8 20 179 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/292/Dibble_Text0226.pdf d7d36c0ab884c15c03ff6b1f10410876 PDF Text Text C ONF ID E N T IA L "(Equals British Secret"}" HEADQUARTERS 42ND WING (US) A-2 Section APO 520 D-l-7 30'August 1943. DAILY SUMMARY NUMBER 65 PERIOD: • 0001 to 2400 hrs..30. August 1943« ■ TODAYS OPERATIONS taSSIONS; SORTIES :■ OPERATIONS TO DATE 405 9,871 ■LOSSES; ' B-26's ,p-40's rP-38»s MISSING: ^257? ■40's -3.8’s r F Lt I VICTORIES '• -ln t,he Air; .• Destroyed . ..probables . ■.Damaged On the Ground; ^Destroyed ... Probables ■ •■v" ■; Damaged • W.B-26 of .319 Bomb Grot jup.listed as missing sing on Summary #61 is now considered lost, ™.,Pr38 .of 1st. Fighterr Group listed as missing r.^ on Summary #63 is now safe,- 5 P-38*:'s ..' are still missing. 1. 319th Bomb Group - At 0940 hrs. 27 B-26's took off to bomb RR M/Yds' .£*:’at 'AVERSA.. 8 A/C returned early, all mechanical; 4 armament, 4 engineering. 19 A/C...dropped, 3.6 x 500 Inst & 45 sec tail, 71 x 500 .1 nose & 45 sec tail bombs "rele.target at 1200 hrs- from 10,200 - 9,600 ft. 6 bombs returned to base failed to Lease. 18 A/C returned at 1408 hrs. 1 is at PALERMO,. RESULTS: Excellent coverage of ,.tar'get { area with many direct-hits observed in center portion of M/yd and on ware'housesy,beyond,I. . 2 big explosions in warehouse area and many fires among freight & in.M/Y. A few bombs were short. 6 tracks full of cars at VILLA LITERNO OBSERVATIONS: M/Y at target still congested with cars. 6 tracks of cars seen in M/Y.of. J,....town . 3Wn Jjust ust E.E. °off AVERSA. ENEMY AIR: About 50-60 E/A, mostly ME 109’sne ME ■■with', some .’s, .FW 190's, ME;210 210fs,-.FlV 190’s, MA 200’s, RE 2001’s intercepted the formation just c a.before BK-r-.T .reaching -aching coast. Many vwere engaged by the escort and a big battle took place coast'.on'the oyer', coast Lon. the Way in, leavingI the bombers unescorted over the target. ■ 4 ME 109's made a-head-on attack from above on c 1st 2 flights while at same time 12-15 E/a 9 .rear of the formation —“- in pairs and threes. 1 Tan P-38 followed the ' ery -low for about 175 miles from the coast. Claims: 9 ME 109’s ‘I. 1 Ma' ed by bombers; 1 ME . 4E 109 probably destroyed; 6 ME 109's and 1 RE 2001 e.veral other E/A incliluding another Tan P-38 wer.e seen destroyed'Presumably 'm/? °ar3' �CONFIDENTIAL (Equals British Secret}" by escort. P P-38 and 1 Me 109 seen to collide in the air. SHIPPING: 2 large barges headed N just N of mouth of VOLlURNO River at 1155 hrs. . 2 small Naval vessels possible PT boats, headed N at high speed off MONDRAGONE at 1212. 1 Tanker, and 5 small M/V's at POZZUOLI., . FLAK: Slight Heavy fairly accurate from ALBANOVA and target area. Slight Heavy inaccurate from CAPUA A/D and from.vicinity of CASTLE VOLTURNO. WEATHER’ 4/10 scattered, CAVU and slight haze over target. Additional Observation; 1 Crew reports an object flat on both ends about 18" long, 6" in diameter, having passed his wing, believed to be an aerial bomb. It went out of sight without exploding. Comment: Excellent P-38 escort. 2. 325th Fighter Group - At 1220 hrs. 48.P-40's took off to Dive Bomb DECIMOMANNU RR Bridge and strafe targets of opportunity. None returned early. DECIM( 8 A/c A/C dropped 8 x 500 inst nose .045 tail on target at 1330 hours from 8,000 to 1,000 ft. 48 A/C returned at 1450 hours. RESULTS: All bombs dropped in target. First 4 bombs were very near misses, 1 falling immediately alongside and 3 within ’5.*-2Q yards of the bridge. Last four dropped in same area, but due to dust actual pin-pointing was impossible.' 2 P-40's strafed Radar Station at PULA, many pieces seen to fly and installation believed to be partially destroyed, OBSERVATIONS: At DECIMOMANNU A/D 1 ju 290 at S edge of the a/D, 2 transports and 2 S/e. At CAPOTERRA no a/c visible at ELMAS s/p base 1 white and 1 dark S/P visible. ENEMY AIR: At 1345 hours 8 ME 109’s attacked P-40's oyer c. SPARTIVENTO. They dived at the form ation but when'turned into disappeared toward.the N, Two other Me 109's did the same thing shortly afterwards. 1 ME.109 followed formation S from the target area to a point approximately 10 miles S of C. TEULADA, but was not engaged. ENEMY SHIPPING: . 1 Medium m/v anchored at 39 deg 12’ N 09 deg 0?’ E, and 2 medium M/v eanchored at 39 deg 11' N-9 deg 09' E; 3 medium size m/v about 2 miles E of POETTO. FLAK: Slight heavy fairly accurate over the target and from a point 6 miles S of the target; at CAPOTERRA moderate heavy inaccurate; At PULA very ini itense accurate small arm fire. WEATHER: CAVU. 1st. Fighter Group - At 0950 hours 48 P-38's took off to escort B-26’s of 319th B.G. to AVERSA M/y. 4 returned early, P-38's were in target area at '1200 hours altitude was 11,500 ft/ 28 P-38's were down at base at 1713 hrs, 1 P-38 down at ROCC;. DI FAI.CO, 1 down at B0 RIZZO, 1 down at TEI'MINI, all in Sicily. 13 w-38is missing. RESULTS; . Smoke in Target Area. OBSERVATIONS: Following obs<servations probably contain duplications. Observed 1 P-38 explode in air; 1 P-38 pilot bail out over water; 1 "-38 on fire dive into the water at 13 deg E 40 deg 30' N; l-?38 burst into flames over -water at 1220 hrs; 2 ^-SS's crash into water F-7 of. ISCHIA’ Island. One parachute seen to open at 1225 hrs, location 13 deg 40' E 40 deg 42' N. CLAIMS; Destroyed 5 ”E 109's, 1MA 202, 1 FL’ 190. Probably destroyed 3 ”E 109'3. Damaged 3 109's and 2 LA 202's. IT COUNTERS: As p-38's reached coast of Italy 1155 hrs, through target area 100 miles back out to sea, they encountered 60-75 E/A composed of ?'E 1O9,’’A2O2, F? 190's, Pilots believe they saw some enemy operated Spitfires and absolutely identified 1 P-38 with black crosses on it. . Some'E/A were black, some were light blue with yellow spinners, 4 ME 109's were pink, e/a first a ttacked cut of the sun, then they attacked in all directions in 2's, 3's, and 4's, Some attacks were in half circle formation,, e/a attacked bombers just after.bomb run but were driven off by our fighters. During encounter, our fighters kept edging the E/A out to sea and bringing them down almost to the deck. Bombers, after bomb run, passed over the encounter. Running fight took place P-38's were engaged by new Enemy formation of‘ME 109's with belly tanks bombs. e/a attacked aggressively and encounter lasted until ICO miles off coast. Pilots believe aerial bombs -were used. Halfway back to base a HOMING of 140 deg was re ceived over radio. This would have lead formation back to Italy, believed to be enemy station. FLAK: Few bursts of light inaccurate flak from coast. .’FATHER: CAVU,. - 2 - Twals British {otJ I- �/) T- CONFIDENTIAL "(Equals British SECRET) First phase Bomb Damage Assessment Report AVERSA MARSHALLING YARDS & STORES DEPOT, ITALY: (319th B.G., 30/8/43, 1200 hrs, 107 x 500 bombs dropped). Quality of photos: Excellent Quality of photo coverage: Good. There has been no movement of the railroad cars in the marshalling; yard since the :ars in the yard. raid of 28/8/43. There still remain approximately 1000 railroad cs A concentration of at least 14 hits cut across the center of the marshalling yard, j sted Many of these hits struck the rail line running through the yard. The congesi book area of cars received numerous hits. Three explosions with resulting fires tc place among these cars. A further three hits landed among the cars at the N end of the yard. The stores depot warehouses at the N end of the yard received 20 hits am many damaging near misses. A large explosion resulted in one of the warehouses. Severe damage was done to the spurs running ling between the warehouses and to freight edge cars there. The warehouse sheds on the W central ed' ” of the yards received hits. Many bombs fe" sll short of the target and two small c.:lusters overshot the target. The damage done by 1the three raids of B-26's on 28/8/43 is visible on these photographs. Three hits have destroyed ’ ' ’ two tracks on the line running through the yard at the N end of the yard. Slight damagej was done on the line farther to the N. Several hits have blown a hole apprqximalitely 50 x 50 feet in the W warehouse of the S group of four warehouses. S . of the yards ~ ,six .hits ’- ‘ts have cut two tracks.in four places and damaged iged two tracks. tracks./ In the stores depot depot/directly S of the marshalling yard many iny hits have cut three of of' the four tracks in the area, derailed 10 freight cars,, definitely destroyed two freight cars, and ..damaged many other cars. In additi lion piles of stores received hits.' DISTRIBUTION: "A" ADAMS,. A -2. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 42nd Wing Daily Summary for August 30, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource 42nd Wing Daily Summary for August 30, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 8/30/1943 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/11/266/Dibble_Text0120.pdf 64fb9d19aadb4529ebeae74fbec1b15d PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Letters Home Description An account of the resource Getting letters from home was always a highlight of the week for everyone overseas. They wrote home frequently as well as evidenced by the volume of James' letters. Here is a collection of letters and postcards he sent home to his wife Maxine, brother Bill and parents while serving in Africa and Italy. Be sure to look at the letter dated 1943-04-10. Notice how James indicated he censored his own letter and look at the special form he had to use to send it home. Notice on other letters where they are stamped whether they were censored or not. Like most others, James had to be careful not to divulge too much information about where he was. James was killed on September 9, 1943. Be sure to read his last letter home, sent the day before. