Eugene Joseph Remmell
MilitaryUSAAF Photo
Flew 25 missions on' Delta Rebel #2'.
Returned to states became an instructor,Volunteered for another tour of combat. Flew 50 missions with the 450th BG/15th AAF. Plane was hit, he bailed out and was helped by Marshall Tito's Partisan soldiers Evaded (EVD).
Remmell joined up with the 91st BG at MacDill Field, Florida in March 1942 as Flight Engineer with George Birdsong's crew. His 13th and 'most memorable' mission was that of 4th March 1943 in a raid over Hamm when they first lost an engine over the target and then took a 20mm shell in the cockpit. With both pilots injured they somehow made their way back to Bassingbourn on just two engines and running off the runway as the brakes failed.
Remmell finished his tour in May 1943, stayed on as a gunnery instructor until October and then returned to the USA. He continued in that role in Casper Wyoming for about six months but was anxious to get back into the action. Gene and three other combat veterans got together and sent a request direct to General Hap Arnold, Air Corps Commander requesting a return to combat overseas. Amazingly two or three days later they received orders to report to Pueblo Colorado for training on the B-24.
Three weeks later Gene was in Italy to join the 720th Bomb Sqdn, 450thBG. On 7th October 1944 following a raid on Vienna his B-24 42-52443 was badly damaged by heavy flak and running low on gas; they just made it across the Adriatic but eventually had to bail out over Yugoslavia. Four of the crew were initially captured by the pro-Nazi Ustachi but were released a few days later when Marshal Tito's partisans raided the town where they were being held. They stayed with the partisans, hiding out in barns and villages until they reached a place with radio contacts. When conditions were right they were moved to an airstrip the partisans had cut in the mountains. A C-47 with fighter escort flew in and picked them up, engines still running. Back in Italy Gene spent a few days in hospital recovering - gaining back some of the 40lbs he'd lost, and then went back to finish up a second tour with his old crew.
Awards: DFC, BS, AM (10 OLC), PH, POW, WWII Victory, EAME (7 battle stars), AP, AF Longevity (4 OLC), UN and Korean medals.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Fifteenth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14054677 / O-789364
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 450th Bomb Group 720th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15134066 / O-823337
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Baltimore, Maryland | 8 August 1920 | Son of Frank T and Elizabeth E Remmell. |
Enlisted |
Fort George G Meade, MD | 6 September 1941 | Fort George G Meade Maryland |
Enlisted |
17 May 1947 | Re-enlisted USAF. | |
Other Discharged USAF |
30 April 1963 | Honourable discharge. | |
Died |
Baltimore, MD | 14 September 1999 | |
Buried |
Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery Owings Mills, Baltimore County, MD | 17 September 1999 | Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery Owings Mills, Baltimore County, Maryland |
Other Discharged USAAF |
Honourable discharge. | ||
Based |
Bassingbourn | Assigned to 323BS, 91BG, 8AF USAAF. | |
Based |
Manduria | Assigned to 720BS, 450BG, 15AF USAAF. |
Revisions
Corrected spelling of the surname per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 138720597.
Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138720597/eugene-joseph-remmell
https://www.fold3.com/image/28702003
https://www.fold3.com/image/540619619
https://www.fold3.com/image/170139822
https://www.fold3.com/record/22560997-eugene-j-remmell
https://www.fold3.com/record/86762314-eugene-j-remmell
https://www.fold3.com/record/619187134-eugene-remmell-1920
http://www.450thbg.com/real/biographies/remmell/remmell.shtml
Obituary - https://www.tribpub.com/gdpr/baltimoresun.com/
450th Bomb Group (H): The Cottontails of WWII [book]
Caterpillar Association of the United States edited by Caterpillar Association of the United States
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138720597/eugene-j_-remmell
https://www.fold3.com/image/28702003
https://www.fold3.com/image/540619619
https://www.fold3.com/image/170139822
https://www.fold3.com/record/22560997-eugene-j-remmell
https://www.fold3.com/record/86762314-eugene-j-remmell
https://www.fold3.com/record/619187134-eugene-remmell-1920
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138720597/eugene-j_-remmell
Biography completed by historian Helen Millgate. Information sourced from newsletters of the 91st Bomb Group related to the service of Eugene Remmell.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia