Major Kenneth D. Hamilton
AIR FORCE
USAAF/USAF | WWII | Ploesti, Foggia Italy | Retired | Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross
Sponsor: The Hamilton Family
Combat Data
European Theater Operations May 1943 – April 1944
15 Combat Missions, 135 Combat Hours
B-24 Liberator: 10 combat missions, 90 combat hours
B-25 Mitchell: 5 combat missions, 45 combat hours
B-24 Liberator, B-26 Marauder, C-47 Transport: Ferrying
Decorations and Citation
American Theater Ribbon Sept 22, 1948 Authority AFR 35-50
E-A-M-E (European-African-Middle Eastern) Theater Ribbon Sept 22, 1948 Authority AFR 35-50
E-A-M-E Theater Medal with 4 bronze stars: Ploesti Air Attack, Air Offensive Europe, Naples/Foggia and Sicily
Airman’s Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters GO 20, 15th Air Force 1943
Distinguished Flying Cross per Sec III, GO 85, 9th Air Force, Sept 9, 1943
Purple Heart Hq 56th Evac Hosp APO 464
Presidential Citation 376 Bomb Group (Ploesti Oil Field)
Unit Citation with One Oak Leaf Cluster
Armed Forces Res Medal GO 32, WAFB, Kansas, November 12, 1953
DUB (with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster) GO 23, WD, 1944
Foreign Service
May 30, 1943 – April 30, 1944 European Theater Operation
North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia)
October 21, 1948 -July 31, 1949 Caribbean Air Command Panama
August 20, 1959 – August 18, 1960 Guam
Campaigns
June 1943 – October 10, 1945 Air Off Europe (BS)
June 1943 – October 22, 1945 Sicily (BS)
August 1943 – July 23, 1945 Air Combat, Ploesti Romania (BS)
August 1943 – October 31, 1945 Naples-Foggia (BS)
January 1944 – November 6, 1945 Rome-Arno (BS)
Ploesti: Operation Tidal Wave
August 1, 1943
B-24 Liberator #42-40317 Barrel House Bessie
B-24 Liberator #42-40317 'Barrel House Bessie' 513th BS, 376th BG, 9th AF, flew on 1st Aug 1943 Ploesti oil refinery raid returning safely to Libya. Dad was on this plane with the same crew that went down in the Mediterranean on 19th August 1943
Tidal Wave was considered in Air Force history as one of the bloodiest and heroic missions of all time. Every man who flew in the mission was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. There were more decorations of bravery awarded than any other mission in aerial combat. The target; Ploesti, Romania supplied one-third of the German oil and aviation fuel
The men of Tidal Wave stepped forward to defend our country and democratic way of life. Their bravery will be remembered as the price for our country’s freedom.
The mission involved seven bomb groups which totaled 178 B-24 Liberators and over 1,7000 crew members. On the day of the mission 16 aborted or crashed before reaching Ploesti. Of the 89 that returned to Benghazi, 58 were damaged beyond repair. One third of the crew members did not return.
Dad flew with the 376th bomb group of the Ninth Air Force on the Barrell House Bessie piloted by Wayne Friberg. They ran out of fuel as soon as they got off the runway. I wasn’t able to determine how much damage was done to this plane. It was not unusual for crews on different planes.
Foggia Italy: Rail Road Yard Bombing Raid
August 19, 1943
B-24 Liberator # 42-40660 Little Richard
B-24 Liberator #42-40660 'Little Richard' 513th BS, 376th BG, 9th AF, crashed 100 miles off the coast of Naples 19th Aug 1943 after bombing R.R. yards at Foggia, Italy. Dad and George Lascurettes were rescued after 25 hours by a PBY Catalina sea plane. Anthony Peidl was rescued after a few hours by the Italian Red Cross. Jack Brown (camera gunner not pictured) also survived.
Returned to duty with the 376 Group on August 24,1943.