S/Sgt Sidney ("Sid") Rivers Ayres flew 50 missions as a tail gunner on a B-24.  He was a part of the 15th Army Air Force that operated in Italy.  His group, the 456th Bombardment Group (Heavy) bombed targets in Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, and Romania.  He flew with the crew of Dave Ogden.  Sgt. Ayres was stationed most of his career at Cergnolia, Italy.  His photo is on Page 67 of "456th Bomb Group" book, by Turner Publishing Company {See References below} .  Also, Sgt. Ayres was called "Sid" while in the Army but at home he was always "Rivers".

   Rivers Ayres said he and a friend went to Detroit (or Chicago) and worked in an aircraft factory.  He said they made B-26's.  He commented that it was called the "Flying Coffin" and he hoped that name was not due to their workmanship.  He got homesick and quite work and returned to Mississippi.  He was immediately drafted into the Army.  Rivers was sent to Camp Shelby, MS to be inducted and then to basic training at Kesler, MS.  Next he went to Laredo, TX for gunner training school.  He then went to Topeka, Kansas where he was assigned to the crew of 1st Lt. David M. Ogden and later to Tonapah, NV, where the above photo was taken.
   Sid was selected to be a gunner because of his small size allowed him to fit into the small positions.  He was offered a choice as to which of the 3 turrent positions he wanted to have.  He choose the tail gunner position.  Sid didn't like the idea of being lowered down under the plane in the belly turrent.
  The photo at top is a photo of PFC Ayres taken during training.
 

Photo of  "Worry Bird"  Standing (L-R) -  Bill Coates- Co-pilot;  Jerry Baldwin- Navigator;   OFFICERS            Manny Liftshitz (changed name to Lawrence)- Bombadier;   Dave Ogden- Pilot Kneeling (L-R)  - Bob Laird - Top Turrent Gnr;    Sid Ayres - Tail Gnr ;   ENLISTED            Bill Hudson- Radio Op;          Bob Gill- Engineer;                          Tony Arpaia- Nose Gunner;   Eddie Ryan- Ball Turrent Gnr & Armorer .

   Captain Ogden's crew were assigned a B-24 that had a shark's mouth painted on the nose.  They left Kansas and flew to Italy with stops in Florida, Puerto Rica, Brazile, and North Africa.  Their aircraft was taken from them and they received another one.  Captain Ogden's crew flew two aircraft during their combat missions.  One aircraft was named "Worry Bird" and another was "Fat Stuff".  The 456th Bomb Group book says that David M. Ogden's plane was shot down while he and his crew were at rest camp in Capri.  This agrees with Sgt. Ayres' entry into his notebook that said their crew went to Capri for R&R between July 23 and August 2.  This could explain the second change of aircraft.
   Sgt. Ayres flew his first combat mission on May 18, 1944.  The target for this mission was the oil refineries at Ploesti, Rumania.  This was not a easy target--or as they said, not a "milk run".  This target was first bombed by American bombers on 12 June 1942.  The most famous raid was a low-level bombing attack on 1 August, 1943, which resulted in a large loss of aircraft. Ploesti oil fields were attacked several times over a year with the loss of 206 bombers and 2200 crewmembers. However, the 456th BG flew many missions without even seeing any enemy aircraft.  By 1944, the Ploesti raids were not as costly because the German Luftwaffe defenses were weakened and the bombers dropped their bombs from high altitude.
   Sid told a story about his friend and waist gunner, Bob Gill.  Before each flight, Gill would check out a leather flight helmet and a steel Army helmet and wear both of them.  One day a near miss by flak sent a piece of shrapnel bouncing off of Gill's helmet and knocked it off his head and out the other side window.  Sid turned and looked back at Gill---who was smiling with his buck teeth shinning.
   Sid said that on one flight, his B-24 had lost two engines.  His Captain asked the crew if they wanted to fly directly to Switzerland or try to limp back to base.  If they landed in Switzerland, the chances are that they would be interned until the end of the war. They chose to return to their base; alone and without fighter escort. They flew among the clouds when possible for cover.  They had been reported as missing by the time they landed.
   Later on, Eddie Moran joined their crew as an extra crewmember.  Eddie had served with another bomber crew that was lost in combat.  He was a few missions short of the 50 required.  He was assigned to fly with Captain Ogden's crew as a combat photographer until he completed his missions.
   The B-24 had the longest range of any American bomber.  Because of this, the crew were credited with 2 missions to some targets.  His last combat mission was on 3 September 1944.  Sid kept a souvenir of his last mission: a safety pin from one of the bombs.
   Sgt Ayres departed Naples and returned to the US on October 28, 1944.  It appears that after all of his flying the Army thought it best that he return on a ship.

