Angelo M DiCamillo

Military ROLL OF HONOUR
media-20809.png UPL 20809 SGT Angelo DiCamillo
Flight Engineer
Edward McGroarty Crew
457 BG

Shot down/KIA on 9 November 1944

Object Number - UPL 20809 - SGT Angelo DiCamillo Flight Engineer Edward McGroarty Crew 457 BG Shot down/KIA on 9 November 1944

Killed in Action (KIA) 6 November 1944 when AC #43-38904 crashed near Rotenburg. A description from a witness at the crash site saw the crash and the recovery of the bodies and wreckage.



Purple Heart, Air Medal



SERGEANT ANGELO DiCAMILLO was born in 1921 to Joseph and Mary DiCamillo in Camden, NJ. His father was a self-employed shoemaker, who had come to America from Italy in 1911. Angelo was the third child of six children, coming after sister Antoinette and brother Herman.



Joseph DiCamillo had married by the time the United States became involved in World War I. He and his wife lived at 413 Viola Street in Camden's Eighth Ward, near the Church of the Sacred Heart. He worked as a reamer at the New York Shipbuilding Company shipyard through at least January of 1920 before taking up the shoemaker's trade. Another DiCamillo, Antonio, possibly a relative, was in business as a shoemaker at 1901 South 6th Street, the corner of South 6th and Viola Streets, by 1917 and through 1929. Joseph DiCamillo and his family were still living on Viola Street as late as 1924.



By 1927 Joseph DiCamillo had gone into business for himself. He had purchased a home at 742 Tulip Street in Camden NJ, and the adjoining property 2457 South 8th Street, the corner of South 8th and Tulip, which had a shop adjoining where he operated his business. A Francesco Gillionardo had lived at and conducted a shoe repair business at that address as late as 1924.



Two doors down at 738 Tulip lived the Bayruns family, their son Theodore Bayruns, also was killed during the war. Angelo DiCamillo attended Cooper B. Hatch Junior High School on Park Boulevard, and graduated in June of from Woodrow Wilson High School on Federal Street in East Camden. Other members of his graduating class included Frank J. Blair, Tom Glennon, and Teddy Yurkiewicz.



Angelo DiCamillo was killed in action while serving with the U.S. Army Air Force on November 6, 1944.

He was survived by his parents, brother Herman, a gunner on a B-29 Superfortress bomber crew in the Pacific, and his five siblings.

Connections

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Units served with

Unofficial emblem of the 457th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 457th Bomb Group 751st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-825216
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 457th Bomb Group 751st Bomb Squadron

Places

The mission board of the 457th Bomb Group. Official caption printed on image: '(GM-299-2-457)(16/5/45)(Op's Board's).'
  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Connington

Events

Event Location Date Description

Died

Jemgumgeise, 26844 Jemgum, Germany 6 November 1944 Hello Libby Ilson, I greet you from Boehmerwold. The report I am sending you comes from our town chronicle [archives]. Our mayor at that time was Anneus van Lessen, he kept a very exact journal, without which we would not have this report. But I will finally begin with the extract from the chronicle. On November 6, 1944, a four engine American bomber crashed burning into the meadow here. The airplane came from an easterly direction from over the [river] Ems. It had already been shot, and received further hits from our flack, so that it broke into a [began to] crash. It buried itself deep in the ground, and then burned up. At first, it looked as if the airplane would crash into the houses here. But then it made a turn to the left. On the street there was a woman with two children, who was fetching animals from here [the town]. The woman fell unconscious. The airplane lay approximately 150m from the street. It burned until the next day. Soon, people streamed to the crash site from all sides, by foot and by bicycle. First the land watch (civilian auxiliary to the police) barricaded [the site], then later, military personnel from Leer (a city on the Ems) came to barricade [the site] and by evening two soldiers from Delmenhorst air base. They both came here by quarter [possibly 'to be stationed'] and stood watch during the day near the crash site. The airplane, which had pressed into the ground from the crash, soon filled with water. One man from the [plane's] crew had rescued himself with a parachute. He found himself in the back of the piece [of land] "Schoettelboerg" (the name of a meadow.) To the question of his name, he said, "My name is Dekker." [this was Clyde A Decker, the only survivor] He did not give any further information. He only said that there had been another seven men with him in the airplane. In the afternoon, an air force officer came from Zwischenahn [a town], also the governor came to view [the site]. In the evening two dead flyers, who had fallen from the airplane, were brought here with sleds from Jemgumgeise (a neighboring town.) We laid them in our cemetery. In Jemgumgeise, different pieces of the airplane were also found. A machine gun fell through the linden trees in front of a house. Pieces of machinery lay from Jemgumgeise to the crash site. On November 7, we searched in the wreckage at the crash site for the rest of the crew under the supervision of the police. We ascertained from the remains, that at [the time of] the crash, there had been another four men in the airplane. Since from the entire crew complement of eight men [actually nine], one man had still not been found, we assumed that he was still to be found in the hole [made by the plane] at the crash site. We brought the remains to the cemetery, and buried them with their comrades who had been found in Jemgumgeise. On November 9th, a salvage crew came, who had to clear away the rest of the airplane. The detachment was made up of thirteen men, four Germans and nine Italians. Because the detachment was short of gasoline, the rest of the airplane had to be taken to the railroad by horse drawn wagon after being bundled up. On November 10th, it was reported that one more dead member of the crew lay in a meadow. After we contacted the police, we fetched the corpse from there with a sled. The body had imprinted itself into the earth during the impact to ground, but then flew up again, and lay next to the hole. On November 11th, we buried him next to his comrades in a single grave. The police had searched the bodies for papers and identification tags. Two tags were found with the inscription McGroarty 0825216 Edward F.J., [he was the pilot] The other tag was apparently from an officer Henry D. McLeroy JR 344464413 T43-44cp [toggleer]. The salvage crew cleared away the wreckage from the airplane in a short time. In the winter of 1949/50 American officers were here again, because they were still missing two men. The members [of the contingent] pressed for an explanation. A bulldozer dug up the hole again. Over the days, parts of machinery and the remains of one man appeared. The parts of the corpse were placed in a coffin in Leer and sent to America by plane. That is the story from our side, maybe you [all] also have something to report. It would be very interesting for me, since at this time, a book about Boehmerwold is being put together, in which this story appears, but it [the book] won't be published until next year. Good luck, Libby, and pleasant greetings to Pat Davis, your Diddo Aeissen End  

Born

Camden, NJ, USA

Born

Camden, NJ, USA 413 Viola Street

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

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

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
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ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

1993 457th BGA Roster, ABMC, MACR 10343 / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia

Angelo M DiCamillo: Gallery (1 items)