Harold Royce Sparks

Military ROLL OF HONOUR
media-57460.jpeg UPL 57460 S/Sgt Harold R. Sparks, 91BG.

Object Number - UPL 57460 - S/Sgt Harold R. Sparks, 91BG.

Shot 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

Unofficial emblem of the 91st Bomb Group.
  • 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

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

British Columbia, Canada 10 November 1921

Died

30 July 1943

Other

Killed in Action (KIA)

Germany 30 July 1943

Buried

Opijnen, Neerijnen Municipality, Gelderland, Netherlands Opijnen Protestant Churchyard

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a Buried event per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 62011186.
Updated middle name and Born event per Find-a-grave Memorial ID 62011186.
SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62011186/harold-royce-sparks

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a "-" to the A/C tail # in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 148 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database

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