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Personal info

Full name
HANKARD, Thomas Francis
Date of birth
20 July 1920
Age
24
Place of birth
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Hometown
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Military service

Service number
31207910
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
487th Port Battalion
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
16 December 1944
Place of death
Rex Cinema, De Keyserlei 15, Antwerp, Belgium
Antwerp, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
H 4 59

Immediate family

Members
Thomas F. Hankard (father)
Mary A. Hankard (mother)
James Hankard (brother)
William Hankard(brother)
Mary Hankard (sister)

More information

Pfc Thomas F. Hankard worked on building transportation equipment before he enlisted in Boston, Massachusetts, on 2 October 1942.

The 487th Port Battalion performed stevedoring duties in the port of Antwerp.

On Saturday afternoon, 16 December 1944 15:20 local time, a V2 rocket bomb, launched by SS Werfer Battery 500 in Holland, hit the Cinema Rex in Antwerp. It was packed with more than 1100 people, civilians and military. The film playing was "The "Plainsman." More than 560 people lost their lives.

Source of information: Leo Minne, Carla Mans, www.abmc.gov, www.archives.gov – WW2 Enlistment Records, www.ancestry.com – 1940 Census / Headstone and Interment Record, https://www.med-dept.com/unit-histories/612th-quartermaster-graves-registration-company/

Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Des Philippet