Elwin Walter McMahon
Military ROLL OF HONOURSgt. Elwin Walter McMahon
Shot down 15 September 1943 in B-17 #42-3437. Killed in Action (KIA).
Published in The Burlington Free Press on Sept. 15, 2013 :
"In Memory and Honor of Sgt. Elwin Walter McMahon and The Excalibur's Revenge Crew.
Seventy years ago on Sept. 15, 1943, a B-17, The Excalibur's Revenge, along with other bombers, departed from the British Isles on a bombing mission to Paris, France. Just as the planes were over their designated target area, the Excalibur was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and with the exception of one survivor, the plane blew-up and went down in an inferno. My 20-year-old brother, Sgt. Elwin Walter McMahon, the plane's tail gunner, was last seen trying to bail-out... and at that moment his destiny was fulfilled. All of the crew members were products of the Great Depression. So, they had only one resolve... to make this country a better place for the next generation(s). The question that's yet to be answered by this me-myself-and-I generation is... Did they die for a lost cause?"
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 31128306
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator/Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13048059
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34173832 at enlistment, then O-801097
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34381157
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
Aircraft
Missions
Places
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
St Albans, Franklin County, Vermont | 23 March 1923 | |
Enlisted |
1 October 1942 | Rutland, Vermont | |
Other Killed In Action (KIA) |
15 September 1943 | in the crash of B-17 # 42-3437, near St Germain-en-Laye, France | |
New Haven, Addison County, Vermont | |||
Buried |
Initially buried near the crash location, France | ||
Buried |
after the war his remains were returned to the USA, where he rests at the Mount Calvary Cemetery in St Albans, Vermont |
Revisions
WWII Draft card
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII Casualties from Chittenden County, Vermont
VA Grave Locator
Corrected Serice Number. MACR 726 has erroneously 11084076, while NARA's WWII Enlistment records and the WWII Army and Air Corps WWII Casualties for Vermont have 11085076
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 726; Snetterton Falcons, pg 52 and 59