First Lieutenant Gilbert "Gib" Hadley, the well liked young pilot in the 344th bomb Squadron of the 98th Bomb Group, and 9th Air Force. He named his airplane, Hadley's Harem, to denote how many women, he said, were fond of him. Hadley flew on Operation Tidal Wave to Ploesti, Romania, with his friends in the 344th Bomb Squadron of the 98th Bombardment Group. His plane took two direct flak hits in the nose, approaching his target, White IV, one killing his bombardier, Lt. Leon Storms, and the other damaging two of his engines, before he approached and bombed his target, White IV. He survived attacking Ploesti and had joined up with Col. John Kane and Lt. John Young in, Hail Columbia, South of Ploesti, in order to fly to safety with company for his crippled ship. He made it as far as just past the the south Turkish coast close to Nicosia, Cyprus, but had to turn back from the group of straggler B-24s in the darkness with low engine oil and fuel. Hadley finally lost his fight with his failing, Harem, and crashed into the Mediterranean sea after losing his last two engines, just off the Turkish coast. Both "Gib" Hadley and his copilot. Lt. James Lindsey, were trapped in the plane's collapsed cockpit and drowned. Aug 1, 1943.