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Military
Pilot Lt. Royden LeBrecht with the nose art and name of his B-24D Liberator bomber, # 4111761 - 'The Squaw' - formerly named, 'Sleepy', from the 343rd BS, the 98th BG, and the 9th AF. Lt. LeBrecht and 'The Squaw' were both survivors of the Ploesti oil refinery bombing raid. Aug 1, 1943. Lt. LeBrecht returned to the USA for a war bonds tour in 'The Squaw'. It's art work was toned down for the war bond tour by painting clothing on the previously naked, "squaw" maiden. 1943
Captain Royden L Lebrecht, pilot of the famous B-24 #4111761 "The Squaw", pointing to ack-ack holes in the much traveled combat ship. Fort Worth, TX.
Captain Royden L Lebrecht, pilot of the famous B-24 #4111761 "The Squaw", standing next to the plane's insignia. Lebrecht commented, "She's a good old gal" as he winks at the camera.
![Major Joe M. Kilgore [L] and Captain Royden L Lebrecht [R] posing in the pilot's enclosure of B-24 #4111761](https://www.americanairmuseum.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/media/media-14407.jpeg?itok=w3TNDL50)
Major Joe M. Kilgore [L] and Captain Royden L Lebrecht [R] posing in the pilot's enclosure of B-24 #4111761 "The Squaw", a famed Liberator of 71 missions in the Middle East.
Back Row L to R Gen Hoyt S Vanderberg P 1st Lt Royden L Lebrecht, Denison, TX C 1st Lt Clinton H Killian, Roosevelt, Utah N 1st Lt Grover A Zink, Qron, Kansas B 1st Lt Albert J Mickish, Perry, OK Lt Col Robert H Parham Radio T/Sgt JohnR Reilly, Utica, NY Front Row L to R E T/Sgt Harold F Weir, Lapeer, MI Rad Ast S/Sgt Paul E Davidson, Springfield, Mo Ast Eng S/Sgt John A Givens Jr, Louis, Mo Crew Chief M/Sgt Paul T Bashis, Cambridge, Mass Tail S/Sgt John Gunnu, Albany, NY Gunner S/Sgt Adney J Harmon, Sacco, Maine
L to R Capt Royden L LeBrecht, 1LT Albert J. Mickish (L), Perry, OK - bombardier aboard B-24D serial 41-11761 "The Squaw" of the 343rd Bomb Sq, 98th BG. Standing with him is MSGT John R. Dowdy. Taken during a stopover at Fort Worth Army Air Field, part of a two-ship team with "The Blue Streak" visiting the local Consolidated factory on a War Bond tour.
Crew standing and sitting atop of the famous B-24 Liberator, #4111761 "The Squaw", that successfully covered 71 missions without a casualty.
B-24D 'The Squaw' 41-11761 with pilot Lt. Royden LeBrecht and the 9th AF Pilots War Bond Tour - 1943
Operation Tidal Wave - Last Briefing. - 1943
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 Ploesti, Romania. August 1,1943. He was good friends with most of the the pilots flying alongside him in the 344th bomb Squadron and on Flight One of the 98th Bomb Group's airplanes flying to Ploesti, including, Lt. John Young, Lt. Robert Nespor, KIA, killed on takeoff to Ploesti, and Pilot Sam Neeley, KIA, killed over the target at Ploesti, all pilots in the 98th Bomb Group's 344th Bombardment Squadron. Lt. LeBrecht's assigned bomber was the B-24D, SN #41-11761, that he named, 'The Squaw'. On the Ploesti mission, LeBrecht flew in the right side of the first line of the line abreast, "V" formation of the 98th Bomb Group's "Flight One". After bombing his target at Ploesti and escaping south from the Ploesti refinery area with very little damage to his plane, 'The Squaw', Lt. Lebrecht decided to stay with and provide cover for his friends in the smoking, shot up B-24 stragglers, and joined up with Col. John Kane and his damaged B-24D, "Hail Columbia', Lt. "Gib" Hadley, who was KIA, killed later, trying to ditch his shot up B-24D, 'Hadley's Harem' just off of the Turkish coast. They had all diverted and followed John Kane's 'Hail Columbia' as his navigator, Norman, "The Baron", Whalen from set a course across Turkey to the British airfield at Nicosia, Cyprus, as did many other crippled B-24 bombers escaping Ploesti. After the mission, Lt. LeBrecht returned to USA for war bonds tour in his airplane # 41-11761, 'The Squaw', also with Lt. John S. Young, who flew 'The Blue Streak', and Major Walter Stewart, flying the B-24, 'Bomerang', back to the U.S for their war bond tour. 1944
Military | First Lieutenant | B-24D Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
First Lieutenant Gilbert Benny Hadley was a B-24D Liberator bomber pilot with the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, "The Pyramiders", and the 344th Bombing Squadron, from Texas, based at Cairo, Egypt, Tobruk, and Benghazi, Libya, in the Mediterranean...
Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24D Co-Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
2nd Lt. Ronald Lee Helder was a B-24 pilot in the 8th Air Force, the 389th Bomb Group, and the 564th Bombing Squadron in WWII. He flew as Co-pilot with his friend, Command Pilot Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes, in the B-24D Lt. Helder called, 'Ole Kickapoo',...
Military | Second Lieutenant | B-24 Command Pilot | 389th Bomb Group
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Military | Colonel | Commanding Officer, Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
John Riley Kane (January 5, 1907 – May 29, 1996) was a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps and later 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...
