Loren George McCollom
MilitaryIWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Liutenant Colonel (LTC) Loren G. McCollom served as the Commanding Officer of the 353rd Fighter Squadron at Metifield UK from 18-Aug-43 to 25-Nov-43.
On 25-Nov-43 as pilot or P-47D #42-8395 [YJ-S] "Cookie" he led his fighter group in the first P-47 fighter/bomber operation of the war in the ETO. His Group was assigned to bomb and strafe the German airfield of Ft. Rouge at St. Omer, France.
During the attack his aircraft took a direct hit from Flak and burst into flames, but LTC McCollom was seen to bail out and landed near Lumbres, his Thunderbolt crashing a little over 10km further to the SE at Ecques, Pas-de-Calais, France.
He suffered severe burns to his hands, face and arms and was 5 weeks in a German field hospital before being sent to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth, Germany for the remainder of the war. This was the second Commanding Officer to be MIA since the Group had commenced operations on 12-Aug-43.
POW/ SS/ DFC/ AM w/ 3 Oak Leaf Cluster
2 victories
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Headquarters
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Headquarters
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 392nd Bomb Group 578th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
Missions
- Date: 25 November 1943
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Ritzville, Washington | 15 April 1914 | |
Enlisted |
10 August 1939 | ||
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Barth, Germany | 25 November 1943 - 4 July 1945 | Held at Stalag Luft 1, Barth-Vogelsang, Prussia. Officially Returned to Military Control 4-Jul-45. |
Other Retired from the Air Force |
1 April 1968 | ||
Died |
15 May 1982 | Keeler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi |
Revisions
Corrected last name in Summary biography
MACR 1446
2008 E-mail correspondence with daughter Patricia Bauchman
Website of grandson at http://www.angelfire.com/mac/mccollom/index.html
Lee Cunningham 15-Jul-2015. Made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Added POW decoration and POW event per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database and MACR 1445; Added Commanding Offcer dates per www.usaaf.com/8thaf/fighter/353fg.HTM; Added Summary Biography based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th AIr Forces", Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE.
Corrected spelling of incorrect 'McCollum' to correct 'McCollom'.
Source: http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/106322/…
Brought information from another duplicate entry for McCollom. This entry now includes information from the following additional sources:
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.56thfightergroup.co.uk/personnel.htm
MACR 1446 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
Combined two entries for Loren McCollum. This entry now includes information from the following source:
Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Who's Who in the Eighth Air Force and/or Biographical Directory Command & Staff Officers Eighth Air Force 1942-45, MACR 1446, Jonah's Feet Are Dry Pg 631