Military
B-24D - 41-23816. Black Jack, and crew. 8th Air Force, 44th Bomb Group, 68th Bomb Squadron. Pilot Lt. Coleman S. Whitaker (KIA) - Right Side. Black jack was lost. Shot down and crashed. Austria. 1 Oct 43. MACR 3312
Lt. Coleman Whitaker volunteered and served as an RAF pilot several months before Pearl Harbor. Later, he transferred back to the U.S.A.A.F. and took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti, flying the B-24D Liberator, 42-40071, Margaret Ann II. 1 Aug 43.
Lt. Whitaker was KIA - October 1, 1943, when he and his crew was TDY to the 9th Air Force, on a mission to Weiner Neustadt, Germany, flying the B-24D, 41-23816, Black Jack. He was hit by flak in the bomb bay shortly after leaving target area. Lt. Whitaker peeled off, while quickly losing altitude as fire developed in his bomb bay. The plane broke apart and crashed in the target area. 5 Killed in Action (KIA) and 5 Prisoners of War (POW). Lost 1 Oct 43, AUT - Pilot Coleman S. Whitaker KIA. - MACR 3312
DFC, AM w/ 3 OLC
Group
The 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 15-January-1942 at McDill Field, Florida and equipped with B-24Cs. The Group moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana and acted as a training unit for the 90th 93rd and 98th Bomb Groups and flew anti...
Squadron
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D, 41-23816, named, Black Jack, flown by Coleman Whitaker, in the 8th Air Force, based in England, should not be confused with another B-24D, 41-23661, also named, Black Jack, flown by Lt. Delbert Hahn, with a kicking mule picture for nose art...
B-24 Liberator
The B-24D Liberator, 42-40071, named, Margaret Ann II, was assigned to the 8th Air Force, TDY to the 9th Air Force in North Africa, the 44th Bomb Group, and the 68th Bomb Squadron and was flown by Lt. Coleman Whitaker on the Ploesti mission, returning...
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...
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Petersburg, Tennessee | |
| Killed in action | 1 October 1943 | |
| Buried |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 14 October 2021 14:08:38 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Details added. - Kickapoo |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 October 2021 14:06:30 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Details added. - Kickapoo |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 14 October 2021 14:03:55 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Details added. - Kickapoo |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 21 August 2021 10:51:05 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Punctuation. - Kickapoo |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 April 2021 17:36:13 | Kickapoo | Changes to biography |
| Sources | ||
Best Web - B-24 - 41-23816 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 April 2021 17:33:40 | Kickapoo | Changes to awards |
| Sources | ||
Best Web - B-24 - 41-23816 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 April 2021 17:30:35 | Kickapoo | Changes to role and biography |
| Sources | ||
Best Web - B-24 - 41-23816 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 13 April 2020 11:02:53 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to biography, events, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:06:36 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3312, 44th BG Roll of Honor and Casualties by Will Lundy p. 135, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. I by Bishop and Hey p. 298 with picture of the plane; 8 Ball Tails, Vol. 13, No. 5, pg 20; 44th Bomb Group, The Flying Eightballs, pg 22 |
||
