Benjamin Forbes SAVAGE

Source : Patootie & Arnaud Gaté (Ellen Marchese)

Source : Pierre

P-47 Thunderbolt - type D-20-RE - s/n 42-76392 2Z* "Red Honey"

(Source :  JMelde)

 Macr : 7929
Mission : Armed reconnaissance on Avranches (50)
Take-off terrain A-8 Picauville (50)
Hit a line at High-Tension around 19:00

 CEMETERY TEMPORARY of  La Cambe N°3539

Story of Cemetery Temporary  

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

Source : Pierre

First Lieutenant Benjamin Forbes Savage (O-1699039) was born on July 13, 1916, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Benjamin F. and Mabel Wrigley Savage. His father was a Lieutenant in the Philadelphia Police Force. Benjamin had one brother, Benjamin Earl Savage, and one sister, Margaret Savage Mervine. 

Benjamin registered for the draft in 1940 at age 24. He was single and worked at the Stockham Pipe & Fitting Company in Philadelphia. He later married Anne. 

Benjamin enlisted in the Army Air Corps, completed his training as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot, got his wings, and received his commission as a First Lieutenant. He was assigned to the Ninth Air Force, 405th Fighter Group, 510th Fighter Squadron. 

The 405th was deployed overseas to RAF Christchurch Airfield, England, arriving on April 4, 1944. From here they flew bombing missions across the English Channel in support of the Normandy invasion. As the Allies chased the Germans inland after Normandy, the 405th created an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG A-8/A-8N) at Picauville, France, which they occupied from June 22, 1944, to September 14, 1944. 

On 30 July, 1944, five flights of the 510th Fighter Squadron departed Picauville on an armed recce mission to Avranches, France. 1st Lt. Savage was flying P-47D-20 (Serial number 42-76392) named “Red Honey.” They first skipped-bombed and destroyed a bridge southwest of Saint-Gabriel-Brécy, and also destroyed thirteen artillery emplacements, four heavy tanks, and seventy-six motor transport vehicles. They then went to an area south of Avranches to strafe targets of opportunity. 

Source : Fold3

Source : Pierre 

Source : Frogman

Source : Jean Branca Aerosteles.net

Source : Régis Biaux  Aerosteles.net

1st Lt. Savage was leading a second flight engaged in strafing enemy vehicles. After their third and final pass over the target, 1st Lt. Savage suddenly broke right while the rest of the squadron broke left just as they had done on the previous two passes. Attempts to radio 1st Lt. Savage failed, and he never rejoined the squadron. 

Eventually, word reached the base that French villagers had recovered his body. The villagers somberly recounted his last minutes for several members of the squadron after they went to retrieve his body. One of his airplane wings had snagged a high-tension wire which flipped his plane before it smashed down. The debris from the crash spread for a hundred yards, and 1st Lt. Savage had surely died instantly. The French witnesses had wrapped his body in an American flag and buried him in the local La Cambe Cemetery near La Marche, France . He was killed on his 36th mission. 

Once the front lines had advanced past the crash site, Capt. “Doc” Milligan returned to the village graveyard, dug up Savage’s corpse from the La Cambe Cemetery and brought it back to the squadron, who then transported the body and buried it in the American cemetery at Normandy. 

1st Lt. Savage is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, France, in Plot E, Row 16, Grave 42. He was awarded the Air Medal with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart. 

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery.

Added by: roktscientist