FRE 9870

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Brigadier General Frederick W Castle. Posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on December 24, 1944. Excerpt below is pasted from Wikipedia: On December 24, 1944, Castle flew as co-pilot on the lead aircraft of the 487th Bomb Group, RAF Lavenham, England, on his 30th combat mission. The mission fell fifteen minutes behind schedule because of problems assembling the massive force, and the 487th missed its rendezvous with escorting P-51 fighters because the fighters were late in arriving due to the weather. The lead bomber also experienced an intermittent problem with one of its four engines and was attacked by German ME-109 fighters while still over Allied-held territory in Belgium. Castle's bomber fell away from the formation almost immediately and he instructed the deputy commander by radio to take over the lead. The B-17 struggled with control and moved some distance away from the protection of the bomber force, where it was again attacked. The pilots attempted to return to the bomber column but a third attack set both engines on the right wing on fire. Castle ordered the bomber abandoned but it spun into a dive. The pilots recovered from the dive and seven of the nine crewmen parachuted. The pilot was observed in the nose of the airplane hooking on his parachute, with Castle still at the controls, when the fuel tank in the burning right wing exploded, putting the B-17 into a spin from which it did not recover, crashing near Hods, Belgium. Of the nine crewmen, five survived the crash. Frederick W. Castle was interred at the American Cemetery and Memorial at Henri-Chapelle, province of Liège, Belgium. Growing up as a resident of Mountain Lakes, NJ, I didn't take proper note of Gen. Castle's heroism. The General was from Mountain Lakes and his name is on the plaque in Memorial Park, honoring residents of the borough that paid the ultimate price.

Connections

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Units

The insignia of the 487th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

A painting of Brigadier General Frederick W. Castle. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Brig. Gen. Frederick W. Castle.'
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 4th Combat Bomb Wing 487th Bomb Group 94th Bomb Group 836th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-319375
  • Highest Rank: Brigadier General
  • Role/Job: Commanding Officer; Air Leader, Pilot

Locations

Officers of the 487th Bomb Group outside the 838th Bomb Squadron operations room.
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Lavenham/Alpheton Airfield

Revisions

Date:
Contributormarpar
ChangesChanges to caption, unit associations and place associations
Sources

marpar
Wikipedia

Date:
ContributorAAM
ChangesAAM ingest
Sources

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection