https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/13/317/Dibble_Text0094.pdf a8720fc2e34f42eadc961bdd69022fce PDF Text Text SEPTEMBER 9, 1943 September 9th, six days after Montgomery and the British forces landed in extreme southern Italy, the U.S. 5th Army under General Mark Clark staged an assault landing on the beaches near Salerno, 25 miles southeast of Naples. Gathering in Sicily were the main units of the Allied Air-Forces which would be needed to support the invasion. The main U.S. convoy had sailed from Oran on September 5th. The British troops landed at the southern end of Italy on September 3rd, and resistance to the landings was slight. Both German and Italian forces evaded major engagements and fell back rapidly after carrying out extensive demolition. By September 8th, British advance units were already halfway up the toe of the Italian boot. With the announcement that evening of the unconditional surrender of the Italian government, hostile action by the Italian Army in the south ceased, and the Italian fleet sailed for allied ports to surrender. However, it was anticipated that the landing of the 5th Army at Salerno would cause an immediate and strong reaction from the Germans. It was expected that they would fight hard to prevent, or at least delay a penetration inland that would trap their forces moving up from the south. Late on September 8th, at their temporary base at Catania, Sicily, the word was passed around the First Fighter Group; "We're landing at Salerno tomorrow." During the briefing that followed, the 94th Fighter Squadron learned that it had been assigned the "Pears" beach area to patrol during the invasion. The mission was to prevent the German Air Force from attacking the invasion forces on the beachhead. During the first three missions the 94th flew on the 9th, only 4 enemy aircraft were seen and they fled at the sight of the P-38s. Jim would lead the fourth and largest mission of the day. The flight of twelve planes was separated into three flights of four planes each designated “Red, White and Blue” respectively. Having received advance permission to strafe behind the German lines, Jim was jubilant. "We get to strafe," he proclaimed to fellow pilots. The briefing was short and to the point. Jim told the pilots that they would be given a target to strafe following their patrol of the beach. He told the pilots to kick hard on their rudders while strafing to keep from getting hit. This mission, Jim's 49th, was to be his last. The planes took off at 3:00 PM reaching the beach �area at 4:10. Flying on Jim's wing was a new pilot, Lt. Stan Wojcik. Stan had trained to be a P-40 pilot. He had been assigned to the 5th Air Force and was traveling across North Africa to reach his new base when his orders were suddenly changed. Stan was reassigned to the First Fighter Group while it was on stand down following the August 30th mission. Due to the upcoming invasion, the Group needed pilots in a hurry. When he arrived at his new squadron, Stan got in about five hours of transitional flying before going with the Group to Sicily for the invasion. After Jim’s flight had patrolled the beach area for one hour, "Changer," the aircraft controller on the USS Ancon, ordered Jim's flight to attack a convoy of over 400 enemy vehicles 30 miles east of Agropoli, Italy. The German convoy was traveling north along National Highway 19 near the small town of Padula. The flight turned south and followed the coast to Agropoli where it turned east to find the convoy. As the flight passed over the town of Monte San Giacomo the valley with the German convoy appeared before them. Jim, with Red Flight, initiated the attack out of the sun at over 300 mph. The remaining two flights of four planes loitered at altitude until ordered in. As the Red Flight attacked, the Germans threw up a wall of anti-aircraft fire, above them as well as below, from the sides of the mountains as well as from the valley. "Red" flight had just pulled around in the valley following the initial attack when White and Blue flight were ordered to attack. Just then, Jim’s wingman, Stan Wojcik noticed smoke coming from Jim's plane. Stan pulled up above Jim's plane so he could look into the cockpit. By now the cockpit of Jim's plane was engulfed in smoke and flames. Unable to detect any movement by Jim, Stan shoved the throttles to the firewall to try to get away. Having been close to Jim's plane, the anti-aircraft guns were already trained in Stan's direction. He felt a couple of thuds. The area in front of his cockpit erupted in smoke and flames which then extending into the cockpit. He immediately pulled the escape ring above the windshield and the slipstream blew the top canopy off. After gaining enough altitude, and knowing he was vulnerable to being hit by the horizontal stabilizer, Stan pushed himself backward out of the cockpit. Stan waited to pull the ripcord. Fortunately, he missed the tail, his chute opened and he had to turn his chute to miss some high-tension wires near the road. Seeing the first two planes in Red Flight shot down, White flight and Blue flight immediately broke of the attack continuing east taking the remaining P-38’s up and over the East Mountain ridge to escape the intense anti-aircraft fire and to locate additional targets to attack. Lt. Cy Nolen part of White flight flew under Stan as he was coming down in his parachute and saw his plane crash on the east ridge. �Being low when he bailed out, Stan hit the ground almost