Crew Roster · Personal File
Glenn R. McCarthy
409th Squadron
Sergeant Glenn R. McCarthy served as tail gunner aboard B-24D 42-40617 with the 93rd Bomb Group on the 1 August 1943 Ploesti mission. His mother, Mrs. Agnes McCarthy, was listed as next of kin at 400 Laramie Street, Maryville, Kansas.
The aircraft was destroyed by flak and crashed in the center of Ploesti. Eyewitness accounts confirmed no crew members survived. McCarthy was reported as a battle casualty on the Missing Air Crew Report.
Killed in Action
Sortie Log
1 CATALOGUED SORTIE
01 AUG 1943
01 AUG 1943
The sorties 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.
8AF Mission
Date
Target
Aircraft
№ 115
01 AUG 1943
Ploesti Oil Fields
On the mission of 1 August 1943, B-24D serial 42-40617 (call sign 617-H) was flying on the right element of the wave ahead of the 409th Bomb Squadron formation. The aircraft departed Benghazi as part of the low-level Ploesti oil fields raid (Operation Tidal Wave). At approximately 1400 hours, while flying at a height of 25-50 feet on the outskirts of Ploesti, the aircraft received a direct flak hit in the forward section of the bomb bay. The bomb bay tanks were likely struck and caught fire. Within 15-30 seconds the entire bomb bay was enveloped in flames and the aircraft began going down. Within another 30 seconds the aircraft crashed and exploded in the center of Ploesti, starting a large fire. A second eyewitness account described the plane flying on briefly in a definite glide before crashing into a flat, large building near the center of the city at an estimated airspeed of 250-350 mph, immediately exploding on impact. No crew members were seen to bail out before the crash. Eyewitnesses reported that it was too late and the aircraft too low for any escape. It was considered very improbable that any crew member survived the explosion.
José Carioca42-40617