN and Korean medals.
Connections
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Units served with

- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment

- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
People

- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs 506th Bomb Squadron 67th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16040136 / O-411678
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Pilot

- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs 506th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19032975 / O-730588
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Lynn Bari II
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs 492nd Bomb Group (Heavy) 506th Bomb Squadron 856th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Star Spangled Hell
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs 506th Bomb Squadron
Missions

- 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: Soluch Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12

- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Pathway

- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Muskogee, Okla | 18 November 1917 | Son of Ronald Stewart Sr and Mida Breckenridge [Spradling] Allen. |
Enlisted |
Okmulgee, OK | 16 September 1940 | Okmulgee Oklahoma |
Other Baled out POW |
North of Weiner Neustadt, Austria | 1 October 1943 | Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-24 42-72857 'Star Spangled Hell'; mauled by fighters, A/C exploded 10 miles north of target. 1-Oct-43 POW MACR 51251 |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Moosburg, Bavaria | 1 October 1943 | Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag VIIa. |
Died |
17 June 1988 | ||
Buried |
Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Fort Gibson, Muskogee County, OK | 20 June 1988 | Fort Gibson National Cemetery Fort Gibson, Muskogee County, Oklahoma |
Based |
Shipdham | Assigned to 506BS, 44BG, 8AF USAAF. | |
Based |
Benina | 1 October 1943 | Attached to 9AF USAAF, TDY in North Africa |
Revisions
Key Image ID.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ploesti by Dugan and Stewart, 44th BG Roll of Honor and Casualties by Will Lundy p. 136-138, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop and Hey p. 299; MACR 15251