Crew Roster · Personal File

Willard N. Beaumont

Ball Turret Gunner · 330th Squadron

2nd Lt. Willard N. Beaumont (ASN 0670491) served as ball turret gunner on the August 1, 1943 Ploesti mission with the 330th Squadron, 93rd Bomb Group. In Sgt. Doll's E&E questionnaire, he was listed as 'Blaumont, Willard' -- a phonetic or handwriting rendering -- with a notation that he was alive and back in the United Kingdom. His correct surname is confirmed in the 15th Air Force release orders of September 3, 1944.

Beaumont was interned in Romania following the Ploesti raid and repatriated in September 1944, listed in the 15th Air Force release orders assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group for return via ETOUSA.

Completed Tour

Sortie Log

2 CATALOGUED SORTIES
01 AUG 1943 — 01 AUG 1944

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 mission to Ploesti, Romania — Operation Tidal Wave. The plane departed Benghazi at 7:40 a.m. and was hit over the target area. No. 1 engine was windmilling and No. 2 engine was on fire when the crew was forced out of the aircraft. The wing buckled and the plane crashed with flames covering it. The aircraft did not explode on ground impact. None of the crew bailed out by parachute. The crash site was in or near Ogresnie, Romania. Sgt. Doll reported seeing four members of the crew alive on the ground after the crash, accompanied by an observer, but did not examine the wreckage.

On August 1, 1944, the aircraft was hit by fighter attack and flak while on a mission departing from Bengazi at approximately 07:30. Sgt. Milligan was killed by fighter action before the crash. Sgt. Doll and Sgt. Higgins were wounded by flak, and the co-pilot Lt. Beaumont was wounded by fighter action. The plane crash-landed on fire at approximately 15:30, approximately 30 miles west of Bucharest, Romania. The aircraft was a total loss and exploded on striking the ground. No crew members bailed out; all survived or perished in the crash landing. Romanian witnesses reported that crew members not accounted for by survivors were dead, with some bodies described as carbonized. The plane was burning before and after the crash. The aids box was destroyed in the crash, and the crew's purse and escape materials were taken by Romanians. Survivors Lt. Teltser, Lt. Bassett, Sgt. Locky, and Sgt. Doll were confirmed alive after reaching the ground, all wounded. Lt. Beaumont was taken to a hospital with burns and leg wounds. He was eventually repatriated via Bari, Italy, and departed for the UK by air on September 5, 1944, arriving September 6, 1944.

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