Donald Vernon Banta

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Shot down by 20mm cannon fire from fighers and crashed near Fulda, Germany on return from the mission to Gotha, Germany on 24 February 1944 in B-24J #42-100312. Killed in Action (KIA). His remains were never recovered and he is still listed as Missing In Action (MIA).

Connections

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Units served with

A pathfinder B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-51681) of the 453rd Bomb Group flies in formation with a fellow Liberator of the 453rd and and a pathfinder Liberator of the 445th Bomb Group. Image via Alan Rowsell.

445th Bomb Group

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

People

Frederick N Aldrich

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 11010715
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner

Kenyon Brindley

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-685071
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier

Jack W Coy

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 15120028
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner

Leroy E Dunster

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39613533
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator

Robert Le Porter

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-688779
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Aircraft

42-100312

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 701st Bomb Squadron 703rd Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Signal Squares on the airfield at Tibenham, B-24 Liberators of the 398th Bomb Group are visible in the background. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Tibenham Signal Squares.'

Tibenham

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Tivetshall

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Orchard, Antelope County, Nebraska 29 July 1922

Enlisted

10 November 1942 Los Angeles, California

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

Germany 24 February 1944

Other

Henri-Chapelle, Belgium Donald Banta is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing in Henri-Chapelle, Belgium
Los Angeles, California

Revisions

Date4 Jun 2020 09:07:23
ContributorED-BB
Sources

NARA WWII Enlistment records
MACR 2560

Date4 Jun 2020 08:57:22
ContributorED-BB
Sources

WWII Enlistment records
WWII Draft card
ABMC website

Date27 Sep 2014 18:07:43
ContributorAAM
Sources

ABMC, MACR 2559, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2560 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database