Missing information?
Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?
Submit- Full
name
HICKS, Wayne Delmar - Date of
birth
27 May 1917 -
Age
27 -
Place of birth
Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa -
Hometown
Polk County, Iowa
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-704292 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Bombardier -
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
Forrest F. Hicks (father)
Lucille J. (Backus) Hicks (mother)
Donald B. Hicks (brother)
Doris E. Hicks (sister)
Shirley A. Hicks (sister)
Raymond H. Hicks (brother)
William G. Hicks (brother)
Ada M. (Terrill) Hicks (wife)
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
2nd Lt Wayne D. Hicks graduated from Valley High School and worked for the Equitable Life Insurance Co.He joined the Regular Army in Des Moines, Iowa on 4 August 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."
He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Solers, France.
Lt Hicks is remembered at the Jordan Cemetery in West Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa.
A memorial in Rethondes, France commemorates the aircrew of the crash.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.findagrave.com – Katie Lou, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Dee S Family Tree, www.fold3.com, www.newspapers.com - Des Moines Tribune
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Katie Lou / Andy, www.newspapers.com - Des Moines Tribune, The Homewood Cemetery