https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/9/374/Dibble_Text0214.pdf a4c12ab1678dd5a1d120d8b1f0f1ac68 PDF Text Text On May 5,1943 a new pilot, Lt. James P. Dibble arrived at the First Fighter Groups airbase at Chateaudun du Rommel, Algeria and was assigned to the 94th "Hat in Ring" squadron. Lt. Dibble's first combat mission took place on May 21,1943. The Group would be escorting approximately 70 B-17 bombers from the 2nd and 301st Bomb Groups to Sciacca, Sicily. Sixteen pilots from the 94th along with formations from the 27th and 71st fighter squadrons took off at 7:40am for the mission. The bombers went over the target at 25,000 feet with the fighters providing protection from 29,000 feet. The following day Jim would write home to his wife describing his experience that day. "I will tell you that my introduction to combat was a merry one," Jim wrote to his wife. "We were escorting bombers and right over the target in the flak and fighter area, my right engine quit - whew, did I sweat for a minute. I couldn't stay with the formation, and it was a long way from home. So I feathered the bad engine's prop and started down in a hell of a hurry. Luckily the bombers were just leaving the target so I just tucked myself under the wing of one of those beautiful babies and went home with them for protection. Some fun." After the publication of the Collier’s Wing Talk article Jim’s mother wrote asking if he was the pilot in the article. He wrote home identifying himself as the pilot and added the following, "A waist gunner fired a burst at me as I was moving in, he thought I was the enemy-fortunately he missed." Quite an introduction to combat with many more exciting times to come. Lt. Dibble would go on to fly 49 missions before being shot down and killed strafing a large German convoy in Italy. He came back from missions three times on one engine, shot down 2 ME-109's with one probable. He met Eddie Rickenbacker and Jimmy Doolittle. Escorted General Eisenhower to Sicily to meet with Patton, Alexander and on to Malta to meet Lord Gort. At the time of his death he had become the top-rated pilot in the squadron. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, 10 Air Medals and two Presidential Unit Citations. There is a monument dedicated by the citizens of Padula, Italy to Lt. Dibble's sacrifice. The story of this monument and its dedication can be seen on Youtube. Go to the following link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5xBvSe84 � 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: Combat! Description An account of the resource James spent his combat time based out of North Africa and helped clear the way for the eventual invasion of Italy in 1943. He was a member of the 94th Air Squadron, <a href="https://www.1stfg.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1st Fighter Group</a>, and flew the famous twin-engined P-38. Learn more about the P-38 at: <ul><li><a href="http://www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aviation History online Museum</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj_1pKiyOT5AhXUkIkEHWqSCb8QFnoECAMQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Ftechnology%2FP-38&usg=AOvVaw25-9_sOlkuv_UPtZBhV1Ma" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Britannica.com</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj_1pKiyOT5AhXUkIkEHWqSCb8QFnoECAQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLockheed_P-38_Lightning&usg=AOvVaw0_UoxVGVbZOtad9vsjWvhW" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wikipedia</a><a href="http://www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a></li> </ul> Don't miss the section titled Day of Armageddon recapping the events of August 30, 1943. This air battle over Italy ultimately earned James the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was lucky to survive - many pilots made the ultimate sacrifice. See photos, letters, mission reports and more about James' time spent in combat over Africa and Italy in 1942 and 1943. 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 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 A short bio on James written by his nephew Jim. Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Combat. Description An account of the resource A short bio on James written by his nephew Jim. It references an article from Collier's, June 26, 1943, recounting a combat incident attributed to James Dibble. Rights were not received to include the text or an image of the article, but the original can be seen at the Hastings Public Library. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Magazine transcription Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jim Dibble 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