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Middle East Medal Ceremony:
Left to Right :
- Capt. Ramsay D. Potts, - Memphis, Tenn. -
- 1st Lt. James E. Gott - Berea, KY -
- 1st Lt. Charles T. Moore - Oklahoma City, OK - - Command Pilot - B-24D - Celhalopdos -
- 1st Lt. Geo. E. Piburn - San Diego, Calif. -
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Page 66 of the 93rd Bomb Group unit history.
Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations).
Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.
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Wing and Group Commanders meeting of the 2nd Bomb Division, 8th Air Force, England. 19 September 1944
Rear Left to Right : Col James H. Isbel - Col Albert J. Shower - Col. Luther J. Fairbanks - Col. Lawrence M. Thomas - Col. Ramsay D. Potts - Col. William W. Jones
Middle Left to Right : Col. Lorin L. Johnson - Col. Eugene H. Snavely - Col. Ezekiel W. Napier - Col. Frederic H. Miller - Col. Leland G. Fiegel - Col. Gerry L. Mason - Lt. Co.l Roy B. Cavines - Lt. Col. Everett W. Stewart - Lt. Col. Claiborne H. Kinnard
Seated Left to Right : Col. Jack W. Woo - Brig. Gen. Leon W. Johnson - Brig. Gen. Walter R. Peck - Maj. Gen. William E. Kepnel - Brig. Gen. Edward J. Timberlake - Brig. Gen. Jesse Auton - Col. Milton W Arnold.
Lt. Col. Ramsay Potts flew 41 x combat missions in WWII, including deep penetrations from England to the Messerschmidt factory at Weiner Neustadt, Austria and German synthetic fuel plants. On 21-Nov-42, he was engaged by 5 x JU-88's over the Bay of Biscay, of which his crew shot down 2 of the Ju-88's. He took over command of the 453rd on 19-Mar-44.
When he came to the Mediterranean Theatre in 1942, he was a senior pilot in the 93rd Bomb Group, and commanded one of the group's long range B-24 Liberator squadrons, the 330th Bomb Squadron. He performed the first night bombing missions on port docks and shipping at Bizerte, Tunisia. He led his squadron on the daring low level attack against the oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania on 1-Aug-43. Taking off from the Benghazi desert airfield at dawn, the 26 year old Major Potts, flying his B-24 41-24147, The Duchess, was leading his squadron, assigned to the second formation of the 93rd Bomb Group, of the 178 bombers on the raid. To achieve maximum surprise, the aircraft flew at very low level, and were timed to arrive over the target within a very short period in order to saturate the very heavy ground and air defenses.
Over the mountains of Albania, bad weather disrupted the B-24 formations, splitting the force in two and leaving Potts and his squadron unexpectedly in the leading element.
Just short of the target, the Mission Commander, Gen. Uzal Ent ordered his pilot, Col. Kieth Compton to turn east toward Bucharest, away from their assigned course north to Ploesti.
Potts was one of the pilots who broke radio silence and shouted warnings to Gen. Ent and Col. Compton in the 376th Bombing Group's lead aircraft, Teggie Ann, but Ent ignored the warnings, and ordered Compton to continue east, compromising the intricate attack plan.
The delay caused by the wrong turn, resulted in the 93rd Bomb Group, and several of the 376th Bomb Group's pilots to turn back north to bomb their assigned targets, the Concordia Vega Refinery, White II, and the Unirea Sepranta refinery, code named White III, approaching the refinery area at from the south over the worst of the anti aircraft defenses, and at the same time as the 98th and the 44th Bomb Groups were approaching the same area, but from the North!
Within minutes, the rogue planes from the 93rd and the 376th began bombing the Astra Romano Refinery complex, and, quickly, those refineries were covered in explosions, flames, and dense smoke, which began taking down the airplanes along with the the flak guns and barrage balloon cables and explosives tied to them. The bombers from the 98th, and the 44th Bomb Groups, flying at 250 feet into their targets from the north, had to avoid others coming from the south, including those from Potts's 93rd and some from the 376th, coming at them head on.
