Lambert E Koupal

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Object Number - UPL 33776 - Letter sent to my father, Stanley Vitkavage (the pilot), from family of 2nd Lt. Lambert Koupal. James Kostel was Lambert Koupal's grandfather...

Lambert Koupal was Navigator/Bombardier on board of B-24 42-51506 on the 27 February 1945 mission to the Halle Marshalling Yards, Germany. Crashed Betzenhausen, 1,5km NW of Freiburg-im-Breisgau, Germany. Killed In Action (KIA).

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

Warren Joseph Anderson

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 701st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39911604
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Nose Gunner

Allan Henry Burns

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 701st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 33728946
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator

Felix W (Valentine) Kolasinski

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 701st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35331002
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner

Eugene James Smietana

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 701st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 36758482
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner

Ralph Louis Squires

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 701st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 15126504
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner

Aircraft

42-51506

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

Wagner, South Dakota, USA 3 February 1924

Died

27 February 1945 in the loss of B-24 42-51506, over Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Buried

28 February 1945 at the Freiburg im Breisgau Town Cemetery, Germany

Buried

re-interred in the US, Lambert Koupal rests at the Saint Johns Cemetery in Wagner, Charles Mix County, South Dakota

Revisions

Date30 Mar 2019 09:20:51
ContributorED-BB
Sources

Completed the SD County he was from

Date30 Mar 2019 09:15:58
ContributorED-BB
Sources

MACR 12778
US Headstone Applications for 1950-1951
VA Gravesite Locator

Date27 Sep 2014 18:18:06
ContributorAAM
Sources

Birsic, MACR 12778, 2AD Roll of Honor / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 12778 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

Lambert E Koupal: Gallery (2 items)

Object number: UPL 33776 - Letter sent to my father, Stanley Vitkavage (the...

Object number: UPL 33777 - Second page of letter sent to my father (Stanley...