John Frank Gentile
MilitaryJohn Gentile was Co-Pilot on B-24 'Begin The Beguine' #41-28619 on the mission to the Juvincourt airfield, France on 23 July 1944. Shot down by Flak over Holland, caught fire and exploded. Debris were spread over large area West of Vlissingen, Zeeland Province, The Netherlands. Prisoner of War (POW).
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: 453rd Bomb Group 732nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39725258 at enlistment, then O-701423
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 453rd Bomb Group 732nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33598302
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 453rd Bomb Group 732nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38404158
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 453rd Bomb Group 732nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18154535
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 453rd Bomb Group 732nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39277430
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Nose Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Begin The Beguine
- Unit: 453rd Bomb Group 732nd Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 23 June 1944
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA | 4 June 1921 | |
Enlisted |
Nashville, Tennessee, USA | 9 March 1943 | Air Corps Facilities |
Other Captured |
23 June 1944 | after landing in parachute NE of Vlissingen, Zeeland Province, The Netherlands and sent to the German Marine hospital in Bergen-op-Zoom | |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Zagan, Poland | 23 June 1944 - 29 April 1945 | Interned at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan/Zagan, Poland. Force-marched from there. Liberated 29 April 1945 at Stalag 7A in Moosburg, Germany. NARA WWII POW record : “Returned to Military Control 3 July 1945.” |
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA | |||
Died |
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA |
Revisions
Added a location to the Died event per info in the event Description.
Added a location to the KIA event per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).
Added an associations to Stalag Luft 3 & Stalag 7A per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).
MACR 6232
NARA WWII Enlistment records
WWII Draft card
NARA WWII POW records
SSDI (Social Security Death Index)
Added S/N & POW camp info per records for POWs at the National Archives.
Made a connection to the Copilot & the bombadier on the 6/23/44 mission. Data from book "Heros in the Sky" by Ian Darling.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 6232 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database