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Hand-written letter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky), 1943-08-31 Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Correspondence. Description An account of the resource Letter from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky). Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Personal correspondence Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Dibble Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-08-31 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/10/239/Dibble_Text0180.pdf 4e97b4613df1abd5e032fecd6bdd0a21 PDF Text Text 94th FIGKUT S7’APRON 1st FIGHTER GRttJF A.P.O. 520 August 10, 1%3. ■ - t DIVE BOMBING MISSION - 25 P-38s, Its. isigei idk, Terry, Opdahl, cram, pace, Lee, Sokol, Grieshaber, power, cias, cagar; vrj.i? pibble, Allan, pipper, peck,' Cogswell, Phillips, Jacobsen, yrlakas, jncbrson. pienholz,' panton, Schulz and ■ to act as top cover. Route; Base to 95 degr:F?s to 5 minutes north of AUGUSTA, SICILY then 45 degrees to east of PQVA, ITALY where they circled and went over BOVA and up east coast of ITALY to CAPY FIILC,. then all but two turned out to sea set courde of 290 degrees to south of SIcAty then directly home. Two continued e;:-;■' up the coast of ITALY to MARINA DI CATANZARO then across ITALY emerging just north 'of POTZO, thence to north of ITpart isles, - ,en to base. Weather; hazy for ten .miles half way between AFRICA arid S1CIL”, ,0ths clouds; over target, hazy, y visibility from five to seven miles, 4/101'- ■■ clouds at 4,000 feet. The fonnation . . . flwe from 5,000 feet to 7,ULL futt iron . : ,to AUGUSTA, SICILY, where they went cn^the dbek^-they flew on the deck until they reached the target-area then they. , , climbed to 3,000 feet before releasing the bombs. Bombs were dropped from l,00C feet. Time over target; 1325 hours to 140C hours. Results; one bomb hit on &-■ ^'marshalling yards at BOVA,ITALY in midst of railroad cars. One train bombed..atBOV) ' i • ST' Krfdge-at iriNINA Di/'CATA CATANZJlRD.' Radar etatloh-W CAPE SPARTIVENTO - - -EVr£ffec;~rowe¥-llne r.crt- cf------r cn railroad straffed. Observationsj 2 ' -L Flek^^ligS flnk'from^ill: was aeon to wash into ;, r fcy ' / where his plane went in. Tt. gis^- returned early because of cross feed trouble-end «« lauded jat 4^:base at 1340 hours. } .. fjrlakas had trouble with-his wheels, when /. he returnedlfrom the mission and landl I at 1615 hours. The rest of the formation -J r . • landed'atf.base at 1605 hours. ' . ' ; ' a? - 7 p’-"- 1 J. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Mission Reports Description An account of the resource A collection of Mission reports from James' combat flights. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed mission report Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 10, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force. 12th Air Force. 94th Fighter Squadron. Description An account of the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 10, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Flight Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Andrew B. Adams Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/291/Dibble_Text0222.pdf 30a5a4e85869c43b7c01679ca1b9f0f9 PDF Text Text C 0 B y I C E N T I L WEKLY ENCOUNTERS MISSION:, DATE:SO August 1945 (cent; ■Siy-H ESCORT (CC'iV) e/a - PUSS ?-33, Lt. /.j.. .'clniosh PL CK TIME JLT. TYPE Averse, Italy 11150 13,000 ft. Fh 190 JEST X PROB DEST GROUP; 1st Fighter DAM NO. RNDS OR DURST 450 20oal. 20m. SQDK DES-RIPTION OF SNCOUNTSRS The P-38 formation was attacked by sups parlor number of enemy fighters re- ohing the target. 1 ;ers before re' XKi After several . =»x breaks and turns' Lt. McIntosh found himself sept jarated from ths formation on the N edge of the3 battle formation. He broke left and rolled bisack te the right and saw a FW 190 about 150 ysr irds to his stftrborad side. lie turned ■’’7, getting a good 30° deflection shot. The slightly, e/a ducket icked violently down and to the left and passLt. McIntosh relied up od under hips right wing. ’ ' ” ’ ■then attack, but the ai to the left; expecting another water in a diving "“'ng tarn. FA 190 hit the t t>l R1 X. inCHARDSON, Captain, Air Copps, intelligence Officer. n i ■ iI 27th Fighter �C 0 B F I D E H T I A L WEEKLY ENCOUNTERS MISSION: DATE: Bomber escort VT" PLANE P-38, Lt. L.A. Reynolds P-38, Lt. J.D.Burst L ff ■ GROUP : 50 August 1943 (oont) BROS DEST BAM 1st Fighter NO. RNDS OR BURST SQRN: ■ 27th Fighter PL-CE TIME ALY. TYPE P2Sx Aversa, Icaly 11:50 13,000 ft. Me 109 X 500 46 50cal 20m On a break Lt. Reynolds became separated from the flight. He completed his turn end was attacked by two other Me 109b. They .iwere too close for him to break into them, so he kickbd 1 rudder violently, causing his plane to skid,. Then he saw two Me 109 attacking a p-38 and he heeded for them, One cf the e/a saw him and broke away 1but the cth r continued his attack. As he turned Lt. Rej sync Ids was 200 yards behind him. He Re opened with to. long burst and closed to 100 yards irds witl with no deflection. The Ma 109 started smoking,, caught fire and rolled into the sea. Averse, Italy 12:00 13,000 ft. Me 109 X 645 48 5Ooa1. 20mm • 12 -.05 1,000 ft. Me 109 X Over the Italian coast a •«» 109 made a pass ah another flight and came directly into Lt. u-sVs line of fire. He opened from 200 yards with 60^ deflection add a 2 ring load, firing until it started smoking. He broke off at 100 y«)■rd3 and saw the e/a burst into flames and w nt sstraight down. DESCRIPTION OF ENCOUNTERS AJ?ew minuted later 30 miles cut from the Italian coast he saw another Me 109 pressing an attack on the tail of a P-38. Tunning He opened fire on the e/a from 150 y-rds with 90° deflection. He led it with 2 or 2g rings and continued firin.- « until he had a 30n deflection. The Je 109 started smoking and plunged into the water. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Encounter report from August 30, 1943 for the 27th Fighter Squadron Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource Encounter report from August 30, 1943 for the 27th Fighter Squadron. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cpt. Wm. N. Richardson Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 8/30/1943 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/10/240/Dibble_Text0181.pdf 59f12cb71d204dd0e4025ae7090fbe5d PDF Text Text 94TH FIGHTER S4I iUADRON 1ST FIGtiTLZl GZaoup A.P.O. 520 22 August, 1943No missions this .date. 23 August, 1943. »o iBslon. this isle. " ..............." .... 24 August, 1943. NO missions this date. 25 August, 1943* STRAFFING riSSIO" “ 13 ; 3, Lts. Bower, Van Sice, Kipper, Cram, Hagenback, ^Thiessen, Jacobsen, Zu.., ihulze, hanton, Anderson, Pettus, Phillips, Dibble, Lee, Opdahl, Vrilakas and Tarlett, together -with formations from the 2?th and 71st Fighter Squadrons, took off at 0i>43 hours to strafe a/d at FOGGLA, II’aII". Lt. Opdalil returned early because his right engine vias cutting out, landing at the P-40 base at 0700 hours. Lt. Parlett returned early because his right -wheel . ..wouldn't come up, landing at 0815 hours. Route: to target, from base to ZUJBRA, k * . up ,- rr c-.. sovcrnx ia car;; and locomotive, ja.< Tec snot up g.BR:jstation, leaving it burning and damaged several box cars, at ANZI. Lt. Dibble i . : shot up 3 trucks, one of -which blew up. Lt. Pace damaged a'locomotive. Lt. Van Sics • • ‘ -destroyed 3 Ju.88s on the A/D and also shot up 3 military barracks. Lt. Hageriback rXp.^destroyed XJu.88, l^e^^^maged^Ju^BSs an^shot_up b^tgsion power : Rocchbtfco Lts. Bower, Jacbbsen, Thiessen and Gran together shot up and destroyed . 5-‘Jacobsen destroyed 2 Ju,88s on the A/D and reports what he believed to be a B-17 f SSsH -•-SSSSaw j accurate flak and machine gun fire over UANFREDONIA and from 3 destroyers in the GULF CF rtrenrenorT.*-. At 1100 hours 8 He.109s with belly tanks were sighted below -. .GULF OF FOLICASiKG, ■ ithe deck". They dropped their belly tanks, made one pass^ j’ A 'G-j'- at our formation and Z;:pt going. One P-38 pilot was seen to bail out directly over ■• ” A/D. Lts. Hagenback, Van Sice, Kipper, Pace, Schulze, Anderson, Pettus, Phillipa, • Dibble, Lee-and Vrilakas landed.at PONTE OLUfO, SIGHT at” 1130 hours, took off atg •" ■ 1230 hours and landed at base at 1345 hours. Lts. Gram, Hantbn and Bower landed a£ £• • ' TOARLiMA,SIGHT at ll.?,'i hours./Dtp. Hairton and Cram took off at 1400 hours and lie at base at 1530 ho--.-.. T.tj Bower took off at 1420 hours and down nt r-se at l>.',f I _Lts, Thiessen and Jacobsen landed at S1UJLT at, 112(1 ho^ra, wool off at 1515 hours and landed at base at 1620 hours, Lt. Hanton<a*AI^T o-r locomotive.' = ? - H- '' ... 