Re-assignment in the US
    The flight crews who returned to the US after their 50 missions were used to train other airmen.  Sid was sent to Topeka, KS for training as an instructor.  Then he was sent to Tonapah, NV, as an instructor.  When the war ended, he was discharged from the Army.  But first, he was sent to Washington state to begin his discharge and then to Maxwell base in Alabama for his final paper work.  He finally arrived home on October 11, 1945.

Awards and Decorations
    Sgt. Ayres was awarded the Air Medal with 3 oak leaves, the Good Conduct Medal and a Campaign Medal with 4 battle stars.  His unit earned the Distinguished Unit Citiation for two missions.  The one that Sid flew on was on July 2, 1944 when his group bombed the Shell Oil Refinery near Budapest, Hungary.  They were attacked by 60 enemy a/c, which attacked in pairs and fours, closing to within 100 yards. Six bombers were shot down but 26 of the enemy a/c were downed and 8 probable.  The 456th BG casualties for this mission included:  61 missing in action, 1 gunner killed and 3 wounded.

See also the biography of George McGovern, 455th Bomb Group.

 

Mission Log    Sgt. Ayres recorded his WW2 experiences in a small tablet.  On the first page, he wrote down the bases and towns he stopped at during his flight to Italy.     The second page(see below) has a list of his crew.     On the next 5 pages, Sgt. Ayres recorded every mission he flew on, including the date, the target and the bomb load.    The last page is another record of every place he was stationed when he returned to the States and it was probably written by his mother.

An interesting fact I learned from his book is that the B-24 crews received credit
for 2 missions to some targets.  Note the "II" listed next to "May 18 - First Mission".

 

Photo of "Fat Stuff"   Posing with the photo is Eddie Ryan, the ball turrent gunner, who may also have been the artist for this nose art.  The No 67 was an aircraft number that was painted on nose of each a/c in the squadron for ease of identifcation.  The "Fat Stuff" character was a comic strip at that time.

 

Photo taken during training at Tonapah, NV, before combat in Italy.  Sid is wearing his wool-lined "bomber" jacket.

 

456th Bombardment Group (Heavy) Consisted of:  744th, 745th, 746th & 747th Bombardment Squadrons Flew 249 Missions from 10 Feb 1944- 26 April 1945 Under command of 304th Bomb Wing of the 15th Air Force. Tail markings= Black diamond on upper half / Lower half of rudder was Red. Re-designated as 456th Troop Carrier in 1952.

747th Bombardment Squadron Each Squadron consisted of 6 B-24 aircraft. Constituted as 747th Bomber Squadron (Heavy) on 14 May 1943.  Base:  Stornara, Italy from 27 Jan. 1944-19 July 1945. Decorations:  Distinguished Unit Citation for (a) aircraft factory at Weiner Neustadt Austria(10 May 44) and (b) Shell Oil Refineray at Budapest Hungary(2 Jul 44).  Re-designated as part of 456th Troop Carrier in 1952.

The 304th Bomb Wing consisted of B-24s from 4 groups:  454 BG, 455 BG, 456 BG, & 459 BG.
The 304th BW was identifed by a black diamond on the upper half of the rudder.
The groups within the 304BW was identified by a color on the lower half of the rudder:
     454BG (white), 455BG (yellow), 456BG (red), & 459BG (yellow/black checkered).
 

References

"456th Bomb Group" "Steed's Flying Colts, 1943-1945" by Turner Publishing Co. Paducah KY, 1994 ISBN 1-56311-141-1 Comments taken from this book are indicated in dark red color in the above text. Sgt. Ayres photo is on page 67 (at right).

Organization of the 15th Air Force - Website in Austria that has an organization of the 15AF with tail markings for each unit.

After the War
After his release from Sid returned to his home in Hickory Flat, MS, where he lived next to his brother.  He married Ethel and they had a daugher and a son.  Today, Sid has four granddaughters and helps his son farm.  Any day, you can find Sid on a tractor or running a sawmill.
 

Photo of Rivers Ayres taken in September 2004.    After an interview with Mr. Ayres, I got him to pose in this uniform.  We were having fun kidding about how handsome he looked in uniform, so I convinced him to let me take a picture.    This is my coat from my collection; I had to edit the photo so it would have the correct stripes as he would have worn at the end of his tour in Italy.   The visor cap is his, though.   Over his right breast pocket is the blue Distinguished Unit Citation ribbon.  Over his left breast pocket is his ribbons and gunners wings.  On his left shoulder is the 15th Air Force patch.

Thanks to the webmaster of the 456th Bomb Group Association and their website.  Rivers Ayres granted permission for the 456th BG Association to use some photos and information from this page and has links to River's biography.
456th Bomb Group