Bruce Wrigley Fulton

Military

His twin brother Ralph Wrigley Fulton was a fighter pilot with the 81st Fighter Group. He was KIA in March 1943

Connections

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Units served with

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: Australian
  • Unit: 81st Fighter Group 93rd Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-726366
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot

Places

Ground personnel of the 51st Fighter Group, 10th Air Force work on a P-47 Thunderbolt (serial number 42-29264). Handwritten caption on reverse: '51 FG, 316 FS, [illegible].'
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Grosetto Main

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Erlanger, Kentucky 7 March 1919
Erlanger, Kentucky 16 October 1940 201 Erlanger Road Worked at Weingartner Lumber

Enlisted

Fort Thomas, Kentucky 7 March 1941

Other

Shot Down/Captured

Brenner Pass, Austria 10 December 1944

Other

POW

Barth, Germany 20 December 1944 - 1 May 1945 Stalag Luft I

Died

Wilmore, Kentucky 19 March 2009 Bruce Wrigley Fulton and his Twin Brother, Ralph Wrigley Fulton, were born on 07 Mar 1919, in Kenton County, Kentucky, the Twin Sons of Blaine and Hannah (nee Wrigley) Fulton. After Graduating from High School and Completing two years of College, Bruce entered the Service, with the U.S. Army Air Corps on 07 March 1941, at Fort Thomas, Newport, Kentucky. He became a Fighter Pilot of P-47 Aircraft with the 12th Air Force, 86th Fighter Group, 527th Fighter Squadron, stationed in the MTO during WW II. He attained the Rank of 1st Lieutenant. On 10 December 1944, during a Bombing Mission over the Brenner Pass, about 25 miles S.W. of Brescis, Italy, 1st Lt. Bruce W. Fulton's plane was hit by Enemy Anti-Aircraft Fire, causing severe damage that caught the plane on fire, forcing 1st Lt. Fulton to bail out. While the plane crashed to the ground, 1Lt. Fulton sucessfully parachuted safely, but was immediately Captured By the Enemy, and held as a German Prisoner Of War and sent to Stalag Luft 1 Barth-Vogelsang Prussia 54-12. He was Liberated By Advancing American Troops in Late May of 1945, and By June of 1945, Bruce was in France, awaiting transport home to the U.S. Bruce Fulton Married Sylvia Irene (nee Morgan), on 14 February 1948 in Oldham County, Kentucky. Bruce and Sylvia had two children, a son and a daughter. Bruce became a Salesman with the Georgia Pacific Lumber Company. He was an active member of his Church, the Erlanger United Methodist Church and of the Erlanger Lions Club. Bruce Wrigley Fulton, passed away on Thursday, 19 March 2009, at Thomson-Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore, Ky, at the age of 90, having been preceded in death by his wife, Sylvia Irene Morgan Fulton, on 23 August 1985. He was also preceded in death by his Parents, Twin Brother, 1st Lt. Ralph W. Fulton who was Killed In Action on 25 March 1943, and By his Sister, Ruth Virginia Fulton York on 09 Aug 2007. BOTH Siblings are ALSO Buried at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. He was also preceded in death by his Sister, Mrs. Edwin C. (Cora Mae) Gibson on 16 August 2001. Bruce is Survived by his two children, three grandchildren; and a great-grandchild; and by his Little Sister, Anna Lois Fulton Faulkner. At about the same time of Bruce's passing, a group of Italian Researchers for the National Archive of Cremona, Italy dicovered the Crash Site of Bruce's WW II P-47 and positively Identified it as his plane from the serial numbers on pieces and parts of the plane which were still intact. It is their goal to: 1) To write the history of the air attacks accomplished by the Allied Air Forces over the Department of Cremona, from July 1944 to April 1945. 2) To reconstruct the true history of each plane which crashed in the same zone, during the war - They are 22: 3) Three villages in the Department of Cremona are planning the construction of memorial stones dedicated to Allied airmen who lost their lives during the war. Bruce W. Fulton was buried on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 12:00 PM at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Erlanger, Kenton County, KY

Buried

Erlanger, KY 25 March 2009 Forest Lawn Memorial Park Erlanger, Kenton County, Kentucky, USA Plot Block C