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Military
Took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator 41-24229.
Killed in Action (KIA). Shot down by fighters 16 August 1943. Attack was on Foggia airfields under TDY to the 9th AAF in 41-24229 'Buzzin' Bear'.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Flight Engineer - Top Turret Gunner | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
SSgt. Gola G. Gibby took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1-Aug-43, as engineer and top turret gunner on the B-24, 41-24229, named, Buzzin' Bear. 1-Aug-43.
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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, 41-24229, last named, Buzzin' Bear, was assigned to the 8th Air Force, the 44th Bomb Group, and the 67th Bomb Squadron in North Africa based at Benghazi Libya. Buzzin' Bear was flown by Col. William Roderick Cameron on Operation Tidal Wave...
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 | Iowa | 29 December 1919 |
| Died | 16 August 1943 | |
| Buried | ||
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Memphis National Cemetery |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 28 February 2022 00:59:53 | decwriter | Changes to awards and events |
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Added to awards and bio data per NARA files. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 January 2020 12:37:42 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to biography and mission associations |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 15 July 2015 12:39:49 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to biography and events |
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Merged with duplicate record to include details from: |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:11:22 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
44th BG Roll of Honor and Casualties by Will Lundy pp. 109-112, MACR 15858, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol I by Bishop & Hey p. 235 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia |
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