George L Merritt Jr
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Object Number - UPL 22153 - Fighter pilot George L Merritt of the 361st Fighter Group.
George L Merritt served as a fighter pilot with the 361st Fighter Group. He had 11 victories to his name. Merritt was Killed in Action (KIA) on 7 June 1944 when his P-51 #42106835 crashed near Roiffe, France after striking a high voltage line.
He is buried in Epinal American Cemetery. There is a memorial dedicated to his memory in Roiffé. A moving ceremony (34 bearers) was held in Roiffé Sunday, June 5 2016 during which the veteran Karl Lindquist laid flowers. The Roiffé village school now bears the name of G. L. Merritt as well.
More detailed information is available here: http://cmduloudunais.free.fr/A2/Roiffe%20Crash.htm
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: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 375th Fighter Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
86120 Roiffé, France | 7 June 1944 | Flying a P-51B he took off from Bottisham on an area support mission to the Angers area of France. The flight strafed a convoy of trucks including a gasoline trailer which was set on fire and was completely burned out, and another truck was badly damaged. He was shot down by fighters from 6th Staffel, 2nd Group Schlageter. Crashed at 1950hrs at Le Chat Pendu, on the road from Loudun to Fontevraud-l'Abbaye near Roiffe, 12 miles south of Saumur, France. He was initially buried in the Community Cemetery of Roiffe, reinterred in the US Military Cemetery Champigneul at Chalons-sur-Marne on 15 July 1946 before final reinterment in Epinal. |
|
Enlisted |
Syracuse, NY, USA | 25 April 2041 | (See NARA enlistment record) |
|
Born |
Cumming, Georgia | ||
|
Buried |
Plot A Row 4 Grave 44 Epinal American Cemetery | ||
| Gainesville, GA, USA |
Revisions
Corrected details in the record after correspondence with Jérôme Moreau, webmaster of Souvenir Français Comité de Loudun:
'By visiting the American Air Museum G.L. Merritt, I noticed two typographical errors:
- The Pend Chat > should be written Le Chat Pendu
- Saumar > Saumur'
Also the correct Findagrave link is this one:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=merritt&GSfn=geor…;
Brought in information from duplicate records. Sources:
MACR 5523 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database
Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list
ABMC record: https://www.abmc.gov/node/532591#.V1lfVE32aM8
Also, detailed information available here: http://cmduloudunais.free.fr/A2/Roiffe%20Crash.htm
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 5523