1st. LtojAir Corps, Intelligence tfilccr; � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Mission Reports Description An account of the resource A collection of Mission reports from James' combat flights. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed mission report Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 22 to August 25, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force. 12th Air Force. 94th Fighter Squadron. Description An account of the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 22 to August 25, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Flight Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Andrew B. Adams Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/11/159/Dibble_Text0080.pdf e7dd3b2e18098862ed87a4062d8f9242 PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Letters Home Description An account of the resource Getting letters from home was always a highlight of the week for everyone overseas. They wrote home frequently as well as evidenced by the volume of James' letters. Here is a collection of letters and postcards he sent home to his wife Maxine, brother Bill and parents while serving in Africa and Italy. Be sure to look at the letter dated 1943-04-10. Notice how James indicated he censored his own letter and look at the special form he had to use to send it home. Notice on other letters where they are stamped whether they were censored or not. Like most others, James had to be careful not to divulge too much information about where he was. James was killed on September 9, 1943. Be sure to read his last letter home, sent the day before. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Hand-written letter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from James in North Africa to his parents, 1943-09-01 Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Correspondence. Description An account of the resource Letter from James in North Africa to his parents. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Personal correspondence Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Dibble Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-09-01 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 2022-01-18 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/290/Dibble_Image0080.jpg 0cc332208dcbaab932d89e729b438346 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Location The location of the interview unknown Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 2.5" x 4" Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photo of other pilots, some of whom flew on August 30, 1943. Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource Photo of other pilots, some of whom flew on August 30, 1943. Left to right are Johnson (debriefing officer), Hurst (flew), Wineburg (flew, KIA), George Smith (flew), Smythe (didn't fly) and Newberry (didn't fly) Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Black & white photograph Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca August 1943 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/11/267/Dibble_Text0121.pdf 49099e6dbbd70541a5a1bfabcf060132 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Letters Home Description An account of the resource Getting letters from home was always a highlight of the week for everyone overseas. They wrote home frequently as well as evidenced by the volume of James' letters. Here is a collection of letters and postcards he sent home to his wife Maxine, brother Bill and parents while serving in Africa and Italy. Be sure to look at the letter dated 1943-04-10. Notice how James indicated he censored his own letter and look at the special form he had to use to send it home. Notice on other letters where they are stamped whether they were censored or not. Like most others, James had to be careful not to divulge too much information about where he was. James was killed on September 9, 1943. Be sure to read his last letter home, sent the day before. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Hand-written letter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter fragment from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky), 1943-09-03 Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Correspondence. Description An account of the resource Letter fragment from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky). Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Personal correspondence Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Dibble Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-09-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/10/204/Dibble_Text0146.pdf fc35867a7facbd67971a05672b314184 PDF Text Text i ,9W ?»sr s$wm ■1ST 'FJ0O1® SjKW te?.O. 520 29, August, 1943a teekly tesouaten1 topo-Efc (22 Auguct * 23 August, 1943 incl*). TO ®ftsa®sdliig-Qtf£i^rF?lGt Filter X»W*aA-*IW5*.' $20 (AST* 8-2.), Vihite cn a straffing Maoion war 3WGIA. a/d, mix on 25 August, 1943, 4 of Ous- y-3ij» encGibitered a tem ^3^.Afeet ^U «u W#w w^. teas? «^52:aiKai&-1,000. abov© ora? forsiatted* j&* Besser eUdbed: ap K/A. sg& tsiL “fxh’i his first burst set tm the teft left ©ng: engine m fire,- This Ju»52 •losed down and v®nt into a steep divs. It. Bosas* foiled h'Jxa dom, this Uste setting tee rdghfc engins ©n fire at which tiac tte s/a cspteded in jaicWi:Lr. Svidontly this Ju.52 was unaware Of the approaching k-38s fsr the ■ pilot of tills is/A took no evasive action wjistso©wss*» - - 2*. On -2fr Augueti. 1943 white.' ©gtertiug B*2Gs w&ai WS&tfiW,- XTa®?, out SfiBsattea wa-^taGked by 3 109s Just after leaving tte fcar-ot area. As these S/A wire divteg, our fesfflation turned into thm» Th© sA teaMtetely brete off > tte attack and turned aw <te» iWnatten gave otes® arid It* Dibble got on the tail of the second--30.109 giving it a tetig burst freer 300 yards. This Jo.309 poured black «sote, wat stratete d®an and crashed* ‘2w otter 2 fe.teSs sate a spilt "3", nhit tiie deck*' and tested for ta©* 3* iMla on a baiter escort olssten wer CAS21SA u6f,. ITALx on 2? -lugost, 1943. After tesvteg the tercet, 10 te»te9s attaoted the P-jSs froa above and be hind* 15 other 5fe$2O?s wwc seen high above and th th® left of our formtion fomeition but did not attack fcssw^teut the entire ©ng^l^x-nt* Tteugh our fomattea jnauttea turned into tee te attacking Je*te‘te, thqy paosaed tore their dtteteas -tusi — refused to break off the engagesasnt. Lb, Sites nosed qo end gave, one of these e/a a short burst which ms too high# Apperarfoly seeing his teacers, this jjjs.te? iaudo a split «S« st whfeli tiac It, Kites followed hte d®jm giving hl's 3 good borate ft’oa about s 200 yards# This Z/k disintergrated in said-air, LU Aatersm turned back to aid a lone F-33 which ted 2 2&»209b m Its tail, ite a&tte a head on att&oSt at -tte first b/A ®j*teh xswdittfeely itelf rolled ate. disappearod* The second, or® case in closer ate It* Amerson attacked frm the site, pouring a burst along tea fuselage of tele S/A TJhteh began making and wat straight down* 3ewal soootes later the raalteng E/A brefoe off the attack oral headed for- h<xte» 4* Wldle on a besabor eaeort siesion over avesm ij/f, J3A1S on 28 August, 1943 25 to 30 >fo<lD9s, >W<190d end W»202s wars ’tsaitlag £oi- our forf’Z,tio«n just off ths co:;0t before the fopraation had reached ths tur{.^t» 80s® were painted black, sown tity blue and sox* silver. Only 4S#vesal of these e/a «tba&a&c^ .-^kteg only half hearted passes. Kcwsver, the P^38s pressed, httne tlMr attack and Lt, Dibble destroyed an ise.lO? fe^th a 90 degree deflection diet firing free? uteost coatdmausly to a direct astern position, Lt* Crara dived en 2 30,1098 which u’ere on the tail ov a stragpling I**33. lie pmcred a- bur®t into the wings of the first at uiitefa tisus tii® 2 2fewlD9s broke off the attaafe and disappeared. AHGmSa AJMJSS, 1st Lt*,. Air Corps, riiteteteenoc Cfifteor* � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Mission Reports Description An account of the resource A collection of Mission reports from James' combat flights. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed mission report Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Weekly encounter report, 1943-08-22 to 1943-08-23 Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force. 12th Air Force. 94th Fighter Squadron. Description An account of the resource Weekly encounter report, 1943-08-22 to 1943-08-23, listing Lt. Dibble as downing an enemy Messerschmitt 109. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 1st Lt. Andrew B. Adams Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 8/29/1943 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/288/Dibble_Text0238.pdf f5d5bb9b888333eda0ff9cc54350e36d PDF Text Text is v> The 319th ii by w £. a) F ; • -,.. ■ �..- RECORDS of the T H BOMBARDMENT GROUP as Recorded by LIEUTENANT WILLIAM B. MONROE, Public Relations Officer, and Others Records Ob't^ir ined From The ALBERT F. SIMPSON HISTORICAL RESEARCH CENTER, USAF Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and Other Sources Compiledtand Edited by HAROLD E. OYSTER and ESTHER M. OYSTER �August 19U3 - (Cont.) July 19U3 -(Cont.) k XKZd^x^and Belgorod- Sts; In the Pacific we attacked SjKeS* “BJi “°pp-‘18 - Routine duties. 