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The B-24D Liberator, 41-11803, Rosie Wrecked 'Em, and crew from the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, and the 344th Bomb Squadron. Rosie Wrecked 'Em, was flown by Lt. Herbert Arens on the mission to destroy the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, on the right wing of Col. John Kane in the lead ship, Hail Columbia. Lt. Arens had to abort and turn back to home base at Benghazi, Libya, because of mechanical problems. The copilot, Lt. Kittredge Hamlin - standing second from left. Pilot Capt. Herbert Arens is standing far left.
Aircraft, 41-11803, flew on the wing of Col. Kane on the Ploesti raid but had to return to base because of mechanical problems. Copilot Kittredge Hamlin is standing - second from left. He left North Africa for the states on or about Aug 8, 1943 after 45 missions. This photo was taken prior to that date. Pilot Capt. Herbert Arens is standing far left.
Lt. Kittredge "Kitt" Hamlin was assigned as CoPilot on the B-24D Liberator bomber, 41-11803, Rosie Wrecked 'Em, in the 344th BS, the 98th BG, and the 9th AF, "The Force For Freedom", in the MTO in North Africa. He flew on the Ploesti oil refinery bombing mission on the wing of his element leader, Col. John R. "Killer" Kane, but had to abort the mission with mechanical problems. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army Air Forces, with the final rank of Captain. He died on Jan. 26, 1993.
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Service
People
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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 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 heroism for...
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Military | Flight Officer | Co-Pilot | 98th Bomb Group
2nd Lt. James Rex Lindsey was Lt. Gilbert Hadley's co-pilot on Hadley's B-24D, Hadley's Harem, in North Africa. He participated in, and had completed his part of the bombing mission, Operation Tidal Wave. But, Lt. Lindsey and Lt. "Gib" Hadley were...
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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 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...
Aircraft
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B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, 41-11803, Rosie Wrecked 'Em, was in the 9th Air Force, the 98th Bomb Group, the Pyramiders, and the 344th Bomb Squadron. The pilot, Lt. Herbert Arens, flew, Rosie Wrecked 'Em, on the Ploesti oil refinery mission, flying on the wing...
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...
Events
Event |
Location |
Date |
Born |
Detroit, MI |
2 February 1918 |
Son of Lot M. Hamlin.
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Enlisted |
Detroit, MI |
3 February 1943 |
Detroit, Michigan
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Survived Ploesti |
Ploiești, Romania |
1 August 1943 |
Co Pilot B-24 Liberator, 41-11803, Rosie Wrecked 'Em, 344th BS, 98th BG, 9th AF. Flew on 1 Aug 43 Ploesti oil refinery raid on the wing of Col. Kane, having to abort before the target because of mechanical problems.
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Died |
Littleton, CO |
26 January 1993 |
Buried |
Fort Logan National Cemetery
Denver, Denver County
CO |
February 1993 |
Fort Logan National Cemetery
Denver, Denver County
Colorado, USA.
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