Crew Roster · Personal File

Louis M. Nicholson

HometownGreenville, Mississippi, MS

2nd Lt. Louis M. Nicholson served as bombardier aboard aircraft 41-24121 during the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. He had completed 12 missions. His next of kin was his mother, Mrs. Frank P. Flanagan, of 257 South Main Street, Greenville, Mississippi.

Nicholson did not bail out and was killed in the mid-air collision over Bulgaria. He was positioned in the nose section when the aircraft struck the ground. S/Sgt. Koen, who survived and filed E&E Report No. 2451, reported him dead, and seven crew members were buried following the crash.

His casualty questionnaire stated he was 'probably killed or involved in mid-air collision.' His name appears as 'Richalcon' and 'Dickinson' in OCR-corrupted pages; the correct name Nicholson and serial O-732649 are consistent across the primary documents. He was killed in action on 1 August 1943.

Killed in Action

Sortie Log

2 CATALOGUED SORTIES
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

B-24D serial 41-24121 was assigned to the 330th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group, operating from Site No. 7, Benghazi, North Africa. The aircraft was lost on August 1, 1943, during the low-level raid on the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania — one of the most costly missions flown by the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces during World War II. The aircraft was lost as a result of a mid-air collision with another aircraft identified in the report as "MACK 334." The last known position was recorded at approximately 41°55'N 23°30'E, placing the aircraft over Bulgaria at 1330 GMT. The collision occurred roughly one hour after the crew had left the target. The aircraft carried a crew of ten plus one passenger, F/O Nelson R. Collins. Weather at the time included heavy cumulus clouds. Six crew members perished in or as a result of the collision, three survivors bailed out over Bulgaria, and one gunner (Pearson) bailed out but was killed when his parachute collapsed. Bulgarian Army personnel confirmed Pearson's death and his personal effects were later seen in Sofia. The aircraft struck the ground in mountains southwest of Sofia, Bulgaria. The wreck contained the bodies of the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, engineer, and radio operator, all of whom were likely killed in the cockpit and nose section during the collision. The Missing Air Crew Report was prepared on August 12, 1943, and transmitted to Headquarters Army Air Forces by the Ninth Air Force on September 13, 1943.

The aircraft took off from Benghazi at 07:31 on August 1, 1943, on a bombing mission. The plane went down over Bulgaria at approximately 5:00 PM. S/Sgt. Koen bailed out at approximately 2000 feet along with the two waist gunners and the tunnel gunner; their parachutes opened. The plane did not explode on impact but caught fire and burned. After reaching the ground, Koen observed two men who had been thrown from the plane without parachutes. Seven crew members were subsequently buried, believed to have gone down with the plane.

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