8 - Mission #611;: thirty-six aircraft with 500-lb. bombs, as yesterday's, destruction of three spans. same area constituted the first on the Rome area. 20 - Mission #58: twenty-two bombers, 20-lb. hits among parked aircraft; no opposition. 1target same 9 - Mission #65: thirty-six planes, 500-lb. bombs; target, some other bridges near Pizzo; near misses. frags, Vibo Valentia, 10 - BOB HOPE and PRANCES LANGFORD put on a hilarious one-hour show. 21 - Routine duties. "iirM X b^raiVrl^^f^al^a^-i^s^Xth^nl^i 22 - Group learned that Sgts. ROY ROGERS and P.C. CARRANCO were Tripoli hospital after bailing out over Gerbini, being taken ~prisoner J and being released by friendly forces in Sicily. 12 - Routine duties. 23 - Mission #59: twenty-four B-26s with 1 00-lb. bombs and frags bombed Aquino airdrome in Italy, hits across field and dispersal areas. Pa lermo fell. Wing informed group that no missions would be flown for with fifty raids, was relieved as C.O. by Maj. JOSEPH R. H0LZAPPLE.3 2U - Many combat men left for three-day rest in Algiers, Oran, and 25 - Routine duties. 15 - Italy sought recognition of Rome as an open city. 26 - Rome radio announced Mussolini's "resignation." 27 - Malaria has hospitalized some men. or?: settled the dust and cooled things off. 16 - Mission #68: twenty-four planes, 500-lb. bombs, hit a temporary bridge over the Angitola River, strings crossing bridge. The first rain in two months 17 - Sicily fell.U 28 - Bad weather cancelled a planned mission. 18 - Mission #69: thirty-six aircraft with 250-, 300- and 500-lb. bombs; target, tunnel entrance and highway at Punta di Stalletti, hits on highway. since resumption of operations 5 June. Lt. DeBABY was lost in a crash landing at sea, rest of crew got out but are in hospital. 30 - Homemade clubs of officers and men still were opening. 31 - Mission #61: thirty-six planes, 500-lb. bombs, railroad and road Junction near Adrano, Sicily. 20 - Routine duties. August 19113 21 - Mission #71: thirty-six aircraft, 1.000-lb. bombs, Villa Literno marshalling yards in Italy, excellent coverage; during weak attacks by enemy fighters one Me-109 was shot down. Some men 1 - AB-17 crashed on 1 left for three-day rest 1Gen. WEBSTER, Commander of 2686th Prov. Wing, went along as observer. combat menonDS for B-17 training started rumors headed for a B-17 organization. 2He was riding with Lt. KRONE as observer, was hit in head by flak. 3 - Projected raid on targets near Rome called off. bri~dge3at°Marina diWCatanzaro,*clou adrs°Pjnterfered*)wlth<°obse0rnvation^'^M Ha^rind^^bs^^p^^^fid^strd18?^:?0: S? X^L^J* of 1Lt. TURNER. W> ! 111 �August 19U3 - (Cont.) September 19U3 - (Cont.) lost, three in water, one crash landed on water, and one raissing.1 Soo 9 10 - Routine duties. 23 - Routine duties. 2I4. - General WEBSTER presented awards to a number of men. 11 - Mission #82: Isernia road junction was hit by thirty-five bombers 25 - Routine duties. 26 - Mission #73: twenty-three planes dropped frags on Grazzanise satellite in Italy,, hits on landing strip and dispersal areas; of six 12 - S/Sgt. HOWARD JACKSON returned from the hospital after recovering S,h^d’^dC:rSiiaXn^t oi^a’raic^and HILI^brough^i^in^ver "» behind”?^ ^tT^wi^^iS trouble and, on the deck with one engine, fought off enemy fighters for >r half hall an hour, and finally crash landed with all crew members surLving. 27 - Mission #7)4.: twenty-four A/C, 500-lb. bombs; target, Caserta, It aly, marshalling yards; many hits in target area. 28 - Mission #75: twenty-two B-26s, 500-lb. bombs, Aversa, Italy, att*Ck’d i,WffeC- 29 - Routine duties. 30 - Mission #76: nineteen bombers dropped 500-lb. bombs, Aversa mar__ *___ coverage; fifty to sixty attacking enemy shalling yards, excellent jaged fighters were enge '•**’ by -escort: B-26s shot down ten without losses to our formation. 3of ll the new club-bars for men and officers. all^SS Bizerte harbor at an altitude of twenty feet, dodging mast tops and balloon cables and firing distress flares right and left. He headed for a nearby beach but found it covered with swimmers and had to set it down in the sea. Jackson woke up half an hour later in a hospital. The others told him the plane had broken into three pieces, he had been hurtled through the top, landing fifty yards away in the water, and his Mae West had saved him, although unconscious. It was the most serious of Jackson's eight mishaps, six of which had occurred during training in the States, the seventh overseas, none leaving him with injuries any worse than assorted cuts and bruises. a 3-day pass for a town near Messina, Sicily, to see his mother, whom he hadn't seen in twenty-one years. He had a ride in a B-26. 1h. - Major HOLZAPPLE prefaced briefing in the morning by reading a Twelfth Air Force notice to the effect that the Allied troops on the Salerno bridgehead were in a desperate touch-and-go battle to hold onto their strip of beach. Crew members present listened in grim si lence as he announced we would be employed against German roads in close support of our infantry and that extra effort was needed from everybody. Mission #81;.: eighteen B-26s dropped 100-lb. bombs on the September 19U3 Mission #86: eighteen bombers dropped 100-lb. bombs on the barracks area southwest of Eboll. 1 and 2 t Routine duties. aver to group ’by a British 3 - Eight Italian prisoners were turned o^ unit. One a barber and two carpenters, they ful and happy to be with us. Some are used officers' mess, resulting in some strange gesticulations when it comes to such orders as "pancakes without the goo." U - Routine duties. 5 - Mission #77: thirty-six B-26s dropped 300-lb. bombs on Grazzanise 6 - Mission #78: thirty-six B-26s dropped 300-lb. bombs on the Graz zanise Landing Ground. 7 - Mission #79: thirty-five bombers hit Sapri bridge with $00 pound- I ■ ers; dust and smoke obscured the target. 8 - Mission #80: thirty-four aircraft again hit Sapri bridge, scoring hits or near misses on the north end, plus a direct hit on the center of the railroad bridge alongside. Italy's surrender was announced. .sj® The prisoners were happier than anybody else. A few thought the sur- •; render might terminate our job for awhile, but most believed that as long as Germans control Italian territory we'd still be dropping on t : into the aeain fiam”we aiso ioat k2 15 - Mission #87: eighteen planes bombed the Battlpaglia-Eboli road. Mission #88: twenty-four planes hit the west portion of the EboliSerre road. Mission #89: twelve ships had for a target the AulettaPolla road, but darkness prevented identification of the target and some bombs were dropped on a nearby road junction. In the past two days, briefings were/hurried, ground crews worked hard and some air planes and some men wept on two missions a day. Dust and smoke from previous bombings of ten piade observation difficult. Many huge forma tions of other type aircraft were seen in the same target region going about the same sort of work. Often crews returned excited over their observations of the battle below, including the sight of our ships offshore firing at German positions. On the last mission, many pi lots made their first night landings in B-26s. After one mission agalnst a road, General WEBSTER observed that a photograph showed that SlLffiM graodes Unadmitted8 tha1fOtheWfarn>aadoaI'hlaId<n,^ CactuallyUbacked around the curve. The bombardiers, he explained, had simply used a 16 - The hardened group movie fans were not surprised tonight when the . last reel of "Let's Get Tough" was shown first. Happy in knowing that all turned out fine in the end, they then sat through the first reel. This was followed by an announcement that the middle reel was missing. 17 -Mission #90: twenty-four ships, still using 100-lb. bombs, hit Pratica di Mare airdrome outside of Rome; the coordinated attack with other groups left many aircraft of the 100 or more on the field burn- U3 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mission summaries of the 319th Bombardment Group including August 30, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource Mission summaries of the 319th Bombardment Group including August 30, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca 1943 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/11/268/Dibble_Text0122.pdf e89ffd637f11b6faff309ac436a8eddc PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Letters Home Description An account of the resource Getting letters from home was always a highlight of the week for everyone overseas. They wrote home frequently as well as evidenced by the volume of James' letters. Here is a collection of letters and postcards he sent home to his wife Maxine, brother Bill and parents while serving in Africa and Italy. Be sure to look at the letter dated 1943-04-10. Notice how James indicated he censored his own letter and look at the special form he had to use to send it home. Notice on other letters where they are stamped whether they were censored or not. Like most others, James had to be careful not to divulge too much information about where he was. James was killed on September 9, 1943. Be sure to read his last letter home, sent the day before. