Military
2Lt William James Martin - Navigator 42-34346 - KIA 14-10-1943 over Eygelshoven (NL).
Place where 42-3436 crashed on October 14, 1943 - 13.45 h local time. Tail part in The Netherlands Nose part in Germany Missing - nose - Donald Paul Breeden/co-pilot Probably interred with Martin and/or Manley Source: George Kuhl - Wrong Place! Wrong Time! - page 149 KIA - nose - William James Martin/navigator - Harvey Arlie Manley/bombardier KIA - tail - Leonard Roy Henlin/left waist gunner - Robert G Wells /right waist gunner All others POW Krems /17b - Hosea Crawford - Dominic Lepore - Arthur Linrud - Benjamin Roberts Sagan/3 - Dennis McDarby
Grave of William James Martin - US Cemetery Margraten - grave B/15/19. He was first buried at the Forrest Cemetery, Merkstein-Germany on October 18th 1943 in grave 514.
Plan of Finkenrath showing the orchard where Mr. Heinz Michels watched the crash and the place of the crash he and Klara Wauters mention in a book about Finkenrath.
A view of the memorial stone and plaque at the day of the unveiling on 13-10-2018.
Shot down 14 October 1943 in B-17 #423436. Killed in Action (KIA).
Buried Netherlands American Cemetery Plot B Row 15 Grave 19.
Born on 16 August 1920 in Denver Colorado, and lived in Paducah - McCracken County - Kentucky.
On November 1, 1943 Lt Martin was reported missing in action since October 14th to his mother, Mrs Gus (Josephine) Davenport.
From The Paducah Sun-Democrat, on November 1, 1943: '"Lt. Martin left the US for England in september. He graduated June 24 at the San Marcos Texas aerial navigation training base and received his wings and commission there. He applied for cadet training while a student at Murray State Teachers college and was ordered to report for duty in december 1942 at Kelly Field San Antonio Texas. Mr Martin was born in Denver (Colorado) and lived in Paducah since 1939. He was employed at the Columbia theater during vacations."
More see http://home.kpn.nl/slang075/breeden-crew-members-42-3436.html
Group
The 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), nicknamed "Can Do" was activated 1-March-1942 at Salt Lake City Air Base, Utah which was their primary training base until 11-Jun-1942 when they relocated to Geiger Field, Washington until 29-Jun-1942, then on to...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 15/6/43; Redmond 15/8/43; Assigned 96BG 16/8/43; transferred 364BS/305BG [WF-R] Chelveston 18/9/43;
...
4 October 1943
3 B-17s from 305BG/422BS are despatched to join a night mission with the Royal Air Force (RAF) on Frankfurt-am-Main/Wiesbaden, Germany. One aircraft Failed to Return (FTR) 5KIA 5POW.
8 October 1943
The shipyards and industrial areas of Bremen, Germany are the primary targets for this mission, but cloud cover causes some formations to bomb targets of opportunity. The attacking elements have been summarized below:
...
9 October 1943
This mission is composed of 6 elements. The first element is a combined force of 115 B-17s from: 303BG (20); 379BG (20); 384BG (21); 351BG (21); 91BG 16; and 381BG (16) dispatched to bomb the industrial areas of Anklam, Germany. 106 aircraft are...
10 October 1943
This mission was intended to be a massive attack of 307 B-17s on the railroad facilities and waterway (canals) at Munster, Germany. This attack was to be supported by a diversion 39 B-24s. The formation was attacked by hundreds of German fighters which...
14 October 1943
This was the 2nd mission flown against the ball bearing industry at Schweinfurt, Germany and was as equally disastrous as that flown on 17-Aug-43. It came to be known as "Black Thursday". While fighter escort was dispatched, bad weather and lack of...
Crash site
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Denver, Colorado, Verenigde Staten | 16 August 1920 |
| Killed in Action (KIA) | Eygelshoven Netherlands | 14 October 1943 |
| Died | Eygelshoven Netherlands | 14 October 1943 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 07 January 2020 12:03:53 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to biography |
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wim slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 11 July 2019 09:47:10 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to biography |
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wim slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 11 June 2018 07:54:12 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to biography |
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wim slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 11 June 2018 07:53:18 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to biography and events |
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wim slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 April 2018 15:49:31 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to biography |
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Wim Slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 October 2016 13:43:34 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to biography |
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Wim Slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 31 October 2016 13:42:38 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to mission associations |
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Wim Slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 16 August 2016 11:30:05 | wimhm.slangen | Changes to middlename, biography and media associations |
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Wim Slangen |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 29 March 2016 22:21:58 | rino62 | Changes to service number, biography, awards, events and mission associations |
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American Battle Monuments Commission Website |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:28:21 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1034 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
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