Sidney Alexander Benson
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Co-Pilot
493rd BG - 862nd BS
KIA 29 June 1944
Object Number - UPL 20796 - 2LT Sidney Benson Co-Pilot 493rd BG - 862nd BS KIA 29 June 1944
Assigned to 862BS, 493BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) in B-24 42-94812 'Little Warrior' 29-Jun-44; Flak hit caused conflagration, flames from cockpit to rear of bomb bay. Baled out, and, upon landing, he surrendered to a German gun crew. They turned him over to Helmuth Lippman, a local Hitler Youth leader. As Lippman marched Benson away, he shot him three times in the back with a small caliber handgun. Then, he turned Benson over to a group of German Air Raid Wardens who proceeded to beat him to death, using iron pipes and their steel helmets. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 6721
All the bodies were gathered and buried in the local cemetery. In 1946, the Graves Registration unearthed the crews graves, but noted that "one body was different from the rest." They began an investigation, interviewing local witnesses and discovered the truth. Lippman was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang. (Commuted to 25 years.) The air raid wardens were convicted and served sentences of several years each.
Awards: AM, PH.
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: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 493rd Bomb Group 862nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32707915
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 493rd Bomb Group 862nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13171280
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 493rd Bomb Group 862nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38424702
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 493rd Bomb Group 862nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-693976
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 493rd Bomb Group 862nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39297646
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Nose Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Little warrior
- Unit: 490th Bomb Group 493rd Bomb Group 850th Bomb Squadron 861st Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 29 June 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Boston, Massachusetts | 28 March 1922 | SECOND LIEUTENANT SIDNEY A. BENSON was the son of Harry O. and Mary B. Benson. Sidney Benson grew up in Marblehead MA, where his parents lived at 34 Marion Road in 1930. He was a graduate of Marblehead High School. He was attending college at Duke University in North Carolina when he entered the United States Army in 1943. Qualifying for duty in the Army Air Force, he was trained as a pilot, and was reported as being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on December 13, 1943 at Seymour IN. |
|
Enlisted |
Boston, MA | 26 August 1942 | Boston, Massachusetts |
|
Other Commissioned |
Seymour, IN | 13 December 1943 | Commissioned 2nd Lt at Seymour, IN. |
|
Died Killed in Action (KIA) |
Fallersleben, Wolfsburg, Germany | 29 June 1944 | The co-pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Sidney A. Benson of Marblehead MA was captured. Lt. Benson was murdered by being beaten to death by German Air Raid Wardens shortly after he surrendered that morning. He died late that night after having been thrown first into a garage across from the hospital then into the TB ward. It was only in his last few minutes of life that he received any type of medical care. His killers were later located, tried, and imprisoned. |
|
Buried |
Fallersleben, Germany | 30 June 1944 | Interred Fallersleben forest cemetery. |
|
Buried |
Waterside Cemetery Marblehead Essex County MA | Re-Interred Waterside Cemetery Marblehead Essex County Massachusetts, USA | |
|
Based |
Debach | 29 June 1944 | Assigned to 862BS, 493BG, 8AF USAAF. |
| Marblehead, Essex County, MA | Marblehead, Essex County, Massachusetts |
Revisions
Merged with duplicate entry to include details from:
- the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia ;
- MACR 6721;
- http://493bgdebach.co.uk/roster_list.php
MACR 6721 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
