Hugh Lawrence Lamborn

Military
media-16088.jpeg UPL 16088

Uploaded

Object Number - UPL 16088

Assigned to 836BS, 487BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Ludwigshafen 5-Nov-44 in B-17G 43-37858; flak, crashed Wittlich, Germany. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 10324.



Awards: POW, WWII Victory, American Campaign, EAME.

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

The insignia of the 487th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 487th Bomb Group 836th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-2061129
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 487th Bomb Group 836th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 14170333 / T-127474
  • Highest Rank: Flight Officer
  • Role/Job: Bombardier
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 487th Bomb Group 836th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39556835
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Engineer
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 487th Bomb Group 836th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 34403159 / O-824562
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 487th Bomb Group 836th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39145725
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 487th Bomb Group 838th Bomb Squadron

Missions

  • Date: 5 November 1944
  • Date: 22 October 1944

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
Officers of the 487th Bomb Group outside the 838th Bomb Squadron operations room.
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Lavenham/Alpheton Airfield
Prisoners of war, including Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group at Stalag Luft I.
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft 4, Gross Tychow, Pomerania

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Laketown, Utah, USA 25 May 1925 Son of Lawrence Dickenson and Nancy Josephine [Henderson] Lamborn.

Enlisted

Salt Lake City, UT 24 March 1943 After enlistment, Hugh reported December 28, 1943 to Fort Douglas, Utah for processing. By early 1944 he was sent to Buckley Field, Colorado for basic training. It was determined he would become an aerial gunner and from Buckley Field he proceeded to the Las Vegas Army Gunnery School for training. Finally he was sent to Gulfport Army Airfield, Mississippi where he was assigned to his permanent crew. Once flight training was completed the crew was sent to Hunter Field, Georgia for staging and there the plane which was presented them for the trans-Atlantic flight was the 5,000th plane processed through United Airline's Modification Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They proceeded to Europe by way of New York, then Greenland, finally touching down in Wales.

Based

Lavenham 2 October 1944 - 5 November 1944 After arriving in Europe, Hugh and his crew were assigned to the 487th Bomb Group stationed in Lavenham, England. As members of the 838th Squadron, they flew their first mission on October 22. On their fifth mission, which took place on November 5, the crew was hit by flak and forced to bail out over Germany. All were captured.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Tychowo, Poland - Stalag Luft IV 5 November 1944 Upon capture, Hugh was transported to and detained at Stalag Luft IV in Gross Tychow, Poland. As the Russians pushed westward and brought the front closer to the camp, Hugh, along with many other prisoners were forced to march deeper into Germany in what was dubbed the "Shoe Leather Express." This brutal march began in frigid January of 1945 and nearly 200 miles later Hugh found himself at Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany where he would spend the remainder of the war.

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

Barth, Germany - Stalag Luft I 8 February 1945 - 2 May 1945 Hugh was a POW at Stalag Luft I from February of 1945 until the camp was liberated by the Russians on May 2, 1945. He along with the rest of the prisoners were airlifted from the camp from May 12 - 14 largely in American B-17's and flown to Camp Lucky Strike in France which was used as a staging area before embarking upon liberty ships back to the United States. While a prisoner here, Hugh was able to participate in LDS church services to break the monotony and regain a small piece of home. Many of these meetings were recorded by American Allen Dahl Young, a P-51 pilot: https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/BYUStudies/article/viewFile/6444/6093

Died

Salt Lake City, UT 18 March 1967

Buried

Laketown, Rich County, Utah, USA 23 March 1967 Laketown Cemetery

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Updated the location of the "Buried" event per info in the event.

Date
ContributorAl_Skiff
Changes
Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid readability.

Date
Changes
Sources

Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia;
- Unit Roster;
- MACR 10324

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H) by Ivo de Jong
The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
MACR 10324
Lamborn Family Collection
http://www.487thbg.org/
WWII Army Enlistment Records
http://www.merkki.com/

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
MACR 10324
Lamborn Family Collection
http://www.487thbg.org/
WWII Army Enlistment Records
http://www.merkki.com/

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
MACR 10324
Lamborn Family Collection
http://www.487thbg.org/
WWII Army Enlistment Records
http://www.merkki.com/

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
MACR 10324
Lamborn Family Collection
http://www.487thbg.org/
WWII Army Enlistment Records
http://www.merkki.com/

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
MACR 10324
Lamborn Family Collection
http://www.487thbg.org/
WWII Army Enlistment Records
http://www.merkki.com/

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
MACR 10324
Lamborn Family Collection
http://www.487thbg.org/
WWII Army Enlistment Records
http://www.merkki.com/

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
Lamborn Family Collection

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1944-45 by John Nichol
MACR 10324

Date
Contributorlwilkey01
Changes
Sources

Lamborn Family Collection

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

MACR 10324 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Hugh Lawrence Lamborn: Gallery (8 items)