Crew Roster · Personal File
Ignatius F. Dies
Waist Gunner · 330th Squadron
Ignatius F. Dies served as waist gunner on the Ploesti mission of 1 August 1943, flying with the 330th Squadron of the 93rd Bomb Group. His fate is referenced in E&E Report No. 1620, filed by a crew member who survived the mission.
Dies survived the crash landing and was subsequently captured by the enemy, becoming a prisoner of war. His serial number was not legibly recorded in the questionnaire.
Prisoner of War
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
The aircraft was badly shot up by anti-aircraft fire over Ploesti on 1 August 1943. Two engines were knocked out and fire broke out in No. 1 engine. The crew did not bail out; instead the aircraft crash landed. Upon impact it began burning. Only the nose section, wing tips, and vertical stabilizers survived — the rest of the aircraft was reduced to ashes. Six crew members survived the crash landing. The tail gunner (Havens) was killed in the turret before the crash. The engineer was pulled from the wreckage by the bombardier, Adams, but died of his wounds later.
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