Milford Bertrand Hopkins

Military

Lt Milford B. Hopkins was Navigator on Mosquito NS630. 1st Lt Malcolm J. Mac Leod was piloting the aircraft and started the approach at Watton airfield on return from a Blue Stocking night mission on 22 November 1944. He was ordered to another airfield due to bad weather conditions, but after making one pass, Mac Leod informed the control tower that he could see the runway. Flying out for a second pass, radio contact was lost over Merton. Flying very low, the Mosquito hit tree tops and crashed in a field between the villages of Merton and Thompson. Milford B. Hopkins and his Pilot 1st Lt Malcolm J. Mac Leod were both killed in the crash.

Awards: AM, PH.

Connections

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Units served with

A B-26 Marauder of the 654th Bomb Squadron, 25th Bomb Group, parked on a runway. Handwritten on reverse: '654 BS.'

25th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Reconnaissance

People

John William Green

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 91st Bomb Group The Ragged Irregulars 324th Bomb Squadron 401st Bomb Squadron 653rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 19079017
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Malcolm James MacLeod

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 653rd Bomb Squadron 654th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32891039 / O-886133
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

NS630

  • Aircraft Type: Mosquito
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 653rd Bomb Squadron

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Wert, Oklahoma 29 January 1917 Son of Charlie M Hopkins.

Enlisted

New York City, New York, United States 2 December 1942 as an Aviation Cadet in the Air Corps.

Died

between Thompson and Merton, Northeast of Thetford, United Kingdom 22 November 1944 Navigator in de Havilland DH98 Mosquito NS630 - Crash Landing due to Weather.

Buried

23 November 1944 Interred Cambridge American Cemetery Coton, Cambs, UK
Miller County, Arkansas, United States

Buried

Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Bexar County, TS Re-Interred Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Revisions

Date17 Apr 2020 19:57:17
ContributorAl_Skiff
Sources

https://www.fold3.com/image/627777580
https://www.fold3.com/record/84830044-milford-b-hopkins
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3026683/milford-b-hopkins

Date1 Dec 2018 22:10:06
ContributorEmily
Sources

Removed source information added by Wattonman from biography

Date1 Dec 2018 02:08:54
ContributorWattonman
Sources

Norman Malayney, "The 25th Bomb Group (Rcn) in WWII" Schiffer Publications Ltd. 2011.

Date2 Nov 2017 16:06:38
ContributorED-BB
Sources

Added birth, residence, enlistment and burial data

Date2 Nov 2017 16:01:25
ContributorED-BB
Sources

ABMC website
NARA WWII Enlistment Records

Date31 Dec 2014 16:28:39
ContributorAl_Skiff
Sources

http://aviation-safety.net

Date31 Dec 2014 16:27:23
ContributorAl_Skiff
Sources

http://aviation-safety.net

Date27 Sep 2014 18:20:15
ContributorAAM
Sources

Combat Chronology Supplement p.542, Aerial Intelligence of the 25th BG p. 57, 176 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia