Edward Forrest Latham
MilitaryEdward Latham enlisted in the Air Corps in October 1942 and followed aerial gunnery training. Sent overseas, he was assigned to the 94th Bomb Group / 332nd Bomb Squadron in England as a Right Waist gunner. On his sixth mission, the 4 March 1944 one to Berlin, he had to bail out of B-17 # 42-39801 and landed in Belgium. Helped by Belgian patriots and members of the COMET evasion network, he was lodged in many different places in Belgium and finally ended up in a secret camp in the Belgian Ardennes, together with tens of other Allied airmen. A page with details about Ed Latham’s evasion is at http://www.evasioncomete.org/flathamef.html - His (short) Escape & Evasion Report is available on-line at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5556534
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 332nd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 332nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33353745
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 332nd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 332nd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
Missions
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Alabama, United States | 30 May 1922 | |
Enlisted |
Craig Field, Selma, Alabama, United States | 31 October 1942 | as a Private in the Air Corps |
Other Bailed out |
4 March 1944 | of B-17 # 42-39801 over Belgium | |
Other Landed in parachute |
near Menin, Belgium | 4 March 1944 | |
Other Evaded capture |
Villance, Belgium | 4 March 1944 - 7 September 1944 | Evaded capture with the help of Belgian patriots. Led through Belgium, hiding in many safe houses before reaching a secret camp in the Belgian Ardennes. Liberated 7 September 1944 by US troops near Villance, Belgium. |
Died |
Selma, Alabama, United States | 9 January 1997 | |
Lawley, Bibb County, Alabama, United States | |||
Buried/ Commemorated |
Pineview Memory Gardens, Selma, Alabama, United States |
Revisions
MACR 2978
NARA WWII Enlistment records
Escape & Evasion report E&E 1904
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 2978 / MACR 2978, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database