Crew Roster · Personal File

Raymond Warner

Navigator · 328th Squadron

2nd Lt. Raymond Warner served as navigator on the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission. Reed listed him as 'freed' on the crew questionnaire. Warner was hit in the back and shoulder before the plane went down.

Warner bailed out and his parachute opened. Both Reed and crewman Vest were told by a local informant that Lt. Warner was alive after the crash. He was eventually freed, likely alongside other POWs released after Romania's surrender in 1944.

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 on fire when the crew bailed out over the Ploesti area on August 1, 1943 (the low-level Ploesti raid, Operation Tidal Wave). The bailout occurred at approximately 100 to 150 feet altitude. Reed reported seeing five dead bodies in the airplane after reaching the ground. The plane was completely destroyed upon crash — Reed examined the wreckage and reported nothing was salvageable. He believed the plane exploded on impact. The crash was at approximately 5:15 PM local time in the Ploesti area. The crash site and fate of most crew members were confirmed via the Romanian Army's death list, on which Reed reported seeing unidentifiable bodies listed.

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