Byron Jerome Gronstal
MilitaryARowe95
ETTG, Ballinger Crew. 381st BG, 533rd BS, 8th AF. Shot down 4 July 1943 in B-17 #42-29928. Mission #7 to the Gnome-Rhone engine factory at Le Mans, France. MACR 161. Landed near Lt Ballinger who observed Sgt Gronstal was wounded with a broken nose and facial lacerations due to a 20mm shell hitting his top turret. French farmers bandaged him up until a German patrol captured him. Prisoner of War at Stalag VIIA and XVIIB.
Van Nuys, CA
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 533rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-736459
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 533rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35661197
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 533rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19069301 at enlistment, then O-737353
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot / Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 533rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34315087
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 533rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34207244
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 533rd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 4 July 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 17b, Krems an der Donau, Austria
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Sioux City, IA, USA | 27 October 1912 | |
Enlisted |
1 June 1942 | ||
Other Prisoner of War |
13 October 1943 - 2 May 1945 | Stalag XVIIB | |
Died |
Pacoima, Los Angeles, CA, USA | 10 October 1981 | |
Based |
4 July 1943 | ||
Other Prisoner of War |
13 October 1943 | Stalag VIIA | |
Buried |
Glen Haven Memorial Park Sylmar, CA |
Revisions
Brought in information from duplicate record. Sources: 381st Bomb Group Memorial Association, March 1999; MACR 161 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 161 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / www.381st.org/UnitHistory/Data/Roster.aspx