Ploesti raid German perspective

[Rattle]

Juan, if you send me the additional pics I may be able to identify the crew, especially if you have a better shot of the name painted on the B-24 or any serial numbers

aehopkins11@cox.net

Andy, read post #17

Stephan

[Luftm40]

oops, missed that!

[Von Hoth]

Probably celebrating his birthday

there is a christmas tree there, is his birthday on christmas?

[spectre]

An awesome album you have Juan, would love to see more of it. I've read a lot about this mission, that was some intense action.

Alan

[MJC]

Juan,

Here is the info on the flight and demise of Brewery Wagon. As a small point of clarification, my uncle, Lt. Constandy, participated in this raid as a navigator and returned safely to base, but was later shot down.

From "The Liberandos" by James W. Walker.

"Lieutenant John D. Palm and his crew in Brewery Wagon, were convinced that the turn at Targoviste was wrong. After a moment of hesitation in the turn, Pilot Palm swung back to an easterly heading and continued on toward <ST1lace w:st="on">Ploesti</ST1lace> alone. But he was troubled by his rapid separation from the main body of low-flying B-24’s and returned to a southeasterly direction to keep his fellow Liberandos in view as long as possible. Flying through mist and rain squalls at a hundred feet, Palm skipped over a few hills and peered ahead for some sign of the target silhouettes he had been trained to bomb. But the enemy gunners were about to interfere with his plan. As he skirted the west side of <ST1lace w:st="on">Ploesti</ST1lace>, some stacks and distillation columns began to appear. He pointed his airplane toward them and skimmed down to treetop level. He was unaware that directly in front of him was an 88mm battery carefully tracking his line of flight. The first shell burst in the nose, instantly killing the bombardier, Lt. Merrell, and navigator, Lt. Wright, damaging three engines and almost severing Palm’s right leg below the knee. Survival was now paramount. With the help of co-pilot Love, Palm and Brewery Wagon floundered to a southerly heading, looking for a place to crash land to save the remainder of the crew. Hungry Me-109’s spotted the wounded bomber and raked it with cannon and machine gun fire until it slithered into an open field. Miraculously, other than the navigator and bombardier, the crew survived. All survivors, including Lieutenant Palm were hastily rounded up by German and Rumanian soldiers who herded them to a crude first aid station and thence to confinement in a military compound."

I have more if anyone is interested, and I am going to attend the annual reunion to ID more pics of my uncle. Great find Juan!