The Man Behind the Name
1st Lt. Victor E. Olliffe served as pilot of the aircraft lost on August 1, 1943 during the Ploesti mission. Two separate E&E reports document his fate. E&E Report No. 2444 (S/Sgt. Murray) places the loss over Serbia, while E&E Report No. 2451 (S/Sgt. Koen) records the aircraft as lost over Bulgaria.
Olliffe did not bail out with the three enlisted gunners who survived. According to Murray, Serbian mountain police reported that the rest of the crew, including the pilot, was killed in the crash. Koen's separate account noted that seven crew members were buried following the incident. Olliffe was listed as killed in action.
Service record.
Missions flown.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.