Levitt Clinton Beck Jr
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
A.L.D. II
Object Number - UPL 51942 - 1LT Levitt Clinton Beck , Jr.
Levitt Beck was born in Houston, Texas, he attended Huntington Park High School in California, graduating in 1938, and worked as an architect.
After his enlistment on 23 March 1942 and training as a Pilot in the Air Corps, Beckwas sent overseas.
Assigned as a pilot to the 9th AF / 406th FG / 514th FS - (RAF Ashford).
He was shot down in France on 29 June 1944 in P-47D-5-RE 42-8473 on an Armed Reconnaissance mission to the Mantes-la-Jolie / Gassicourt area.
Beck initially evaded capture, he was made a prisoner and interned at the Buchenwald concentration camp. He became ill from maltreatment and undernourishment and died in the camp on 29 November 1944. His remains were never found and fellow camp inmates who were later transferred to Stalag Luft 3 think he was incinerated in Buchenwald the day following his death.
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: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
- Nicknames: Sweet Louise, Mrs Josephine / Hedy & Bloom's Tomb II
- Unit: 352nd Fighter Group 406th Fighter Group 487th Fighter Squadron 514th Fighter Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: RAF Ashford
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Konzentrationslager Buchenwald
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
California, United States. | 2 January 1920 | Born Levitt Clinton Beck Jr, the son of Levitt Clinton Beck and Verne E. Beck. |
|
Enlisted |
Riverside, California, United States | 23 March 1942 | Enlisted as a Private in the Air Corps |
|
Other Shot down |
near Havelu, Eure-et-Loir, France | 29 June 1944 | Shot down in P-47D 42-8473. |
|
Other Evaded capture |
Paris | 29 June 1944 - 18 August 1944 | Levitt Beck managed at first to evade capture but was taken prisoner and together with 167 other Allied airmen, he was on a convoy that left Paris for Buchenwald on 18 August 1944. |
|
Other Prisoner of War |
Buchenwald | 20 August 1944 - 29 November 1944 | His prisoner number was 78286 |
|
Died |
Buchenwald, near Weimar, Germany | 29 November 1944 | Levitt Beck died from pneumonia in the hospital of the Buchenwald Concentration camp. |
| Walnut Park, San Antonio, Texas, United States | |||
|
Buried |
Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial | Beck is commemorated on the Wall of the Missing at the Luxembourg American Cemetery. His remains were allegedly cremated at Buchenwald and he is therefore listed as MIA (Missing in Action.) |
Revisions
Corrected a number of historical inaccuracies relating to Beck's life and imprisonment at Buchenwald, including dates of imprisonment and wrongly listed birth and death date.
Information from:
Allied Airmen at Buchenwald
Find a grave
Honor States
NARA WWII Enlistment records
Official German POW records
ABMC - American Battle Monuments Commission website
Joe MOSER's memories at https://buchenwaldflyboy.wordpress.com/chapter-11-rescue/
Data at http://www.ogsottawa.on.ca/billings/p122.htm#i76983
Dave Dorsey's website : http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ddorsey/
NARA WWII Enlistment records
ABMC - American Battle Monuments Commison website
Data at http://www.nww2m.com/2012/03/fighter-pilot/
Official German POW files.
NARA WWII Enlistment records.
ABMC - American Battle Monuments Commission website.
NARA WW II Enlistment records.
ABMC - American Battle Monuments Commission website.