immediately. He was immediately captured by German troops from the convoy and though severely burned would eventually survive the war in Stalag Luft 1. With both engines on fire Jim’s plane was gliding south when it crash landed in a farm field just East of the National Highway. He was able to get out of his plane but it appeared that among other injuries he had a broken leg. Soon German troops arrived and a firefight broke out. After having been further injured a German soldier picked up Jim’s pistol and killed him with it. Two brothers, Vito and Paolo Cimino, who had been working in the field at the time were ordered to bury Jim next to his fighter plane. The area around Padula had been anti-German. In fact, there were freedom fighters in the area several of which had been either killed or captured by the Germans. Jim’s attack on September 9, 1943 marked the end of the German occupation of the area. The German’s had gathered tank, infantry and anti-aircraft forces near Padula to be ready to mobilize and attack the American Army as soon as they knew the location of the landing. The German forces quickly left the area to reinforce German troops near Salerno and to avoid being trapped between the American and the British 8th Army moving up from the extreme southern toe of Italy. In my attempts to learn what had happened to my Uncle, Jim’s crash site was located in May 1999. While we were excavating the area, we were approached by several of the area’s citizens who remembered the event. They now knew who the pilot was that crashed in their field that day. They told us they wanted to build a memorial to honor his sacrifice. Many of Padula’s citizens still remembered the attack by Jim’s flight of P-38s, not because it was their one main battle during the war, but because it had come to symbolized their freedom and the end of World War II as they knew it. The Padula area is known for their marble like stone that is quarried in the nearby mountains. On May 6, 2000 the town of Padula came to the crash site to honor Jim. At the crash site there is a very large piece of Padula stone rising over eight feet out of the ground. One side had been polished with a commemorative plaque attached to it. Authored by eyewitness and former Mayor Enzo Pinto, the plaque read: “ON SEPTEMBER 9, 1943 LIEUTENANT JAMES P. DIBBLE CRASHED HERE WITH HIS AIRCRAFT WHILE LEADING A SQUADRON OF 12 P38 AIRPLANES. HE WAS STILL ALIVE AND WOUNDED WHEN BARBARIOUSLY KILLED BY THE GERMAN SOLDIERS. THE �FAMILY AND ALL PADULA REMEMBER HIM, AND IN HIS MEMORY, HONOR THE COURAGE AND SACRIFICE OF HIS YOUNG LIFE.” The ceremony was attended by many of Padula’s citizens along with representatives from the local and regional governments as well as representatives for the regional Carabinieri (a member of the Italian paramilitary police). The eyewitnesses to the crash came to remind their fellow citizens what took place that day. The widows of the local freedom fighters came to remind the citizens of the sacrifice made by many from this area. Many school children came to listen and learn about their village and its heritage and the United States Air Force reminded everyone how important events like these are to preserving our past as well as our future. Jim was Missing in Action and later an Unknown Soldier until he was identified in October 1946. But thanks to the citizens of Padula and to one of the very few monuments in Europe dedicated to a single airman Jim’s memory will live on long after we are gone. Jim’s remains were returned to Michigan, December 1948 and was interred in Middleville, MI’s Mt. Hope Cemetery. On his 49th and final mission, Jim made the supreme sacrifice. He did not try to be a hero; he did not have to. He knew the risks and did his job. Today we owe our freedom in part to these men who helped make this a better world to live in. What began as sorrow 75 years ago has ended in great pride and inspiration. Jim Dibble � 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: Killed in Action Description An account of the resource Typically pilots rotated home after their 50th mission. James took off for his 49th mission on Septemebr 9, 1943, and never returned. He was shot down on a straffing run near the town of Padula, Italy. Initially there was much confusion amongst the other P-38 pilots, and it was thought James survivied and may have been taken prisoner. Ultimately it was discovered that James had been shot down and then killed by German soldiers. James was ultiamtely brought home and buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Middleville, Michigan. See information on his gravesite at <a href="https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40312090/james-p-dibble" target="_blank" title="James P. Dibble's Gravesite" rel="noreferrer noopener">FindAGrave.com</a>. See reports, documents and letters around James' missing in action status and then the determination that he was killed in action. Included are letters from the Army to his wife Maxine and parents, newspaper clippings and local memorials. 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 written by Jim Dibble of September 9, 1943 when his uncle James was shot down in Italy Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Crash. Description An account of the resource Account written by Jim Dibble of September 9, 1943 when his uncle James was shot down in Italy. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Military history 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