Recently it was reported that the remains of a WWII airman from Dayton had been identified. 1st Lt. Howard L.Dixon, was a member of the 93rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. He had been on one of the most storied missions of the war, Operation Tidal Wave — flown on August 1, 1943. WYSO’s aviation commentator Dan Patterson has some thoughts.
In 1943, the war against Hitler and Facism, victory was not assured. The Nazis stood astride most of Europe and were still advancing into Russia.
The USA and our industrial strength was just then becoming a force to be reckoned with. The American Army Air Forces were at that time the only offensive force taking the battle across borders and into the heart of Hitlers realm.
The commanders of the Army Air Force believed a theory that aerial bombing could end any war. They had constructed the force with four-engine bombers, heavily armed with a crew of 10 men. The belief was that these bombers could fight their way to the target and destroy it.
The Nazis occupied eastern Europe and were running the oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania at full tilt. Some of these facilities had been built by American oil companies.
In 1943, the only bases from which the mission could be launched were from recently captured North Africa, a location which has been in the news recently... Benghazi, Libya.
Several Bomb Groups flying B-24 Liberators were dispatched to North Africa from England early in 1943 to train for and carry out the mission.
The mission profile was to attack from very low level... under the radar and with total radio silence, from across the Mediterranean Sea, a mission of almost 14 hours.
There is an exact example of their B-24s on exhibit at the National Musuem of the USAF here in Dayton, Ohio. A B-24 D Liberator painted in a desert sand camouflage and along with a busty girl in a swim suit named "Strawberry Bitch." This B-24 flew over 50 combat missions but not to Ploesti.
The B-24 that Lt. Dixon was in that day did not have a busty babe on the nose, but the name "Euroclydon, The Storm". A Biblical reference to a tempest and a phrase used by Herman Melville in his classic novel, “Moby Dick." The command pilots named their bombers and you have to imagine that Lt. Enoch M. Porter had read a few books.
The mission was complex in timing and navigation and from the beginning the plans went haywire. The command bomber with the lead navigator inexplicably crashed in the sea before even reaching enemy territory.
Wrong turns were made sending some of the forces in the opposite direction and valuable time was lost until the 330th Squadron Leader, Major Ramsay Potts broke radio silence and hollered "Wrong way!" The complex timings were thrown off and now formations of B-24s were approaching the target head on to each other. Chaos.
The Liberators were flying at such a low level that the gunners were dueling with ground anti-aircraft artillery from as low as 50 feet. The bombers had to climb to an altitude from which they could drop their bombs and be effective. They then dove again to escape. One of the surviving pilots reported that they had dropped to 20 feet so the German fighters could not attack from below. Twenty Feet!
Lt. Dixon was a gunnery instructor and intelligence officer and not a flight rated aircrewman. One of the gunners on Lt. Porters B-24 had been restricted for stealing whiskey and Lt. Dickson gladly took his place. He knew the risks and still desperately wanted to fly the mission.
The mission reports are grim. 178 B-24s took off and only 88 returned. 660 aircrewmen lost. Just after dropping their bombs, their bomber took two direct flak hits.
The first one exploded in the bomb bay where there were 2 extra 400 gallon long range fuel tanks, the next one hit the nose area. The bomber exploded into a blow torch of flames, the pilots likely killed by the 2nd hit.
The plane pitched up to 300 feet before it broke apart in mid air. Amazingly 2 of the crew baled out and were taken prisoner.
All of that took place 80 years ago as of August 1, 2023. The mission took off at 7 a.m.
North Africa time. By the time Lt. Dixon's family was going about their day here in Dayton, the mission had already reached its grim fate.
The leaders of the Army Air Forces continued to play out their theories at the cost of thousands of American lives, that the "bombers will always get through"... until late in1943 when the losses were too much to absorb.
Long range fighter escorts arrived, the P-51 Mustang and the pilots who flew them provided protection and changed the air war.
Lt. Howard Dixon was one of the nearly 48,000 casualties the 8th Air Force suffered, including more than 26,000 dead the 8th Air Force suffered ... more than the entire Marine Corps in WWII. The Ploesti mission had the most Medals of Honor earned on any single mission of the war.
Lt. Dixon's remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery some time soon.