Potts led his 12 bombers to drop their bombs into what a military publication called "merciless fire from almost every conceivable ground defense weapon". During the attack, Potts's aircraft, The Duchess, was badly damaged, and some of his crew were wounded by flak. Escaping from the target, his bombers were attacked by enemy fighters all the way to the Ionian Sea, where the straggler bombers became widely scattered, destroying the mutual defense they provided for one another.
Potts managed to keep his bomber flying despite severe damage to the flight control cables that a crewman repaired, and he was one of a small number to return to Benghazi after almost 14 hours in the air. On landing back at Benghazi, The Duchess, had more than 50 fist sized holes in the wings and fuselage. For his part in the raid, Major Potts was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. During his career, Ramsay Potts was also awarded the Silver Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the British Distinguished Flying Cross, the French Croix De Guerre, and 2 bombing group Presidential Unit Citations. Ramsay Potts retired from the Air Force with the rank of Major General. He died on 28-May-2006.
Service
People
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Military | Lieutenant General | B-24 Command Pilot - Squadron Commander - Commanding Officer | 376th Bomb Group
Keith Karl Compton was an American Air Force Lieutenant General who was Vice Commander in Chief, in the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command. He flew as the Element Lead Aircraft's Command Pilot with Gen. Uzal Ent, the Ploesti Mission...
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Military | Major General | Commanding General | 376th Bomb Group
Uzal Girard Ent was an American Army Air Force officer who served as the commander of the 9th Air Force and subsequently the 2nd Air Force during World War II. He flew as mission commander on the Aug 1, 1943, Ploesti oil refinery raid, Operation Tidal...
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Military | Captain | Navigator | 93rd Bomb Group
Captain James Gott was assigned as the navigator to the 330th Bomb Squadron, the , 93rd Bomb Group, in the 8th Air Force. After completing their required combat missions, the crew of, Hot Stuff, the B-24D, 41-23728, were tasked with flying General...
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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, 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 | 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 | Colonel | B-24 Pilot | 93rd Bomb Group
In 1941, Walter Stewart was a 24 year old, U.S. Army Air Force cadet at the University of Utah. He wrote, "We were pulling guns around with horses as a plane flew overhead. Jack Adamson, who had been my Morman mission companion, said to me, "There's a...
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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 ...
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Units served with
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Group
The 389th Bomb Group, known in more familiar terms as "the Sky Scorpions", flew strategic bombing missions in B-24 Liberators from Hethel, England. They also sent detachments to join bases in North Africa at Benghazi No. 10, Libya, between 3 July 1943...
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Group
As well as strategic bombardment missions, the 453rd Bomb Group also ferried cargo on two occasions. They hauled petrol, blankets, and rations to France in September 1944 and dropped ammunition, food and medical supplies near Wesel during the airborne...
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Group
The 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 1 Mar 42 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. On 15 May 42. the Group moved to Ft. Myers, Florida, to continue advanced flight training and also to fly antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico. They...
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Aircraft
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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, The Duchess, was in the 8th Air Force, the 93rd Bomb Group, and the 330th Bombing Squadron in Britain. It was detached, transferred temporarily (TDY) to the 9th Air Force in North Africa and flew on Operation Tidal Wave to bomb the oil...
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...
Associated Place
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Military site : airfield
Planned as an RAF bomber airfield, Hardwick was used first by the 310th Bomb Group, equipped with B-25 Mitchells. B-24 Liberators of the 93rd Bomb Group moved in briefly in March 1943, then returned in June 1943 remaining until the end of the war and...
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Military site : airfield
Built during 1941-42, Holmsley South opened in September 1942 as a Coastal Command base before construction was complete. It eventually had three concrete runways, 35 pan and three loop hardstandings, and five T2 hangars. The 1st American residents,...
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Military site : airfield
Allocated to the Eighth Air Force as a bomber base in 1942, Old Buckenham was built during 1942-43 with three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. The station was the exclusive home for the 453rd Bomb Group, equipped...
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Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Born |
Memphis, Tennessee |
24 October 1916 |
Son of Ramsay Douglas Potts Sr and Ann Clifton [Van Dyke] Potts.
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Based |
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1942 – 1944 |
Assigned to 330BS, 93BG, 8AF USAAF.
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Died |
Boynton Beach, FL |
28 May 2006 |
Buried |
Arlington National Cemetery |
June 2006 |
Arlington National Cemetery
Columbarium 8 L-10-2
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