Military
Abe Birch 3rd from right. Notated on rear - A/C. A.E. Birch - Squadron A; Brks 525 - A.F.B.F.S. - Lemoore Calif.
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 2 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Bremen / Wilhelmshaven in B-17 42-29915 11-Jun-43; Shot down, plane crashed into North Sea. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1760
Awards: PH.
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 379th Bomb Group
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. 2 x combat missions. Failed to Return (FTR) Wilhelmshaven 11-Jun-43 in B-17 42-29915; Shot down, plane crashed into North Sea. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1760
Awards: AM, PH
Group
The 379th Bomb Group (H) (heavy), based at Kimbolton, flew more sorties than any other Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other Group. The B-17 Flying Fortress Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit...
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 8/3/43; Gore 31/3/43; Bangor 14/4/43; Assigned 524BS/379BG [WA-U] Kimbolton 22/4/43; Missing in Action Wilhelmshafen 11/6/43 with Ray Zucker, Co-pilot: Abram Birch, Navigator: Harry Anderson, Bombardier: Tony Amaya, Flight engineer...
29 May 1943
Three primary targets are selected for this mission. The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are selected as the target for a force of 169 B-17s despatched from: 91BG (23); 92BG (22), 303BG (30); 305BG (25) 306BG (24); 351BG (21) and 379BG (24). This is...
11 June 1943
The harbour facilities, port areas and U-Boat pens at Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven, Germany are the primary targets for this mission. This is the largest number of heavy bombers yet despatched on a single mission - 252. This is the first mission flown...
Military site : airfield
Planned for RAF use, Kimbolton airfield was built by W and C French Ltd. in 1941. The airfield was increased in size to accommodate a full US heavy Bomb Group, and the first such unit to us it was the 91st Bomb Group, who arrived in September 1942....
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Crawfordsville, IN | 3 August 1920 |
|
Son of Charles Evan and Edna [Vest] Abram. |
||
| Enlisted | Baer Field Fort, Wayne, IN | 13 March 1942 |
|
Baer Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
||
| Based | Kimbolton | 1943 – 11 June 1943 |
|
Assigned to 524BS, 379BG, 8AF USAAF. |
||
| Died | North Sea | 11 June 1943 |
|
Failed to Return (FTR) Bremen / Wilhelmshaven in B-17 42-29915 11-Jun-43; Shot down, plane crashed into North Sea. KIA MACR 1760 |
||
| Buried | 1946 | |
|
Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 21 July 2019 19:16:26 | Al_Skiff | Changes to middlename, nickname, service number, biography, awards, events, person associations, unit associations, place associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
https://www.fold3.com/image/28714300 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:02:45 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1760 / MACR 1760; The 379th Bombardier Group Anthology, pg 262 and 345 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database |
||
