Barton P Christopher

Military

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Units served with

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

New York, New York 25 May 1919

Enlisted

Laramie, Wyoming 8 January 1942

Other

Combat Mission

Euskirchen, Germany 3 March 1945 That afternoon Lieut. Barton P. Christopher went to the aid of the 9th Armored Division on its drive toward Cologne. The targets were on the north side of Euskirchen. They were a German command post and a road block which consisted of small concrete buildings in which the enemy was strongly situated. After the bombing and strafing, the ground controller complimented them on a "damn good show ... You got direct hits on both targets." Christopher then strafed three machine-gun nests which were firing on him while he was at 2,000 feet over the target. "It made me mad. The Germans jumped out of their sand-bagged positions and ran across a field toward a box car on a railroad track. I shot two of them down on the run, then strafed the box car." Christopher reported American troops and vehicles streaming along roads to the front, while Euskirchen was being shelled with white phosphorus.

Other

Combat Mission

east of Leipzig, Germany 16 April 1945 Prowling over a railroad line about 12 miles east of Leipzig, Major Peterson saw an indeterminate something on the tracks, with a long pencil-thin shadow pointing away to the south toward our troops. It was the jackpot—a string of four heavy railway guns, thoroughly camouflaged. Down went Pin-tail with its 50-calibers against eight-inch guns. "After two strafing passes," said Flight Leader Barton Christopher, "I saw the Jerries running away from the guns. About that time we apparently hit the ammunition in five box cars and a motor truck nearby, and the explosions blew one gun sky-high. The other three weren't-likely to shoot again."

Died

8 August 1960

Buried

Nashua, New Hampshire 12 August 1960 Evergreen Cemetery Nashua, New Hampshire