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Military
Four gunners who protected B-24D, 4111761, The Squaw, on 35 of it's 71 missions. The gunners are looking out of the waist window of, The Squaw, with a .50 Cal gun next to them. Left to right : Sergeant Weir, Sergeant Givens, Sergeant Reilly, and Sergeant Guana.
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
The crew standing and sitting on top of their famous B-24D Liberator, 41-11761, 'The "Squaw",' that successfully flew on 71 combat missions without a casualty. 1944
S/Sgt John A. Givens Jr :- DFC award card.98BG.
S/Sgt John A. Givens Jr :- Air medal award card. 98BG.
Crew member B-24D, 41-11761, The Squaw, flew on Operation Tidal Wave 1-Aug-43, diverted to Cypress. Returned to base ar Benghazi, Libya. RTB. 3-Aug-43. Flew to Fort Worth, Texas, USA for a war bond tour with, The Squaw.
Awards: DFC (OLC), AM (5OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (2 x Battle Stars).
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...
Group
The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942.
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Squadron
Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force. Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil; performed trans-Atlantic...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator bomber, 41-11761, was first named, Sleepy, by the men in the 8th Air Force and the 93rd Bomb Group in the U.K. It was, later, renamed, The Squaw, by it's Command Pilot, Lt. Royden LeBrecht, after being transferred to the 9th Air...
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...
Military site : airfield
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Fisk, MO | 31 January 1921 |
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Son of John Allen Sr and Pearl Givens. |
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| Enlisted | 1942 | |
| Lived in | St Louis, MO | 1943 |
| Based | Benina | 1943 – 1944 |
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Assigned to 343BS, 98BG, 9AF USAAF. |
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| Survived Ploesti | Ploiești, Romania | 1 August 1943 |
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Crew member B-24 41-11761 'Little Squaw' flew on the 1st Aug 43 Ploesti raid, diverted to Cypress. |
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| War Bonds Tour | Fort Worth, TX, USA | 1944 |
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Returned to Fort Worth, Texas, USA for war bonds tour with A/C. |
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| Discharged USAAF | 4 September 1945 | |
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Honourable discharge. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 22 March 2022 21:59:48 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, service number, biography, awards, events, person associations, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/619774918 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 March 2022 19:48:17 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Removed punctuation from a/c name, for clarity, uniformity, and readability. - Kickapoo |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 March 2015 20:15:14 | Al_Skiff | Created entry with surname, middlename, firstname, suffix, nationality, highest rank, role, biography, events, unit associations, aircraft associations, mission associations and media associations |
| Sources | ||
http://texashistory.unt.edu / USAAF Photo |
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