Robert Lee Wright
MilitaryDetails added. - Kickapoo
Lt. Robert Lee Wright took part in Operation Tidal Wave, on Ploesti, Romania, flying the B-24D Liberator 42-40776, Old Blister Butt with his Copilot Lt. Fred Sayre. Upon Leaving the target area at Campina, Lt. Wright and Old Blister Butt's crew saw their friends in the B-24D, Ole Irish, in trouble and limping away from the refinery area with one engine destroyed by flak. Lt. Wright made the decision to slow down and fly as cover for his buddies in, Ole Irish, and escorted them all the way to the Turkish coast and relative safety. Both planes, Ole Irish, and, Old Blister Butt, returned safely to Benghazi, Libya. 1 Aug 1943.
12 July 1943 TDY to 9th AF, B-24 42-40697 was hit by flak before target at Reggio Marshalling Yards. Diverted to recently captured area of Sicily crash landing NW of Pachino. Canadian unit transported them to a friendly base. Crew originally reported Missing in Action (MIA)
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
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15045876 / 0-325990
- Highest Rank: Major General
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-666292
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 98th Bomb Group 415th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35027471 / O-?
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: B-24D Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 98th Bomb Group 415th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 98th Bomb Group 415th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32160105 / O-?
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Ole Irish
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Old Blister Butt - Widow
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 93rd Bomb Group 328th Bomb Squadron 406th Bomb Squadron 564th Bomb Squadron 566th Bomb Squadron 858th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Miss Liberty
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 492nd Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron 567th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 1 August 1943
- Official Description:
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Berka, al Birkah
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Fort Worth, Texas |
Revisions
NARA files verified officer number, DFC with one Oak Leaf Cluster and AM with six Oak Leaf Clusters. His first DFC was earned on the low-level Ploesti Operation Tidal Wave mission and the second DFC was earned in 1944. He earned at least one bronze service star on the EAME Campaign Medal.
Philip Ardery, Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky: 1978) 87-90.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop & Hey pp. 179-180 , 389th BG Roster