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Hand-written letter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter fragment from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky), 1943-09-05 Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Correspondence. Description An account of the resource Letter fragment from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky). Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Personal correspondence Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Dibble Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-09-05 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/10/244/Dibble_Text0212.pdf c3d19820260956688fa5d2b4041ab0fb PDF Text Text - '• ’; • ■ ; - ■■■ • 7- ■ HEADQUARTERS 1ST FIGHTER GROUP Office of the Intelligence Officer APO 520 25 August, 1943. SUBJECT: TO Mission Reports. : Commanding General, Headquarters 2686 Wing (US), APO 520. (Attn. A - 2). ' ( I < 805. 65 P-38’s. from the 27th, 71st and 94th Squadrons up base at 0706 hrs. to strafe Foggia A/D’s Nos'. 1, 2,'and 4. in Italy. 8 P-38’s re turned earlyj 2 belly tank trouble, 2 engine trouble, 1 inverter out, 1 man ifold pressure too low, 1 electrical system and 1 wheel failure. Capt. RUSH Group and Squadron leader. Its. SHEARER and BOWER Squadron leaders. Time over target 0925 hrs. at an altitude of 25 to 50 ft. Strafed Foggia A/D’s Nos. 1, 2 and 3 destroying and damaging many planes. R.R. Station at Roccheta strafed and left burning. Strafed locomotive at Rpccheta. Stra fed 3 trucks headed East on road near Anzi. R.R. Station and box cars stra fed near Anzi. Strafed one truck 4 mi. S.E. of Foggia. Strafed troop train and 20 cars at Potenza. 1 Ju-52 destroyed in the air on return to Sicily. Light inaccurate flak of slight intensity encountered from No. 1 A/D. A few bursts wbre 88mm, but were ineffective. Nine 5 in. guns along coast road 4 mi. S.W. of Manfredonia fired a few bursts. Three destroyers, 3 mi. off shore Marghertia d Savoia fired considerable amount of light flak. Light inaccurate flak from k/D No. 2, small arms and machine gun fire. Scattered but accurate 40mm flak from 15 mi. W. of Zapponita. Medium, tracking of moderate intensity and accurate flak at Sapri. Along Tanagro River Valley, light, tracking and scattered accurate flak. One heavy flak position of 4 to 6 guns, 1 1/2 miles North of Zapponita and 1/2 mile inland. 50 P-38’s down base by 1900 hrs. after landing at Termini and Gela. 7 P-38’s have not returned to base; l.was shot down (Lt. WILLIAMS) over the target and he was seen to bail out from 300 ft. and chute open. 1 P-38 is lost (Lt. VIALL), he was last seen at 0900 hrs. leaving fornation as he could, not release his belly tanks. 5 P-38’s are still in Sicily, 2 of which crash landed. CHRONOLOGY: Time off 0706 hrs. Time over Target 0925 hrs. Time down 1900 hrs. ROUTE: Base to Zembra Island to C. San Vito, Sicily, Salina Island, Praia la Mare, Italy, Molfetta, Italy, then to initial point on N. .end of lake 3 miles S. of Manfredonia and into target on course of 2?2®. On leaving target area, formation became divided into flints, following river valleys on a gerenal 173° course to Praia la Mare and landing at various landing grounds in Sicily. RESULTS OF STRAFING: Strafed Foggia A/D’s Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Destroyed 18 JU-SS’s and 1 Ju-52, probably destroyed 1 Ju-88 and 1 s/e fighter and , damaged 18 Je-88’s and 2 s/e filters on Foggia No. 1. On Foggia A/D No. -1 - ? �~ ---------- — T ' , V'?-' ■ f ,-.. A r_. . - . ,---- ,,r, Mission Report (cont‘d) 25 August, 1943. t ' c 2, destroyed 11 Ju-88’s and 1 s/e fighter and damaged 6 Ju-88’s and 1 s/e fighter. On Foggia A/D No. 3, destroyed 5 Ju-88's and damaged 5 Ju-881s. Totals: 34 Ju-88‘s,.1 Ju-52 and 1 s/e filter destroyed; 1 Ju-88 and 1 s/e fighter probably destroyed; 29 Ju-88 *s and 3 s/e filters damaged. R.R. Station at Roccheta strafed and left .burning. Strafed locomotive at Rocc heta. Strafed 3 trucks headed East on road near Anzi. R.R. Station and box cars strafed near Anzi. Strafed one truck 4 mi. S.E, of Foggia. Strafed, troop train of 20 cars at Potenza. Troops poured out of trains, many cas ualties inflicted. High power lines, at Malfi were shot up. Buildings at S. end of Foggia No. 1 were hit and a'flak battery NE of this, field was strafed. Five motor trucks at the W. end of the field were hit. One light gun emplacement on Foggia No. 2 was strafed. FLAK; Light inaccurate flak of slight intensity encountered from. No. 1 A/D. A. few bursts were 8&nm, but were ineffective. Nine 5 in. guns along coast road 4 mi. S.W. of Manfredonia fired a few bursts. Biree destroyers, 3 mi. offshore Marghertia d Savoia fired considerable amount of light flak. Light inaccurate flak from A/D No. 2, small arms and machine gun fire. Scattered but accurate 40mm flak from 15 mi. W. of Zapponita. Medium, tracking of mod erate intensity and accurate flak at Sapri. Along Tanagro Biver Valley, light, tracking and scattered accurate flak. One heavy flak position of 4 to 6 guns, 1 and 1/2 miles North of Zapponita and 1/2 mile inland. ENEMY AERIAL ACTIVITY: At 1100 hrs. 8 Me-109's (markings; black with silver bellies) encountered over Gulf of Policastro on the deck. E/a dropped belly tanks, made one pass (unagressive) and turned off. One Ju-52 was destroyed over Polomante at.1015 hrs. Two unidentified a/c were parked on beach at Safri. ENEMY AIRDROMES: Observed a landing strip at 40® 05’ N. 15® 35* E. on the coast of Italy. On this strip there was a 4 engine plane, believed to have been a B-17 and a s/e a/c believed to have been a Spitfire. ENEMY GROUND ACTIVITY; Observed a locomotive at Roccheta. Three trucks on road near Anzi, beaded East. Several box cars near Anzi. One truck near Foggia. Twenty train cars at Potenza. ENEMY NAVAL & SHIPPING ACTIVITY; Three destroyers, 3 mi. offshore Margher tia d Savoia. .. . ENEMY TACTICS AND SPECIAL COMMENTS: Element of surprise for operation was excellent. ENEMY LOSSES: One Ju-52.' OUR LOSSES: Two (2), One is lost and one is missing. . SOBTIES: Fifty-seven (57). WEATHER: Enroute; scattered clouds 1AO at 3,000 ft. Over target; CAVU. RADIO: .Good. 806. 4 P-38’s from the 2?th and 71st Squadrons up Termini A/D at 1445 hrs. on Air-Sea Rescue mission. A course of 30° to.Alicude.Island was followed. At .1500 hrs. a dinghy containing one man was .sighted about 15 to 20 miles SW of Alicudi Island. P-38‘s circled and contacted Grubstake and Walrus rescue a/c, which arrived shortly after and picked up the man. -2 - �r Mission Beport (cont'd) 25 August, 1943. No other observations. 4 P-38’8 down Termini A/D at 16 hrs. NOTE: 4 P-38's on Air-Sea Rescue mission were the same on previous mission which landed at Termini. For the Group Commander: CLYDE Wo GABLER, Major, Air Corps, Intelligence Officer. r A TRUE COPY: C. H. BORNHORST, Major, Air Corps. E C -3 - �r HEAnQUARTTOS G-2? NORTHWEST AFRICAN STRATEGIC AIR FORCE APO 520 US ARMY 27 August 1943 SUBJECT: TO I Commendation. : Commanding General, 5th Wing, Commanding General, 47th Wing, Comnandi^ General, 42nd Wing, Air Officer Conmanding,. 205 Group, Officer Commanding, 330 Wing, Officer Commanding, 331 Wingo 1. The Commanding General is pleased to forward the following messages: a. Message from Air Chief Marshall Tedder: nX/ hearty congratulations to ydh, your commanders and crews, on success of their operations against the enemy air on 25 August. It is clear that success was obtained by care in planning and.by courage and determination in execution." b. Message from Lieutenant General Spaatz: C • "I consider the Foggia attack of 25 August an outstanding demonstration of effectiveness of air operations well planned with intelligence and executed with spirit and ability. You, your staff, and the participating units are to be commended for a remarkably fine job." 2. In transmitting these commendations, the Commanding General desires to.convey his appreciation for a task excellently accomplished. By command of Hajar General D00I1TTLE: /s/ J. M. Ivins J. M. IVINS, Lt. Colonel, A®, Asst. Adjutant General. A TRUE COPY:! C. H. BORNHORST, Major, Air Corps. �HEADQUARTERS FIRST FIGHTER GROUP Office of the Group Commander APO 520 I 3 June, 1944. I certify that the following named personnel participated in the engagement with the eneny 25 August 1943 J i i OFFICERS HEADQUARTERS 1ST FIGHTER (SOUP Captain George A. Rush, .0-421324 t C 2?TH FIGHTER SQUADRON 1st Lt. Warren P. Eickmann, 0-724722 1st Lt. Robert T. Hill, 0-730491 1st Lt. John D. Hurst, 0-732256 1st Lt. John I. Bisby, 0-730503 1st Lt. Clifford E. Randol, 0-423960 (MIA) 1st Lt. George R. Smith, 0-734014 1st Lt. nt. Raymond aaymona E. x*. Snythe, anytne, 0-734015 w-yjwi? , 2nd -sna Lt.-Arden it. araen W. w. Ferrin, rermn, 0-740390 2nd Lt. Hilliard H. Graham, 0-667064 (MIA) 2nd Lt. Lester H. Laird, 0-737804 2nd 2nd Lt. Lt.’ Francis Francis J. J. Maron, Maron, 0-740491 0-740491 2nd Lt.. Lester C.. Peterson, 0-740545 ‘ ‘ “ -----------2nd Lt. William A. Schnurr, 0-736380 2nd Lt. Larry 0.~Reynolds, 0-740558 . 2nd Lt. Edward T. Wellner, 0-737914 2nd Lt. Walter J. Schranz, 0-736381 2nd Lt* Jerome N. Weinberg, 0-737913 (MIA) 2nd Lt. Marcel J. Williams, 0-740618 (POT F/0 Donald B. Deisenroth, T-12 ZZ (POW) :“■) F/0 Millard V. Stunkard, T-186613 F/0 William A. Wemergren, Jr., T-186612 (. I . 