Cedric Colby Cole

Military

Cedric Cole was Radio Operator on board B-24H #41-28729 when it crashed while attempting to land at Warton (Neaton) upon returning from a combat mission on 8 March 1944. Returned To Duty (RTD). Shot down 22 April 1944 in B-24 #41-29273 'Flak Magnet'. Prisoner of War (POW).

POW

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

Personnel of the 458th Bomb Group gather around a B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-29303) nicknamed "Liberty Lib" in order to transfer a casualty into a waiting ambulance. Image via Harry Holmes. Written on slide casing: '458th BG.'

458th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

Robert Louis Allin

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 37223225
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner

James Lloyd Fittinger

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39277261
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner

Peter Kowal

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-810990
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

James Frederick Mortinson

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39604346 at enlistment, then O-682501
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier

Herman Arthur Peacher

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 17159837
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner

Aircraft

The shark mouth nose of a B-24 Liberator nicknamed "Flak Magnet" of the 458th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: '458th B.G.'

41-29273

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Flak Magnet
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron

Missions

A B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-29155) nicknamed "Picadilly Commando" of the 446th Bomb Group. First handwritten caption on reverse: '446BG B/24 leaving Ruhr on its way home 22 April 1944.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: '22/4/44, 21,000 Ft. Hamm, smoke screen in distance.'

311

  • Date: 22 April 1944

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

18 July 1922 near Mattoon, Coles County, Illinois, United States

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

22 April 1944 Captured in Ostenfelde, Germany. Interned at Stalag XVIIB in Braunau-Gneikendorf, near Krems, Austria. NARA WWII POW record : “Returned to Military Control 4 June 1945.”

Died

3 September 2008 Lebanon, Illinois
Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois

Buried

Cedric Cole rests at the College Hill Cemetery, Lebanon, Illinois

Revisions

Date13 Apr 2020 13:06:46
ContributorED-BB
Sources

NARA POW record - added date of end of captivity

Date13 Apr 2020 12:51:36
ContributorED-BB
Sources

MACR 4180
WWII POW records
Downed Allied Aircraft Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen (KU) Reports KU 1487 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/139542878
VA Gravesite locator
Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File

Date12 Apr 2020 14:15:10
ContributorED-BB
Sources

MACR 4180

Date27 Sep 2014 18:05:19
ContributorAAM
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 4180 / MACR 4180, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces & Page 274 of the book LIBERAORS OVER NORWICH by Mackay, Bailry & Scorza, 2010, D790G4582010 &

href="http://www.458bg.com/crew33spaven.htm">http://www.458bg.com/crew33spaven.htm> / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database