Russell Duane Hilding
Military
Added photo
Object Number - UPL 24965 - Russell D. Hilding after receiving his Pilot wings - 1943.
Shot down 13 July 1944 in B-17 #43-37788 on Munich raid. Evaded for two weeks, then captured and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp for two months, then to Stalag 3, and force-marched from there to Stalag 7A in Moosburg. Liberated 29 April 1945. See his page at https://www.evasioncomete.be/fhildinrd.html
Connections
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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: 447th Bomb Group 709th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 709th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39553245
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer/Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 709th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 709th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 709th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 447th Bomb Group 709th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 13 July 1944
Places
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Konzentrationslager Buchenwald
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
East Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, United States | 4 June 1921 | the son of Wilbur and E. Marie Hilding |
|
Enlisted |
Lansing, Michigan, United States | 25 May 1942 | as a Private in the Air Corps |
|
Other Bailed out |
near Vendrest, France | 13 July 1944 | Hit by Flak, with 2 motors out, Pilot Hilding bailed out last from the stricken B-17 and landed near Vendrest, France |
|
Other Evaded (EVD) |
13 July 1944 | Hilding and his Bombardier, Raymond Wojnicz were helped by French patriots on their way South, with the aim to reach Spain and Gibraltar and get back to England. The evasion network was infiltrated and both were arrested in Paris | |
| East Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, United States | |||
|
Other Prisoner of War |
29 April 1945 | Handed over to the Gestapo in Paris, he was detained at the Fresnes Prison near Paris, then sent to the Buchenwald Camp in Germany. Released from there, he was sent to Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan, Poland from where the POWs were force-marched to Stalag 7A in Moosburg Germany. Liberated there by American troops. |
Revisions
MACR 6938
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
Research for his page at http://www.evasioncomete.org/fhildinrd.html
MACR 6938
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
Research for his page at http://www.evasioncomete.org/fhildinrd.html
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 6938 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / self, MACR 6938
