Douglas Victor Blackwood
Military ROLL OF HONOURShot down over Holland on 30 July 1943 in B-17 #41-23499 'Man-O-War'. Mission was Kassel. Killed in Action (KIA). 'Man-O-War' was hit and limped along behind the formation until attacked by 2 fighters which killed two of the crew. Eight chutes came out of the doomed Fortress. The fighters curved around and fired into the canopies. Five men were slaughtered as they hung helplessly in their harnesses and a sixth, navigator Robert Duggan, had his chute riddled. He plunged down and hit a cottage roof, smashed through it and fatally struck his head on a beam. Two survivors: Pilot 2nd Lt. Keene McCammon landed in the river Waal and Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. John P. Bruce landed nearby. The plane crashed to earth near the village of Opijen, Holland and it was here that the bodies of the eight crewmen were buried. These graves remained there as a result of persuasion by the villagers, their white marble headstones regularly tended and honored by the local people. [from PLANE NAMES & FANCY NOSES]
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Man O War
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Providence, Rhode Island, USA | 15 April 1919 | |
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
Germany | 30 July 1943 | |
Buried |
Opijnen, Neerijnen Municipality, Gelderland, Netherlands | Opijnen Protestant Churchyard |
Revisions
Added the Buried event per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 62010752.
SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62010752/douglas-victor-blackwood
Updated Born event per info on folds3.com.
SOURCE: https://www.fold3.com/image/317239988?terms=blackwood,douglas
Updated Middle Name, S/N and Awards per info on folds3.com.
SOURCE: https://www.fold3.com/image/317239988?terms=blackwood,douglas
Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 148 / MACR 148, Losses of the 8th & 9th AFs Vol I by Bishop & Hey p. 207 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database