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name
FLINN, William II - Date of
birth
May 1918 -
Age
26 -
Place of birth
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-791684 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
555th Bombardment Squadron,
386th Bombardment Group, Medium
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
5 October 1944 - Place of
death
Rethondes, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| B | 3 | 67 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Alexander R. Flinn (father)
Eleanor (Bradley) Flinn (mother)
Mary L. Flinn (sister)
Plane data
- Serial
number
41-34946 -
Data
Type: B-26C
Nickname: The Yankee Guerilla
Destination: Düren, Germany
Mission: Bombing of a military installation
MACR: 15252
More information
1st Lt William Flinn graduated from of Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut and attended Yale University.He graduated from the Army Air Force Advanced School, Moody Field, Georgia in 1942.
Statement from Maj Herbert Lowe:
"On 5 October 1944 1st Lt William Flinn II was flying as Pilot in B-26 aircraft #41-34946 comprising a formation which was dispatched to attack a military installation in Southwestern Germany Düren Barracks Area. Upon the return trip to France Lt Flinn encountered difficulty in handling the aircraft which eventually became separated from the formation and later crashed into a vacant French home at Rethondes five miles northwest of Compiegne."
1st Lt William Flinn II was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Solers, France.
A memorial in Rethondes, France commemorates the American aircrew who crashed on 5 October 1944.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.findagrave.com – Have Paws will travel, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census, www.fold3.com - MACR, www.newspapers.com - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Andy, www.ancestry.com - Kotchkiss School Yearbook 1936, www.newspapers.com - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 31 May 1946, The Homewood Cemetery