Peter Kowal

Military

Peter Kowal was Navigator on board B-24H #41-28729 when it crashed while attempting to land at Warton (Neaton) upon returning from a combat mission on 8 March 1944. Returned To Duty (RTD). Shot down 22 April 1944 in B-24 #41-29273 'Flak Magnet'. Prisoner of War (POW).



POW

Connections

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Units served with

Personnel of the 458th Bomb Group gather around a B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-29303) nicknamed "Liberty Lib" in order to transfer a casualty into a waiting ambulance. Image via Harry Holmes. Written on slide casing: '458th BG.'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 37223225
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 36721017
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39277261
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 39604346 at enlistment, then O-682501
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier

Aircraft

The shark mouth nose of a B-24 Liberator nicknamed "Flak Magnet" of the 458th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: '458th B.G.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Flak Magnet
  • Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron

Missions

A B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-29155) nicknamed "Picadilly Commando" of the 446th Bomb Group. First handwritten caption on reverse: '446BG B/24 leaving Ruhr on its way home 22 April 1944.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: '22/4/44, 21,000 Ft. Hamm, smoke screen in distance.'
  • Date: 22 April 1944

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

11 July 1919 New Jersey, United States

Other

Prisoner of War (POW)

22 April 1944 Captured in Ostenfelde, Germany. Interned at Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan/Zagan, Poland. Force-marched from there to Stalag 7A in Moosburg, Germany. Liberated there 29 April 1945 by US troops. NARA WWII POW record : “Returned to Military Control 22 May 1945.”

Died

31 December 1997
Clifton, Passaic County, New Jersey

Buried

Peter Koval rests at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Bear, Delaware

Revisions

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

MACR 4180
WWII Draft card
WWII POW records
Downed Allied Aircraft Kampfflugzeug Unterlagen (KU) Reports KU 1487 at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/139542878
VA Gravesite locator

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 4180 / MACR 4180, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces & Page 322 in the book SECOND AIR DIVISION by Turner Publishing Company, 1998 edition, D790.A2S45 & Page 278of the book LIBERATORS OVER EUROPE by Mackay, Bailey & Scorza, D790G458 &

href="http://www.458bg.com/crew33spaven.htm">http://www.458bg.com/crew33spaven.htm> / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database