Frank Harvey Woltman
Military
media-24166.jpeg
UPL 24166
1LT Frank Harvey Woltman
Co-Pilot
John Toomey Crew
376th BG - 513th BS
Co-Pilot
John Toomey Crew
376th BG - 513th BS
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 376th Bomb Group 515th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-393162
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Malicious
- Unit: 376th Bomb Group 515th Bomb Squadron Halverson Detachment
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Detroit, MI, USA | 5 November 1917 | |
Died |
Messina, Province of Messina, Italy | 31 January 1943 | 2nd Lieutenant Frank H Woltman was the son of Frank Lincoln Woltman and Anna Eleanor (Sieradzki) Woltman. He attended Indiana University at Bloomington for three years. On January 31, 1943, Woltman was co-pilot of B-24D #41-11603 named 'Malicious', assigned to the 9th Air Force, 376th Bombardment Group, 513th Bombardment Squadron. Malicious was the lead plane on a combat mission to bomb Messina Harbor in Sicily. Two engines were knocked out of commission by anti-aircraft artillery, but they stayed on their bomb run and hit their target. They were then set upon by German fighter planes and after a running battle, were forced to make a water crash landing into the Tyrrhenian Sea, twenty miles off the coast of Messina, Sicily. Crewmen in other aircraft saw four to six men evacuate the plane into life rafts, but subsequent rescue flights were unable to locate the men. Woltman's body was recovered by Italian soldiers on a beach near Sicily. None of the rest of the crew was found. He received the Air medal, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. "Frank H. Woltman, United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with the Ninth Air Force in the European Theater of Operations during World War II." |
Buried |
South Bend, IN, USA | Riverview Cemetery South Bend St. Joseph County Indiana, USA |