Military | Colonel | Bombardier Navigator | 98th Bomb Group
Lt. Harold Korger was a bombardier in the 344th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force. He flew on the famous mission, Operation Tidal Wave, Aug 1, 1943, to knock out the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. ...
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...
Military | First Lieutenant | B-24D Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
Pilot Lt. Sam Neeley flew his B-24D, named, 'Raunchy' on "Operation Tidal Wave", the famous bombing raid to destroy the German held oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, one of the most desperate and daring bombing raids of WWII.
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Military | First Lieutenant | B-24 Command Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
1st Lt. Robert James Nespor, Jr. was a B-24D command bomber pilot in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bombardment Group, "The Pyramiders", and the 330th Bombing Squadron. For the huge mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, on Operation...
Military | Colonel | B-24 Pilot | 93rd Bomb Group
In 1941, 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 war...
Military | Major | Navigator / Nose Gunner | 98th Bomb Group
Norman Whalen joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. After graduating from Navigator School in Monroe, Louisiana, he received his commission as a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to the 9th Air force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron...
Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942.
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Squadron
The 344th Bombing Squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D 'Joisey Bounce' was assigned to Pilot Col. Walter T. Stewart of the 330 Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, for the famous mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, Aug 1,1943. Col. Stewart changed his assigned plane...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, named 'The Sandman' and flown by Lt. Robert Sternfels in the 9th Air force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 345th Bomb Squadron, flew on the famous mission to destroy the German held oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. Lt. Sternfels flew in...
B-24 Liberator
- Not to be confused with #42-40608, 'THE VULGAR VIRGIN' of the 8th Air Force - 93rd Bomb Group - 328th Bomb Squadron - It also flew on the Ploesti mission, piloted by Lt. Claude Turner - Interned Turkey Aug 1, 1943 - Lt. Turner escaped from the...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, named 'Hadley's Harem' was Lt. Gilbert Hadley's personal airplane and the one he flew on the mission to destroy Hitler's oil refineries at Ploesti Romania in 1943.
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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator bomber, SN #41-11761, was first named, 'Sleepy', and, later, renamed, 'The Squaw'. It flew on the famous Ploesti bombing mission, returning to Cyprus, piloted by Lt. Royden L. Lebrecht. After Ploesti and and the completion of his ...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, 'Hail Columbia', # 41-11825, originally served in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron. It was, first, the 344th Squadron's CO, Col. John R. Kane's, personal aircraft until Kane became the 98th Bomb Group's...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, SN # 41-11768, 'KICKAPOO', was piloted by Lt. John S. Young from Dallas, Texas as part of the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bombing Squadron, which arrived in North Africa in early 1943. This airplane was...
B-24 Liberator
# 42-40753 - B-24D 'OLE KICKAPOO' - A Consolidated B-24D bomber from the 389th Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force, and the 564th Bomb Squadron from England, with it's Command Pilot, 2nd Lt. Lloyd Hughes, and his crew, who flew on "Operation Tidal...
1 August 1943
Operation TIDAL WAVE. B24D 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 B...
| Event | Location | Date |
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| Born | Denison, TX, USA | 21 April 1919 |
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21-Apr-19 Royden Louis Lebrecht born in Denison, Texas. He is son of Louis H. and Myrtle Azola Walton Lebrecht. [Source: City of Denison birth records]Dennison, Texas, USA. |
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| Enlisted | Dallas, TX | 10 November 1941 |
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Dallas, Texas |
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| Assigned | Benghazi, Libya | 1943 |
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343rd Bomb Squadron, 98th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force. |
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| Survived Ploesti | Ploiești, Romania | 1 August 1943 |
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Pilot B-24 41-11761 'The Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress. |
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| War Bonds Tour | 1944 | |
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Returned to Fort Worth, TX, USA for war bonds tour with A/C. |
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| Died | Tucson, AZ | 28 July 2003 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 06 May 2021 10:17:00 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
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Best Web - B-24 - 'Bomerang' |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 06 May 2021 04:57:47 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
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Best Web - B-24 - 41-11761 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 06 May 2021 04:29:41 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
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Best Web - B-24 - 41-11761 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 April 2021 14:09:50 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, service number, biography and events |
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https://www.fold3.com/image/624758697 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 26 February 2021 00:29:30 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography, events and person associations |
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Grayson County Texas - GenWeb Family - LeBrecht Family Chronology |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 October 2020 09:48:49 | Kickapoo | Changes to role |
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Ploesti -- James Dugan & Carroll Stewart |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 October 2020 09:23:03 | Kickapoo | Changes to person associations |
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Ploesti -- James Dugan & Carroll Stewart |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 October 2020 09:18:34 | Kickapoo | Changes to aircraft associations |
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Ploesti -- James Dugan & Carroll Stewart |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 October 2020 08:18:16 | Kickapoo | Changes to nickname, biography, awards and events |
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Black Sunday - Michael Hill |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 October 2020 07:05:12 | Kickapoo | Changes to role, biography, person associations, unit associations, place associations and aircraft associations |
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Black Sunday - Michael Hill |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 October 2020 06:46:33 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
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Black Sunday - Michael Hill |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2015 18:56:01 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events and media associations |
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USAAF Photo. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2015 16:30:53 | Al_Skiff | Changes to aircraft associations |
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USAAF Photo. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2015 16:06:01 | Al_Skiff | Changes to events |
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USAAF Photo. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2015 16:03:52 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with surname, middlename, firstname, nationality, highest rank, role, biography, events, unit associations, aircraft associations, mission associations and media associations |
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USAAF Photo. |
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