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Jack Fitzgerald

Top Turret Gunner · 409th Squadron

T/Sgt. Jack Fitzgerald (14057163) served as top turret gunner on the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group aircraft during the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission.

Fitzgerald was wounded in the crash landing southwest of Ploesti and taken as a prisoner of war in Romania. He survived his wounds and internment and was repatriated following Romania's change of allegiance in 1944. His serial number 14057163 appears in the 15th Air Force repatriation orders of September 3, 1944, listing him with the 93rd Bomb Group.

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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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