1st Lt. :1st Lt. 1st — Lt.. 2nd Lt. - - -Lt. 2nd 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 1st Lt. 1st Lt. 1st Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. 2nd Lt. ' 71ST FIGHTER SQUADRON Ernest A. Chapman, 0-733821 1st Lt. Edward M. Helm, 0-72388? Burdette E. Nygren, 0-729360 1st Lt. John L. Russell, 0-733993 —Sentes, —, 0-734003 let Lt. Richard E. Shearer, 0-730634 Alex M. Jr.,, 00-730344 2nd Lt. Richard C. Catledge, 0-740366 (MIA) Lester L. Berens, Jr. (j • 0-737016 ---------- 'j • 2nd Lt. John R. Lion, 0-740479 (MIA) Raymond- ™ T. Dart, 2nd Lt. Walter G. Morrison, 0-740515 (MIA) Charles J. JfcCann, 0-740496 Clarence E. Southard, 0-740582 2nd Lt. Stanley E. Stuber, 0-740587 2nd Lt. ----Ralph R.--------Turrentine, (MIA), Reward J. Taylor, 0-732400 ---------e----------- - 0-798376 Hobart S. Vincent, 0-732413 (MIA) 2nd Lt. Robert E. Viall, 0-732411 (MIA) .. Mathew (NMI) Warren, 0-740465 (FOW) 2nd Lt. Russell G. Winegar, 0-740620 (MJ 94TH FIGHTER SQUADRON Robert H. Anderson, 0-7303261st Lt. James E. Bwer, 0-728963 James P. Dibble, 0-733844 (MIA) 1st Lt. James J. Hagenback, 0-732233 John D. Pace, 0-729050 2nd Lt. John G. Cram, 0-667044 (MIA) John T. Hanton, .0-667072 2nd Lt. William L. Jacobsen, 0-737792 Ralph L. Kipper, Jr., 0-737798 2nd Lt. Richard J. Lee, 0-740472 Jack D. Pettus, 0-740547 '2nd Lt. Marion E. Phillips, 0-740548 (MIA) Raymond L. Schulze, 0-740565 Jtad Lt. Ralph A. Thiessen, 0-740592 Robert B. Van Sice, 0-740600 2nd Lt. Robert.A. Vrilakas, 0-740604 C. H.BORNHORST, Major, Air Corps, Adjutant. �189 16® 14® 12® 10®^ k. I L 42® T A L Y 42 (geRSOj O ROME 26 M,^Ar Manfredonia FOOfllAf^X^. *-45 Ml. ^*%UOLFETTA \ \ 40® SARDINIA^ T Y R R H E N 1 S 88® M E 0 I jr e R R A NE A N // I \ U' A N ij9S I mare -r) /salina i.\ SEA 4C MwA E A *$0 ►^TEUR^Y I 108 Ml.-** NAPLES! C ) 88 ____ I L Y “L<£EM8RA I. TUNIS A 8® F R I C A 10® 12® 14® 16® 18® � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Mission Reports Description An account of the resource A collection of Mission reports from James' combat flights. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed mission report Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mission Report and Citation Recommendation for 94th Air Squadron pilots after the August 25, 1943 mission over Foggia Aerodrome Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force. 12th Air Force. 94th Fighter Squadron. Description An account of the resource Mission Report and Citation Recommendation for 94th Air Squadron pilots after the August 25, 1943 mission over Foggia Aerodrome. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Clyde W. Gabler and Major General Doolittle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 8/27/1943 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/278/Dibble_Image0091.jpg ec2665f2b51104774d060e1a5e5ed3c6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Location The location of the interview unknown Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 3.5" x 5" Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Men of the 94th Fighter Squadron at Mateur, Tunisia Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource Men of the 94th Fighter Squadron at Mateur, Tunisia Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Black & white photograph Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource unknown Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/11/269/Dibble_Text0123.pdf 16fe95c676a0a3055a8c150c9e716153 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Letters Home Description An account of the resource Getting letters from home was always a highlight of the week for everyone overseas. They wrote home frequently as well as evidenced by the volume of James' letters. Here is a collection of letters and postcards he sent home to his wife Maxine, brother Bill and parents while serving in Africa and Italy. Be sure to look at the letter dated 1943-04-10. Notice how James indicated he censored his own letter and look at the special form he had to use to send it home. Notice on other letters where they are stamped whether they were censored or not. Like most others, James had to be careful not to divulge too much information about where he was. James was killed on September 9, 1943. Be sure to read his last letter home, sent the day before. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Hand-written letter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter fragment from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky), 1943-09-07 Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Correspondence. Description An account of the resource Letter fragment from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky). Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Personal correspondence Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Dibble Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-09-07 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/10/241/Dibble_Text0182.pdf e6de17f55d3ab660357027eb694ffce3 PDF Text Text 1ST FIGICES GHOSP ©meo of th® toioXMgtKKa Offtos* &fo &£> i- 25 SXVL'GTt lllaaion Esporttu <j eoamrf&s Ssmsdlp toystore m «W (03), m Wo { (Attru a - 2). ■ -•■ ' £Q5O 63 t -08»a to tteSJU, Tto afe2 ?Uh g^etoa ® teas et 0M too. to Gtjafo IPQESto A/B^a 20 and &■ to BdSyo «>38’o re turned eorln . telly teak troubls, 2 engine 2. torarter 2. ea&xfaul pftxwuL. to to0 1 OfkRrical syzto and 1 vfccsl failure. ’;(>$*.. amn Gre^ t-.r ' SssEu&'ffia todoPo too SrffiARBS and TO3! Squadrea Wears. fkxcvu-’t;; tew. at an ilidto® of 25 io 50 ft0 Strefed Ft^/ A/D«a 80S. lff 3 &3t5W&23 eM tostos ew gtoaso stetton at Twshala etFaftscl aaS left bxnlB5o Sirufad toaoctlvs &t P^S/wt^. 8Sai trucks te&^od Ba^ on roa? mar Anzi. H.E» Station and box care sr fed EC2J? AE^lo Sfesfea EE3 trask Mo c« fWAo st-r^cd twsp to^a a- is^S? swS&ftw^ . terete tmog&a, fea ««»»ImKtekfvso m» $ta» g^ <0^ wart vag I • rd. yj',’.*"!?deT*» .^.r~> - «*r- terete-, VW.h to e®9 tot easa ci C900 hrea to^ag gajgi«.Mnr*>re ^.t-wwaa^a. 51 ^lo aPP=» ?r^dcc\ eHOTLCqr« Tto'eff 0^36 hre. Tfco &mr Tassst 6525 hre. Tto <fesn i9G0 hrso sals 2=5’^ I 3 c2to fk of cad 1UA® target on ewsrco of Ga leaving tas^t <^3 fcs^to tocono divided tote »!«»•, f«atotos rto vnM.p S ca o ocaES9 to Rreto la Eare aM todies ci vsMoeo todli^ . tx fcbl£--A- C? smfll£>« Stpaxo? Foegls. a/^x. to. 1. .2 a- S. IfcStro.aisa 1 .^3^« precsUy daste^od 1 dur-^ and 1 s/a flfitor sto jn ar-< 2 **/r d*~'£.rre <t: F-r^'dR Ko. X, C-- 7er.-'? A'" t �Missicr. Roporl (ccnt’d) Auruirt , l>b>, 2, destroyed H «Ju-®?!s and 1 s/f figMar and dsna-god 6 Ju-BB’s and 1 c/c fighter. Ck. Fo-,:ie A/i L; . 3( <'.<4tra,.v;’ 5 Jr-BT’a an:’ (J1r.-4.T-f 5 Jii-£3»s. Totals? 34 Ju-SS't, 1 and 1 s/e fighter destroyed; 1 Ju-32 ar.d 1 s/<fighter probably destroyer'.! 29 Jir-fffi’s and 3 e/e fight ere dnswrod. E.R. StatJ.0*- a* FcccleU. ='■■■•: Jr ft b>m ir.-. Strafed 3csa-ot.lv? at Ron — hsta. Strafed 3 tn-ifo hcudcd Luc- o_ road nc:.i Aiui. Station and 8.E, of Foggia. Strafed box eara strafed near tai, Strafed 020 truck 4 ml= 8.E. *ed out of trains, many cas troop train of 20 cars at Petensr., Troop* p— "ed TOF0 chut shut up. Buildings at ualties inflicted. High power linen at Kalfi. rare •ry KE of this th: field was S. end of Foggia Ko. 1 wort, hit and a flak ba' tery ctrafed. Five actor trucus at t!a h. er.c c.‘ .he field were »era hit. One light gun emplacement cn Fcggia Ko. 2 vt&s atruf^d, FLAEt Light inaccuratfi flak of slight irrt ?; Lty encountered from Eo. 1 1/&* A £«u tursvL tear* Buaij, uj-*. '.: Lina 5 in. goixfc alo< cc-asl rosd 4 rd, S.a. of a f< rots. Three dcstrcyers9 3 nd. Gffsaor-o L &sorr.t' rd liclxL fl±J'-. Li-d inaccurate flak froa A/D ho, 2P eusll anu and aachine gun fire* Scattered but accurate 4Qc. fl--- •' . .............. i^ppcrlta’. }:cdituif trsoklng of jnerferatc intensity and £-ev-.z ' t i .' it .Along Taru-^TO 'diver Valley, light, tracking and scatterec accurate fla*. Ono heavy flak position of 4 t© 6 guns. 1 ana 1/2 *il»a forth of Zappordta and 1/2 cilc inland, .AEW ACTXVm* At UOD 0 Lo-10p’c Uaridogoj! with «U- ver bellies) •ncoun Terod over Golf ©f Polieaatro ©n thn dsako %/a • _*“ (-“■*“ T—:** 1 rrX tjiwwv! One taia smsroycu over rcunssauv® nu », v. ... bcaeh at Safrl, jaiag MRWXESs ©bsarvod a landing atrip at 40° ©3° Eo 15° 35’ &» ©n ths ©eact »aSy« Ca this strip thsro us a 4 ongln o plnnop baUsved to tovo boon a E»L7 end 3 0/0 a/e baliavod 2,© have tecoa a Spitf^Oo ©b=3Fved a icssaetivo at K©eahc.da0 Starco trueka cn s^S nsar Ami, Wmfed East. Several box cars nsar Ansi. 0ns truck near Fejrrdao brain ears st PotengSa fflsm PAVAL & SHIPr’I^- ACTIVITYc Three destroyers, 3 ml, ©ffohore Eas^hartla d Savoia. iS-ccient. of oorprioo for ©porcLLon con — Sr LOSSES; Ohg Ju-52. ofe 'ixggas; Tec (2). fi-,-' is lest and one is missing. SQ.i'rlpSt Fifty-su, i, U . f« Enroutej scattered clouds 1.-- at 3,000 ft. MOs Gccdo Over targetj CaVTJ. ira up Tcnainl A/D at 80&o 4 P-JS’a from the 2?th and 71st Squadrons 30° to Alicudi Island ms 1445 hrs. on Air-6oa fiescue mission. . course of 32' fcllc-c; M Iff-I r'-r. •* <M r--• Bln” onn win iwas eirhtnd abcvt 15 aw* Walrus NMti* u-C; r-iich arrived shortly «XtuF Bud picked up the Eecr^ �kiesion Report (cont*d) 25 August, l'>i No other obrervations. L. r-3<?’r dorr Texnlri. A/D at 36OC hrs. }iOTE» 4 F-3£’b on Air^Jos. -a:"i thf tn.1” o. previous r?.ir..:.Lo: which landed at Termini. CLYDE GABLER, • Ift-.Jor. .'