Ole Kickapoo: 8th Air Force, 389th Bomb Group, 564th Bomb Squadron

On August 1, 1943, the 44th, 93rd, 98th, 376th and 398th Bomb Groups left Benghazi, Libya to bomb the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania. For Hitler’s massive forces, Romania was a valued ally. Governed by Marshal Ion Antonescu, the country was among the world’s largest oil producers, eventually supplying almost 60 percent of the Third Reich’s thirsty oil needs. The Fuhrer’s precious black gold was guarded by 300 flak guns, hundreds of machine guns, a deadly flak train, concealed emplacements, 120 German fighters and 200 Romanian Air Force fighters.

In the early afternoon of August 1, 1943, an armada of B-24 Liberators arrived at Ploesti after a journey of 1,200 miles. Planned as a surprise attack under strict radio silence, five groups would drop their bombs from 200 to 800 feet, expecting an ensuing inferno. Historians cite Operation Tidal Wave as the most intensively prepared and experienced ever flown in aerial warfare. But German General Alfred Gerstenberg, who had cracked the Allied codes, knew they were coming.

A New Yorker Goes to War:

The son of Frank McLoughlin and Agnes McLoughlin Dickerson, John A. McLoughlin was born on October 23, 1920, in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. John, the “middle child, had two brothers, the youngest of whom was born to Agnes and Edward Dickerson, a police officer, after John’s parents divorced.

During his youth, John met Carolyn Gnazzo; they became bonded friends. The young couple’s attraction was mutually strong and their families expected John and Carolyn to marry, announcing their engagement in February 1942 before he enlisted with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on March 27 in New York that year. Although John had prior service with the New York National Guard, he entered the USAAF as an aviation cadet, specifically training as a bombardier. John was soon on his way to Santa Ana Army Airbase, Los Angeles, California. But the engaged couple’s separation would be permanent as John’s life was moving in a different direction.

As AC McLoughlin’s training advanced, he was stationed at Davis-Monthan Army Airfield from December 24, 1942-February 1, 1943. While living in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, 2Lt. McLoughlin met and married Marjorie Cooper on February 28th. 2Lt. Sidney and Marie Pear were witnesses at their wedding on Sunday, February 28, 1943. In the midst of the couples’ celebration, their lives were already altered by an event that summer, the costliest major Allied air raid of the war which would become known as "Black Sunday.”

That summer, John and Sidney said goodbyes to Marjorie and Marie. They arrived at Hethel, Norfolk England on July 8, 1943, stationed briefly there with the Eighth Air Force, 389th Bomb Group, 564th Bomb Squadron. The friends and crew mates were among the 389th squadrons that were dispatched on temporary duty to the Ninth Air Force in Benghazi, Libya.

On August 1, 1943, Bombardier 1Lt. McLoughlin and Navigator 2Lt. Pear were aboard B-24, Ole Kickapoo, 42-40753. Their destination was Red Target at Campina, Romania, just north of Ploesti.

Operation Tidal Wave:

Bomb crews practiced simulated low-level runs on a Libyan desert model for two weeks, at times clipping the tops of nomads’ tents. But Operation Tidal Wave, conceived by Colonel Jacob E. Smart, had incurred an early, strong pushback. General Ira Eaker was vehemently opposed because three 8th Air Force groups would be diverted away from assaults on Germany. Colonel Richard Hughs cited the crews’ relative lack of skills, experience and numbers to execute a mission that called for a 2,700 mile round trip, perfect navigation and flawless timing. Brigadier General Gordon P. Saville was more to the point: “This (expletive) thing is ridiculous and suicidal.”

Five bomb groups were assigned: Major General Lewis H. Brereton’s Ninth Air Force: the 376th “Liberandos” under Colonel Keith K. Compton and the 98th “Pyramiders” commanded by Colonel John “Killer” Kane. They were joined by three groups from the Eighth Air Force in England: Colonel Leon Johnson’s veteran 44th, the “Eight Balls”; the 93rd “Traveling Circus,” commanded by Colonel Addison Baker and Colonel Jack Wood’s fledgling 389th, “Sky Scorpions.”

Flying the Inferno:

In the summer of 1943, Ploesti was more heavily defended than Berlin. Fearing the Germans would be alerted, the USAAF did not fly pre-mission reconnaissance and was unaware of its massive fortifications. On August 1, the operation stumbled out of the gate. An overloaded bomber crashed shortly after takeoff, killing its crew. Ten bombers aborted, most due to mechanical malfunction. A lead section 2 plane, enroute for a White target, crashed inexplicably in the Ionian Sea near Corfu.

