Chester William Watson
Military ROLL OF HONOUREntered service 5 Jan 1940. (Enlisted serial #6990417). Served at Scott Field, Chanute Field and Sheppard Field in Aviation Maintenance. Aviation student at Santa Ana, CA. Basic Flight at Minter and Bishop Fields, CA. Advanced at Luke (43-D). Pre Europe Training at Dale Mabry Fld. Atcham, UK Aug-Sept 1943.
Killed in Action (KIA) 7 November 1943 in P-47D 42-8629, 355FG/358FS his Mission #16 on a Ramrod escort to B-26s from 9th Air Force attacking German airfields at Montdidier and Muelan, France. F/O Watson ran out of fuel and he and the aircraft crashed into the English Channel and he and the aircraft were lost in the sea.
Awards: PH
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
- Unit: 355th Fighter Group 358th Fighter Squadron
Missions
- Date: 7 November 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Muncie, Indiana | 21 April 1921 | |
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
7 November 1943 | Killed when his aircaft ran out of fuel and crashed into the English Channel on return from a mission to escort b-26 bomers of 9th Air Force. His remains have never been recovered. | |
Other Commemorated |
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridgeshire CB23 7PH, UK | Commemorated on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery. |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 10-Jul-2015. Added decoration and Commemorated event per American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) records; Added KIA event per MACR 1283. Added loss details to Description based on MACR 1283 and "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / R. E. Dailey, Nephew; 355th FG Honor Roll; MACR 1283