.If Corps, Intel!■<enee Officer. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Mission Reports Description An account of the resource A collection of Mission reports from James' combat flights. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed mission report Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 25, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force. 12th Air Force. 94th Fighter Squadron. Description An account of the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 25, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Flight Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Clyde W. Gabler Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/277/Dibble_Image0090.jpg fa1d4416953ed3044831018ea23c0385 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Location The location of the interview unknown Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 3.5" x 5" Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pilots of the 94th Fighter Squadron Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource Pilots of the 94th Fighter Squadron Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Black & white photograph Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource unknown Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/11/270/Dibble_Text0124.pdf b20cf09db500cf723930cad287cb37ed PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Letters Home Description An account of the resource Getting letters from home was always a highlight of the week for everyone overseas. They wrote home frequently as well as evidenced by the volume of James' letters. Here is a collection of letters and postcards he sent home to his wife Maxine, brother Bill and parents while serving in Africa and Italy. Be sure to look at the letter dated 1943-04-10. Notice how James indicated he censored his own letter and look at the special form he had to use to send it home. Notice on other letters where they are stamped whether they were censored or not. Like most others, James had to be careful not to divulge too much information about where he was. James was killed on September 9, 1943. Be sure to read his last letter home, sent the day before. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Hand-written letter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Final letter from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky), 1943-09-08 Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Correspondence. Description An account of the resource Final letter from James in North Africa to his wife Maxine (Micky). Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Personal correspondence Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Dibble Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-09-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/10/243/Dibble_Text0184.pdf d03cb2e47909cb1df660371f3cbacb47 PDF Text Text bwbb is? fxgktee gesee? Offiee &£ the InbolUgGESs Gfgfeo? AK> 52D SWTSTl HtsalcEX Reports. TO 0 ©assmte torolo Erafe^laro feSsd f&~s (E3), APS 520* (AUjy A - 2). m. 59 W froa th® 27bhj w ©»d %fch Squadrons w haso 1CA2 tms. te-eseoTt B-Jl6»a of the 31%h, 320th-and W feb.EW to Grocsa^ Leo aA> Itely0 'M F»33«© i^tumsd eWP 1 bacscsu c?'X®j ft»l presswro. 1 engins trcubls, 3 radio trouble, 1 belly task ts^KMCj 1 x^ebjX 'Soe? tculd nefe do3off 1 laft c&olast sauttc*- ou cut, 1 ’.1th rua oay prep oa d teo ■Rith faulty oupsrehr-rgor. Its. SCFRATE. ETC??' El Bftd PACE Sqradron Isadora. cts....;■■ .. pd target. ever target Hesulta of bceblEg act ctnw?;jd ar- dust c'_ ‘ -Tine “' ►00Q ^t. ft. an fesateo 12&<3® fb« Mg’ct IMS mStuds ©2 nghteru M.G3C e/a uneouxilercd in taj^gol «^eus L'bsorsec 5 2 rge n/sr’s in cove at Rleida. CbcorTOd 4 S/^u on Iago di Faririt. At 1145 ' sb. sas a grant cloud of _ So. <3i^> of ...... dust Vcaturas mvas-p„ S El. E. g£ target At. 1322 to3o . S3SSJ C15 4KQ* tssa» iasss war wu^eb . t^ae «a>«u 2AM> hy1-? red JL£S3 fcy-a !• ' «» Squads® 5 «u ««f G«Ml A GwUX ¥Ofc^p »t U5S , , j'! CM* i* 9flf Ima «a Mf* M W«* / '/ ‘| ‘ W^Si^WlTO Hone. ? fS .ACTJ^TTT't « larjre u/t»b *ee« In cc-vr, at Bieida 5 c bh set i^oT BSh». _ j Eight e/a cncouztos’cd over toa-got ware . _ ------sks cad f’ cAtocko csd ™r csmr craiea coning td&Ma ®ifctda 3W© 2£23 . ©UccMEg’ (I) /raa 2 yrfu.cf eur fighters. 3 EeA09’e cads akd papa ^'ctraycdcso' Hoths A0?osido cm (1) Be AOS. ei Wdag saqr. Cur fighters gave dw® —--- •"'^» Csb CL) He.lO9 desti'cyed 5e 5e*e_ %0fthl£i AS SBUiTWW* ; -~i elw*? «socn cx-nawaae cavu. Ses® e^er iarset. - > �Kisslcm Reports (eent*d) 26 August, 1943o PRESS EJffAs Isto Uo JOS Po SXISI50 Easting^ meM«2nfl Md409. C53 (1) For ths Group Csamndart r t ■- l r- h i ■ _• . .. ■ .. <: ■ •-;A:j> I! l> � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Mission Reports Description An account of the resource A collection of Mission reports from James' combat flights. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed mission report Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 26, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force. 12th Air Force. 94th Fighter Squadron. Description An account of the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 26, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Flight Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Clyde W. Gabler Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/12/316/Dibble_Text0243.pdf 8c2d15717c4e4171466c63783d227694 PDF Text Text Page 1 of 1 James W. Dibble From: To: Sent: Attach: Subject: <RVrilakas@aol.com> <jwdlmd@coastalnet.com> Tuesday, January 07, 2003 10:41 PM Mission #19.doc Re: Armageddon '43 Jim, there are only a couple of items that I would suggest checking into or revising. a. On the 2nd page (last paragraph) you say "It was at this point that the 1st Fighter Group was assigned to the 42nd Bomb Wing". To me that would mean that we were under the command of the 42nd B. W. which would not be accurate. I think you intended to say the 1st Ftr. Gp. was tasked (or directed) to escort the 42nd Bomb Wing----- . The 1st Ftr. Gp. remained assigned directly to 12th A.F. Hq. at that time. jrience he is quoted as having dived from 17,000 ft. to the deck trying b. In the account of Hal Rigney's expert to blow the fire out. Since the bomberss were flying at 11,000 ft. it would be unlikely that any of the P-38 escort would be 5000 ft above them, at 17,( ,000 ft. I don't have anything to confirm Hal's altitude, but you might want to check that out a little further,. I think Hal's altitude was 12,000 which is about where we were when we entered the target area. >y memoirs, but in the event you haven't You may have had access to my account of the 30 Aug. mission in my I'm attaching a copy for you. You are welcome to use any part of it that rat you think appropriate to your story. 1/18/03 �Going in with the bombers we encountered the usual heavy flak then a pretty stiff battle with 25 or 30 fighters. The bombers completed their run and we were on the way out with minimum losses when someone called in a new batch of "bogies" (estimated 75 to 100) high. I looked up to see a whole gaggle of them drop belly tanks and dive into the middle of us. They had been loitering at altitude awaiting the most favorable time to attack which was after we had expended a good bit of our fuel and ammo, and were attempting to regroup from the first air battle that day. Following their initial dive into us a real dogfight erupted during which our flights were completely broken up and much of our squadron integrity disappeared. There were P-38's, ME109's and Machi 202's mixing it everywhere with many losses on both sides. Everywhere you looked there was an enemy fighter or P-38 in a spin or dive—smoking or on fire, some crashing into the Bay of Naples. A P-38 from the 71st Squadron and a Mel09 collided headon exploding in a gigantic ball of smoke and fire. As one of the pilots described it years later it looked like one of those old WWI movies such as Hell's Angels or Lilac time. I saw several P-38's on fire and one (Lt. Rigney) on fire and bellying into the water off shore. Since our fuel was getting low from the two encounters the squadron leader that day (Lt. Dibble) gave the order to work toward the Bay of Naples and reform as best we could. About the same time a P-38 from the 27th Squadron went by me toward the bay with an Mel09 closing in on his tail. I was alone and broke headon into the 109 firing a good burst at him from close range. He broke off the 27th P-38 in what appeared to be a fast, uncontrollable spinning dive. My maneuver, however had taken me directly back toward Naples and into a beehive of enemy fighters. The squadron, by then, was loosely formed up and heading out to sea. It was obvious the 109 pilots were literally choosing lots to see which got the honor and that there was no way I could best their numbers, fuel, or altitude advantage. I took the only real choice available which was to firewall it and dive for the deck out over the Bay of Naples. Almost immediately tracers went by. They were actually converging in front of me and I looked back into a spiral painted propellor spinner not more than a hundred