Of the original 177 planes, 165 reached Ploesti. The attack lasted roughly 30 minutes. American bombers flew lower than Ploesti’s smokestacks through a gauntlet of black, greasy smoke, exploding tanks, debris thrown over their aircraft, flak tracers and cannon fire slinging shrapnel into their planes.

In the last formation to attack the Red target, Hughes and Helder arrived at Campina after earlier flights had thoroughly alerted enemy defenses. Approaching the target through intense, accurate antiaircraft fire and dense balloon barrages, Ole Kickapoo was hit by a barrage that blew open the left wing and bomb bay tanks. Nearby, flying Old Blister Butt, 1Lt. James H. McClain (1922-2021) reported “a stream of gas as thick as a man’s arm” pouring from Hughes’ bomber.

Directly ahead, another plane bombed a boiler that exploded in front of Ole Kickapoo. Hughes and Helder stayed in formation. When they emerged through the fiery blast, their B-24 was an airborne torch, streaming long, flaming sheets from the left wing, top turret and waist windows. Colonel Philip Ardery, a friend of both pilots, was amazed to see them still flying straight and level toward the refinery. Seconds later, as Pete and Lee zeroed on their target, Bombardier 2Lt. McLoughlin scored a direct hit.

Ardery saw the two pilots pull up slightly and slow their plane, as though to gain enough altitude for men to bail out; but they chose a forced landing on Prahova’s dry riverbed. As they descended beyond a bridge, the plane’s right wing caught the embankment, cartwheeling along the riverbed. Kickapoo was consumed in a fireball, instantly killing Pete Hughes and Lee Helder. McLoughlin, 23, and Pear, 26, survived the crash but were severely injured and burned. Both taken to Campina Surgical Hospital where John died of his wounds on August 3; three days later, Sidney died on August 6, 1943.

Two gunners survived the crash with injuries and severe burns but were captured and sent to prisoner-of-war camps for the war’s duration: Tail Gunner: S/Sgt. Thomas Albert Hoff, POW (1921-2011) and Gunner: 2nd Lt. Edmond Howard Smith, Sr., POW (1918-1988.)

Killed in Action:

Pilot: 2Lt. Lloyd "Pete" Herbert Hughes

Co-pilot: 2Lt. Ronald Lee Helder

Navigator: 2Lt. Sidney Allen Pear (DOW)

Bombardier: 2Lt.John A. McLoughlin (DOW)

Engineer/Top Turret: T/Sgt. Joseph Elzie Mix

Radio Operator: T/Sgt. Louis N. Kase

Waist Gunner: S/Sgt. Malcolm Clay Dalton

Ball Turret Gunner: S/Sgt. Avis Kenneth Wilson

2Lt. John A. McLoughlin was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Air Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Purple Heart and the Army Air Force Bombardier Badge. Survived by his widow, Marjorie and his family, 2Lt. McLoughlin’s body lies at the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, Plot C, Row 8, Grave 16.

The Ploesti raid was the most highly decorated mission in U.S. history, with five Medals of Honor awarded. Of the 165 bombers that reached Ploesti, 88 aircraft returned, of which 54 were damaged significantly. Among the 1,763 airmen who left Libya, over 500 crewmen were lost from all causes, including 80 seriously wounded. One hundred eight airmen were taken prisoner in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia. In May 1944, Allied aviators based in Italy bombed Ploesti from high altitudes. The Soviets overran Romania’s refineries in August 1944, capturing General Gerstenberg and closing Hitler’s “gas station.”

“To the Fallen of Ploesti” by John Riley Kane, Colonel, USAF, (Ret.)

“To you who fly on forever, I send that part of me which cannot be separated and is bound to you for all time. I send to you those of our hopes and dreams that never quite came true, the joyous laughter and showery tears of our boyhood, the marvelous mysteries of our adolescence, the glorious strength and tragic illusions of our young manhood, all these that were and perhaps would have been, I leave in your care, out there in the Blue.”

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project (SBTS.) SBTS is a national effort of volunteers to write stories about all 400,000+ U.S. WW II fallen service personnel on Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Stories will be accessible via smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen serviceperson’s name and read his/her story. If you have details, photos or corrections for this story, please contact drbaker50@charter.net. Stories Behind the Stars: Pamela C. Baker, Ph.D., Contributing Author. SBTS Project/New York/Kings (https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/)

References:

Ancestryinstitutions.org. 1930 United States Federal Census.

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John A McLoughlin