Crew Roster · Personal File

H. H. Wemble

Pilot · 409th Squadron

1st Lt. H.H. Wemble served as pilot of the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group aircraft on the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. He crash-landed the plane approximately 10 miles southwest of the target after the aircraft sustained severe damage from enemy fire.

Wemble lost a leg as a result of injuries sustained on the mission. He was taken as a prisoner of war and held in Romania. He was later released along with the surviving crew when Romania changed sides in 1944 and was repatriated along with Thompson and other crew members.

Completed Tour

Sortie Log

1 CATALOGUED SORTIE
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

The aircraft was lost on August 1, 1943 during the low-level Ploesti mission (Operation Tidal Wave), approximately 10 miles southwest of the target at around 1515 hours. Two engines were shot out and a third was hit, with the tail section badly damaged. The pilot crash-landed the aircraft rather than ordering a bail-out. None of the crew used parachutes. The plane did not explode on impact but was totally wrecked. Seven of the ten crew members were injured in the crash. Navigator 2nd Lt. Thompson reported seeing all crew members after reaching the ground. The crew was subsequently taken into Romanian custody and held as internees before being repatriated to Allied control in September 1944.

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