Keene Chadwick McCammon
MilitaryShot down over Holland on 30 July 1943 in B-17 41-23499 'Man-O-War'. Mission was Kassel. Prisoner of War (POW). 'Man-O-War' was hit and limped along behind the formation until attacked by 2 fighters which killed two of the crew. Eight chutes came out of the doomed Fortress. The fighters curved around and fired into the canopies. Five men were slaughtered as they hung helplessly in their harnesses and a sixth, navigator Robert Duggan, had his chute riddled. He plunged down and hit a cottage roof, smashed through it and fatally struck his head on a beam. Two survivors: Pilot 2nd Lt. Keene McCammon landed in the river Waal and Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. John P. Bruce landed nearby. The plane crashed to earth near the village of Opijen, Holland and it was here that the bodies of the eight crewmen were buried. These graves remained there as a result of persuasion by the villagers, their white marble headstones regularly tended and honored by the local people. [from PLANE NAMES & FANCY NOSES]
POW
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35436053
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Man O War
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
St Paul, Minnesota | 12 November 1915 | Son of Roy D and Lois M. Rolfe McCammon. |
Enlisted |
Minneapolis, MN | 24 March 1942 | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Zagan, Poland | 30 July 1943 | Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft III. |
Died |
St Paul, MN | 22 October 2003 | |
Buried |
Roselawn Cemetery Roseville, Ramsey County, MN | 25 October 2003 | Roselawn Cemetery Roseville, Ramsey County, Minnesota |
Based |
Bassingbourn | 30 July 1943 | Assigned to 323BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. |
Revisions
Added a S/N and a POW event per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).
Added an association to Stalag Luft 3 per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).
Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 148, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol I by Bishop & Hey p. 207