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name
BYRNE, William J "Bill" - Date of
birth
19 October 1921 -
Age
21 -
Place of birth
New York City, New York -
Hometown
Bergen County, New Jersey -
Religion
Catholic
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-796624 -
Rank
Second Lieutenant -
Function
Pilot -
Unit
407th Bombardment Squadron,
92nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
14 October 1943 - Place of
death
In the vicinity of Schweinfurt, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Luxembourg - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
William J. Byrne Sr. (father)
Gertrude R. Byrne (mother)
Plane data
- Serial
number
42-30708 -
Data
Type: B-17F
Destination: Schweinfurt, Germany
Mission: Bombing of the ball bearing plant
MACR: 845
More information
2nd Lt William J. Byrne Jr. attended college and worked in an automobile factory before he volunteered for the Air Corps of the Army of the United States in Witchell, New York on 21 March 1942.S/Sgt Robert W. Fisher:
Our plane was forced out of formation by enemy aircraft. Soon after we were hit by flak, which destroyed our oxygen system, at the same time I was hit in the leg and blacked out.
The order to bail-out must have been given while I was unconscious, for when I came to, it seemed that only my pilot and myself were in the ship. When I came to, my pilot was fastening my chute. He was helping me to the nose hatch, when our plane went into a dive. I was thrown down beside the nose hatch, and he was thrown into the bomb-bay, which was a mass of flames. The plane seemed to have rolled over and I fell through the nose hatch. That was the last I saw of my pilot.
He and radio operator, John Carr, were killed when the airplane blew up.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Gilson Woodlock Tree, www.fold3.com – MACR
Photo source: Peter Schouteten