yards behind me. As I leveled off at what appeared to be a few inches off the water he started hitting me. It sounded like hail on a tin roof with occasional explosions as his cannon shell hit and exploded. To make a more difficult target I kicked left rudder causing his tracers to go over the end of my left wing. As he worked back and started hitting the aircraft again I would try a skid the other way. This ploy was used several times and it reduced his effectiveness, but he still got quite a few hits each time as he worked back through. I was so low on the deck that he no doubt had problems avoiding the water, plus my prop wash. At times his bullets raised plumes of water ahead of me indicating he was trying to shoot from an elevated position and was over-leading me. It seemed certain my aircraft was either going to lose an engine or explode and I was considering how to handle that when I noticed I was rapidly overtaking another Me 109 directly ahead and about a hundred feet above me. He was apparently trying to catch up with the other P-38's ahead. That meant that if I went under him there would be two of them on my tail. If I pulled up and eliminated the skid to fire at him the guy behind me would have a sitting duck to work on. I pulled up, got a good bead on the Me 109 ahead and fired all four 50 calibers and the cannon. He started to smoke and went into a gentle turn to the right. Almost simultaneously there was a crash as my pursuer gave me a long burst, enveloping me again with a hail of tracers. One of his bullets creased the canopy bar beside my head, which knocked out the whole rear of the canopy. Plexiglass flew all over the cockpit-even into my mouth. I dove for the deck again and for some reason experienced no more shots from the 109 behind me. Within seconds during which I expected to catch more fire my right engine oil temperature began to rise rapidly and the pressure began dropping. I feathered the right engine and watched the left with no little anxiety, but despite apparent gaping cannon holes in both wings and numerous 30 cal. holes in the engine �nacelles and wings the left engine continued to function fine. Happily the gauges showed no rapid fuel loss and radio contact was made with the squadron. Lt. Dibble brought what was left of the squadron around in a 360 degree turn allowing me to catch up. Three of the 94th pilots, Lts. Dibble, Pettus and Anderson stayed with me while the rest of the squadron proceeded back to home base in Africa. We headed for Sicily, the nearest friendly landfall and after what seemed an endless time arrived over northern Sicily and proceeded to the nearest airfield. The airfield was under construction, but there was enough P.S.P. (pierced steel planking) installed to land on so I set up an approach. Just as the end of the runway was reached an Italian truck being used for construction drove directly across in front of me. I managed to add enough power to get over him but decided against a go around, not knowing what the condition of the hydraulic system was and whether or not the gear could be raised, (the landing gear had to be raised to effect a successful pull-up and go around on single engine.) The landing went o.k. with sufficient speed left to taxi over to some tents being used by the Army Combat Engineers. Upon shutting down the good engine it caught fire but was quickly extinguished by an awaiting fireman. The plane looked like a sieve. I estimated there were 60 to 80, 30 cal holes plus 4 or 5 exploded cannon round hits that in each case flared a large piece of the wing skin up. Even the props had bullet holes through them. Lts. Dibble, Pettus, and Anderson, after seeing me down safely, buzzed the field and continued on to home base in Africa. I stayed at the field that night then made my way back to the base at Mature the next day on a C-47 transport. I've always regretted not getting some pictures of the P-38, but doubt if a camera was available. I was credited with one victory that day and one damaged. The Mel09 firing at me either ran out of ammunition and/or broke off to go to the aid of his comrade. The credited kill and damaged was inadvertently listed as Machi 202's but it didn't make that much difference to me at the time. 2 �We lost Lt. Parlett, Lt. Peck, Lt. Cram, Lt. Woodward and Lt. Rigney that day from the 94th Squadron. The other squadrons had similar losses. Lts. Parlett and Rigney survived being shot down and were taken prisoner by the Germans. Both of them along with Lt. Catledge from the 71st squadron escaped and after months of working their way down through Italy, finally reached friendly forces in Southern Italy and safety. The group was again awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Upon my arrival back at the base I was greeted like a long lost relative, debriefed by intelligence, and then went to my tent for a much needed rest. My air mattress for my army cot was missing. The squadron didn't have enough air mattresses to go around so they were inherited from pilots rotating home or "requisitioned" directly by one of the newer pilots when someone failed to return from a mission. I was building up a head of steam when one of the more recently assigned pilots came in looking very embarrassed and dragging my air mattress. He sheepishly apologized and it was good for a tension relieving laugh. 3 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943 Description An account of the resource From Jim Dibble's account titled "The Day of Armegeddon" included in this collection: "Following the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the missions flown out of North Africa by the 1st Fighter Group pilots in their P-38 Lightnings had a common objective of preparing for the invasion at Salerno, Italy by the United States Fifth Army." A mission on August 25th was highly successful, with a loss of only 8 P-38's. The 1st Fighter Group earned a Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for their efforts, but the August 30 mission, for which they would earn a second citation, was not so easy. See mission reports, photos, first hand accounts and more information about this infamous air battle known as The Day of Armageddon. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul><li> <ul><li><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Account from Lt. Robert Vrilakas' memoir about the events of August 30, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource World War II. August 30, 1943. Description An account of the resource Account from Lt. Robert Vrilakas' memoir about the events of August 30, 1943 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Historical account Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lt. Robert Vrilakas Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource unknown Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/10/242/Dibble_Text0183.pdf 21c20931f9342b52e87224299f2f6f9c PDF Text Text WBW 5 A.P.O. 520 August 26, 1<45. NARRATIVE IS P-3(.£ of the 94th Fighter Squadron, Lts. Pace, Schaper, Riles, Thiessen, Dibble, :arlett, Anderson, Pettus, Phillips, Lee, Sokol, Van Sice, Cram, Rigney, bower, rarlett, Schulze, Kipper and Vrilakas, tog« _gether "with-formations from the 2?th and 71st Fighter Scuadrons, 'took off at IOS7 houi >urs to-escort 72 B-26s on bombing mission over GRAZZANItE, ITALIC airdrome). . 2 P~38s 5s returned early. Lt. Sokol returned because he had no at 1048 radio, landing 1_i__t T'"' hours. Lt. Van Sice returned early because both engines were cutting' out, landing landliy at 1 5 hours. Formation was attacked by 3 Ke«109s, Ke. 10?; one of which at NISIDA < was destroyed by Lt. Lt< Dibble, mo flak encountered. 5 large m/V seen in cove 5. JJO at 1235 hours. 16 P-36s P- >s Udm at base at 1550 hours. Time off "Z? 1C-. hrs. Time over target 1245 hrs.’ Time down 1550 hrs. CHROYOLCGT: T" 40 degrees t : target then 220 dej * ' agrees back to base. ~ ROUE: Base I, ITTCl: 3 r ' ng was not observed because i± was obscured by dust. result;? __ c? bct <one . F1AK:. None "erFt .•"RiTAL : ACTIVITY: 3 fee. 109s’attacked our formation and one was destroyed by It. Dibble. EKE?£f AIRDROPS: None •• ENEMY GROUND ACTIVITY: None -• ENEMY NAVAL & SHIPPING ACTIVITY: 5 largeh/v seen in cove at NISIDA at 1235 hrs. _ . .. i • ' • ■ ... ■ ' ” , EN^g TACTICS & SPECIAL COMMENTS; ’ None . ENEVY LOSSES: One Me.109 destroyed ••• • • S6kTte's7~i6-~ ■ y-.- _-1- ; LEATHER: . 4/3Dths scattered clouds at 7>000 feet. Same over target and on.return. S-DAW^O.fon^ r ' 1st -Lt., Air Corps, te ;L V r I � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Mission Reports Description An account of the resource A collection of Mission reports from James' combat flights. Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed mission report Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 26, 1943 Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force. 12th Air Force. 94th Fighter Squadron. Description An account of the resource Mission Report for the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, August 26, 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Flight Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Andrew B. Adams Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022