Local airman lost in World War II’s costliest U.S. bombing mission
August 1 marked the 80th anniversary of Operation Tidal Wave, the costliest major Allied air raid, proportionally, of World War II.
The U.S. aerial bombardment of nine oil refineries around Ploiesti Romania on Aug. 1, 1943, resulted in the loss of of 310 of 1,751 American airmen and 53 of 178 B-24 Liberator bombers. More than 100 additional crew members were captured and 55 additional aircrafts were damaged.
Of those who lost their lives in the mission, 18 were from Pennsylvania, including John Thomas Dee of Charleroi.
Dee’s story is among those detailed by volunteers for Stories Behind the Stars, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring each of the more than 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including more than 31,000 from Pennsylvania.
“The goal of this project is to write short stories for all of the fallen from World War II,” said Kathy Harmon, director for the state of Pennsylvania, earlier this year.
These memorial stories can be found at the fold3 website or at the app for findagrave.com.
Operation Tidal Wave began when 178 B-24 Liberators from the 98th and 376th Bomb Groups in North Africa and the 44th, 93rd and 389th Bomb Groups in England took off from airstrips in Benghazi, Libya, for the 1,200-mile flight to Ploiesti, which was dubbed “Hitler’s Gas Station,” as it provided about one-third of the oil used by Nazi Germany and the other Axis powers.
Because of the mission’s extreme danger, it was flown only by volunteers. The mission did reduce Ploiesti’s refining capacity by an estimated 40%, but capacity was restored within weeks. Operation Tidal Wave was considered a strategic failure by the Allies.
Dee was one of those on the mission. He was killed when his B-124 Liberator “Exterminator” collided in flight with another B-24 during the bombing mission. All 11 crew members of the Exterminator and seven of the other aircraft’s 10 members perished. The three survivors became prisoners of war.
Dee enlisted in the Army Air Forces in Pittsburgh on May 15, 1941. After completing basic training, he became qualified as a gunner on the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. He deployed overseas with the 330th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group, in August 1942 and attained the rank of staff sergeant.
Dee was 24 at the time of his death. His remains were returned to the United States and interred at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, Mo.
Dee was the posthumous recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.